Autism treatment

Very specifically I have a friend who has a 24 year old son with autism. Aspergers. Basically he has the classic one track mind that focusses on some very specific thing. His topic of conversation is himself. I mean, this is true of basically everyone, but most of us manage to talk about ourselves in ways that other people get something from. Not him. Rather like some other mentally ill people his self obsession is not about the human condition, its just about him, and so its draining.

His behaviour has always been challenging, and as an adult its downright dangerous. He's fought with both his parents and that his Mum hasn't been seriously hurt is down mainly to luck.  So he's now part of the mental health system. But they don't know what to do with him. They argue that he doesn't have a mental illness because he is not psychotic. He doesn't hear voices. He's not bipolar, at least not in the classic way of having mania and depression. So the mental health profession want his problems to be considered "behavioural".

So lets go through the behaviour.

1. He's got the classic autism one track mind.
2. That track often turns out to be about something really important to him - like losing his virginity.
3. He catastrophises. Not only is he a virgin now, but he always will be. And having sex is the whole point of life. And he's going to die unfulfilled.
4. As he catastrophises he gets anxious. "What if I never have sex?" "Can you imagine how awful that will be for me?" And as he can't let go out of his deep groove, his anxiety becomes more and more uncomfortable until..
5. His impulse control is gone and...
6. He hits someone or some thing.

And he can't seem to learn, because he doesn't seem to have any control over these things.

I figure that if you can eliminate any of these stages you can improve his chances of not needing to be locked up for the safety of others.

Its not likely that you can fix 1. He's been like this since he was less than 2 years old. But there are mind altering drugs (e.g. marijuana) that might diminish the control of that part of his brain that enforces his "one track mind" and leaves him more open to the experience of his senses.

And I don't think 2 will be amenable either. But maybe this is defeatist thinking. What if there is a way to stop people engaging in an unhealthy obsession with themselves?

3 is a possibility. What is the process of catastrophising? Why do some people do it but others don't? Is there any treatment?

4 - can we control the anxiety?  In the extremes of his anxiety he is probably feeling like you would if confronted by a vicious dog. Terrified and willing to do pretty well whatever it takes to defeat the monster.  So do we drug him so that he wouldn't feel like running away if confronted by a tiger?

5. Can anything be done to improve his impulse control? Again, imagine the terror of being attacked by a wild dog. Now try controlling your impulses. Not really going to work.

6. You just need to stop before you get this far.

It seems to me that you need to interrupt the processes in 1, 2 or 3. After that the sort of drugs you'd need would be too powerful.

Ideas anyone?

ALP election campaign

At the crux of it the Libs believe in looking after yourself. And they believe that if you are good at looking after yourself, you should receive the benefit. That benefit includes access to better schools and hospitals. There are other schools and hospitals, the ones you and your children won't go to, but that are nonetheless funded by your taxes. And that isn't fair. In this hypercompetitive world, giving away your tax dollars could be the difference between your child getting into medicine and failing. It could be the difference between you sailing in the Sydney to Hobart, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous, and watching it on TV. It could be the difference between your wife loving you because of the nice new house, or nagging you because she's embarrassed to have people round.

Look at this logically. There are some in Australia who are of limited ability and poor disposition. They will never be well off. They'll use government schools and public hospitals. They'll get discounted fares on public transport, cheap prescriptions at the chemist, live in shitty rental housing with bad neighbours (maybe they are bad neighbours themselves), and work intermittently. If they reach old age, it will be uncomfortable and with bad food and cranky nursing home staff. These people probably vote Labor, although the more stupid will vote One Nation.

There are other Australians who are talented, hard working, attractive, who have a lot of good connections they made at their private school and who are lovely people and make a shitload of money. They go to private hospitals when they need to, send their kids to private schools, work for charities.  Actually, these people need not have come from privileged backgrounds, just got lucky when talent and work ethic were handed out. But it wouldn't hurt if they come from money either. These people probably vote Liberal, but not necessarily, as they can afford to be generous and think of those less fortunate than themselves.

These are the extremes. But elections aren't fought at the extremes, they are fought in the middle.  Those who are near the top, say in the top 10 - 25%, they are highly likely to vote Liberal. But somewhere in the middle are the crew who aren't sure. And these people win elections.

So we need to paint a picture for these people. A picture of how bad it will be for them if they don't quite get a foothold on the ladder of success and end up having to rely on public transport, public hospitals and government schools. And I'm thinking we should tell them the truth. The total wealth of Australia is rapidly increasing, but the fraction of the population getting a "fair share" of it is falling. They risk being part of the "have nots". But let's not only sell on fear, but on generosity and "bigness".

Paint two pictures, and in both of these pictures our voter has "made it". In one picture he/she has a nice house and are comfortably off. They live in a nice suburb. The schools, private and government, are nice. The hospitals, private and government are nice.  Of course the private are better than the government, but you get the feeling that no one is seriously disadvantaged by the government option.

In the other picture, the house is bigger. The car is more expensive. There is a jet ski. The schools (private) are lovely.  The hospitals (private) are lovely. The parks are lovely. But the suburb is walled, and on the other side of the wall is poverty and despondency, shared both by those who nearly made it, and by the total no-hopers. The hospitals are third world. The schools are run down, as are the teachers. The parks are dry, dusty and unloved.

Now you might wonder where you'll be able to shoot the "third world" hospitals. Well, you'll find them in every capital city. RPH in Perth, for example.  And you may wonder about the rundown schools, and if it hadn't been for the "building the education revolution" funding during the gfc, they'd be everywhere. You'll still find them.

And these pictures are pitched to the people in the middle. The ones who have the fear of not "making it" and ending up on the scrap heap. The ones who think they will make it, but don't want the huge chasm between the rich and the poor. Let's sell the generous version of Australia. It must be a higher taxing version of Australia. That is why the people at the margins must be generous to vote for it. It may well be against their immediate financial interests. And these people need to feel generous and embiggened.  Not, as the Murdoch media will tell them, angry at the "tax heist". We need to sell them a picture of the better selves. Not all of them have to be convinced. Just enough so that Labor can win an election without promising irresponsible tax cuts.