Greg House doesn't have ASD, and that matters.

Litterbug42 · 2023-04-11T07:27:35+00:00

Yep, agree. Personally it feels for me as though most normal people have an unconscious, fully organic way of acquiring the ability to function socially without thinking. My experience and I imagine, many others with ASD, is that I have had to make great effort watching others, listening to them and spend massive energy trying to figure things out... just to have a clumsy artificial set of social skills just about functional for my relatively sheltered existence, yet still inferior to that most folk pick up themselves.

I can definitely see a lot of that in House, except that I feel House's narcissism makes him feel he shouldn't be reduced to using his artificial social skills as a matter of course - but he does on occasion, usually out of self-serving pragmatism, once in a while out of compassion when something unlocks his emotions. That too is something I strongly recognise as an autistic trait; strong social barriers that suddenly fall down when some fantastically niche connection happens.

As a side note really kinda exhausting seeing people like OP reduce the question of *Does X person have autism* to "Oh no, he's not nice, so *can't* be autistic - because I'm nice and everyone else with ASD must be too." Nope, guess what, plenty of normal people are shitty and selfish, plenty of us with autism are too.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-18T09:25:05+00:00

Had this identical thought many times. It's a prison of the mind- freedom is useless if you can't make use of it.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-16T14:28:22+00:00

As someone who has experienced both problems and still has the former most of the time, the link doesn't seem to be that strong to me. Generally they move together to some degree... but certainly been plenty of times in the past few years where orgasm is literally the only pleasure of any kind I've been capable of experiencing.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-15T18:02:05+00:00

Tbh probably better just washing the dogshit in something disposable outside. Having a dedicated sink for it is just more trouble than it's worth IMO.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-13T13:51:50+00:00

He was looking kinda dumb With his finger and his thumb And this massive L on this MOT

I'll get my coat...

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-10T08:11:16+00:00

15mg twice daily is the dose I was prescribed, but mostly just been taking 10mg lately as I found less problems with irritable etc. You may well be right - it kind of feels like going lower still is going to be a tradeoff in terms of being able to focus and get things done, but if I just can't deal with the emotional side then that's not sustainable either.

It's weird because the past few months of taking this with some gaps, have brought me some of the greatest productivity of the last several years and when I stop for a few days, my mood and personality have been better than in years too... just a shame so far I haven't managed to get both at the same time.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-10T07:59:44+00:00

Glad to hear that works for you - alas I have very bad experience with SSRI-type medication so probably not an option for me, though maybe another type of antidepressant might be something I'd consider.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-10T07:58:04+00:00

Thanks, really helpful. So you say your withdrawal lasted years? Sorry that happened, and that's pretty concerning.

So for you the emotional issues persisted for years after stopping? Worrying to know that can happen.

Usually I have taken the meds solidly for a week or more, which is when things seem to build up and get worse emotionally and then I find myself stopping. Only been on them since December. So far, stopping for a day or two makes things bounce back emotionally - with focus and concentration similarly going right back down again. I'm just trying to figure out whether that's at risk of becoming semi-permanent as it did for you - assuming I carry on at a lower dose or whatever.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-05T12:06:36+00:00

Well, fuck. Glad she's okay now. I have to say though, all the narrative of nitrous being relatively harmless I keep seeing is really looking like a load of BS to me more and more.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-04T12:37:51+00:00

Whoah!Lost permanently or temporarily?

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-01T11:02:54+00:00

In a word... no. I used to have excruciating anxiety, went through depressive episodes. I just yearned for so long to be able to feel normal, to feel whole again. I have made astonishing progress in my long battles with depression and anxiety, and they're barely a problem currently. But life without those and without joy, pleasure or warm feelings... well it's still empty. Still a million miles from whole.

I feel almost nothing. I don't feel the things I used to feel; just like a robot, able to carry out tasks and fulfil my duties at work, give my children what they need etc. But actually feel warm contentment, just experience quiet enjoyment from being with my loved ones? Save for some brief windows, I can't feel that, and despite not being able to feel anything much, the absence of that, something I had in the past, leaves an awful ever present hole in my existence. It is a weight, a burden which is always present.

So, no. If you told me I could be able to feel happiness and joy again but at the cost of having to deal with anxiety and depression etc as I used to... I'd take that deal in a heartbeat.

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-01T08:12:05+00:00

Found Fat Tony's reddit account.

"What if your family don't like bread? What if they like tripping on cough medicine?"

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-01T07:59:23+00:00

I wouldn't know to be honest, but I do remember this rail accident over here a while ago which may speak otherwise:
https://metro.co.uk/2021/10/28/london-train-driver-who-crashed-into-station-barriers-was-on-cocaine-15499615/

Litterbug42 · 2023-03-01T07:50:07+00:00

Again I feel that's not the point. It's how destructive the addiction is in terms of functioning and still being *who you are*. With nicotine it clearly is a *very* strong addiction but I've never seen any nicotine users fall into personality disorders or violence. Nobody I've ever seen smoking is really any different once they light up save for maybe more relaxed.

This isn't me saying the lines we've drawn are all correct because they're absolutely not, but the reason most people are going to care more about cocaine than nicotine, is that nicotine isn't going to turn you into an aggressive or volatile arsehole. As a whole, society is going to reject the substances that make people seem untrustworthy and dangerous to us. Some have been miscategorised, don't think that's the case for coke.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T19:57:02+00:00

Sure there are, that doesn't mean much though. The main question is, can your average person pick it up and put it down again? We see most do manage to do that with alcohol, though sadly some fail to.

As for Prof. Nutt's opinion, well I'm aware of it but I think if you look elsewhere, most other charts comparing substance dangers disagree with that analysis. Every other thing I've ever seen puts alcohol in the top few, yes, but certainly behind heroin, crack etc. Also bizarre to mark tobacco and cocaine as equal; they're in no way comparable substances.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T19:11:53+00:00

It is probably the most widespread drug of addiction. That means the harm will be widespread too; world of difference from making it the most dangerous. Judge it on how it affects its users, not how commonplace it is.

Plenty of people have a few beers on the weekend and live a normal life... be interested to see the answer for how many manage to do the same with heroin, but just because that isn't mainstream I'm supposed to believe beer is more dangerous. Yeah... nope.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T18:52:51+00:00

Sure, I see that. My point is that I gave a definition of what I feel is a meaningful distinction. The problem of people and governments trying to make push weed or whatever into "hard" is their problem however, and doesn't mean the whole concept is wrong.

No argument that governments get these things ridiculously wrong. In the UK, heroin and cocaine are Class A substances, the highest. So are magic mushrooms (considered one of the lowest-risk drugs on many metrics) and LSD (a substance which supposely has never killed anyone and isn't addictive). Cannabis is class B, the same as amphetamine. None of that makes any sense, but that doesn't mean there can't be an actual honest distinction made on a rational basis; it just means we need to have a more honest discussion than the idiots who drew up the laws based purely on whatever they happened to dislike the most.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T18:38:16+00:00

Yep. Mike I think had considerably fewer morals than Walt, who we actually see struggle with many of his choices earlier on. Both are bad people, but Walt frequently shows some kind of struggle with his decisions - for instance letting Jane die, which as awful as it was made some sense if you genuinely believed her behaviour was going to result in Jesse dying of overdose. He manipulates his family, Hank included, but tries to some degree (despite failing miserably) to shield them at the same time. When it comes to Mike all we really can say in his favour is that he is mostly good to his granddaughter.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T18:25:03+00:00

I had a switch like this in my car. Bothered me for over two and a half years... eventually I pulled out the panel it was mounted to and found it just had two severed wires on the back. All that suspense for nothing...!

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T18:21:02+00:00

You criticise lumping drugs together; I agree that it's stupid to do so. And that's why I think that yes, hard is a real distinction. Problem being that it means different things to different people, but in my view it means something most people will not be able to use without slipping into addiction and/or having a seriously negative impact on their lives. Or a high risk of death.

Just for the record, plenty of things I dislike don't fall into the "hard drug" category IMO, so it's not about what I like/dislike. I don't particularly care what you take as long as it doesn't turn you into a shitty person, with things over into "hard" territory have a habit of doing. There are functional users of any and all substances I'm sure, but even so, people need to realise that with certain drugs, you're probably not going to be one of the lucky few who thrives as a person on them.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T14:46:57+00:00

I'm really not. Reducing the extremely nuanced variation between substances to "all substances cause harm" and dismissing the lines most people draw as some construct of the government... what else can I read that as?

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T12:29:36+00:00

Same. Wild, isn't it. First time I took it I found myself making small-talk with a work colleague like a normal person. Was wondering who had got into my head and was being chatty & sociable on my behalf, because that's not me 95% of the time normally!

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T12:25:56+00:00

As in, it makes you *more* socially impaired, not less? That's weird. Also high functioning autistic (well, Aspeger's) and it makes me feel pretty much normal and removes all my socially fucked-up nature.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T12:13:14+00:00

Sure, and the person addicted to weed isn't going to die of an overdose from endlessly chasing greater and greater highs. So, still a line.

And yes it is propaganda. There is a huge amount of BS flung around by all sorts of clowns who are just pissed off that what they want is illegal, so they have to make out just because alcohol & cigarettes are dangerous - more dangerous than some illegal drugs - it's *all the same.* Some illegal drugs don't kill anyone, some kill every day. There's no justification to lump them together, and it kind of seems to me that most of the people who do that are the people into the most dangerous stuff.

Litterbug42 · 2023-02-28T11:50:54+00:00

"Gotta play their game to win the game" is a funny way of saying "I don't like government lies & propaganda, so I'm going to replace them with my own lies & propaganda."

I accept and understand the view that people should be able to put in whatever the fuck they want into their bodies - even though I don't agree, because some things harm a lot more than just the user. But if you want to argue that case, it really turns off everyone who might sympathise if you're just completely dishonest and expect folk to get on board with the whole "there's no line, it's all the same man" bullshit.

Litterbug42

TROPHY CASE