just so we’re clear, because i think someone could get that impression from these tags, oxytocin is NOT a drug. oxyTOCIN (hormone, the subject of this post) and oxyCONTIN (opioid drug) look very similar and sound very similar but they are not even vaguely related despite nearly being anagrams
it is not an opioid or a painkiller. oxytocin is a hormone and neuropeptide that is involved in the way mammals form social bonds with each other. it cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, so when you take it orally, it ONLY affects your body, it does not affect your brain. thats why it’s in nasal spray form in these posts. in obstetric medicine, oral or IV oxytocin is used during labor to increase uterine contractions, because in the body it is also involved in childbirth (both the physical act of giving birth and in boding with your baby/tolerating the people around you while you are in labor)
researchers have noticed for a long time that oxytocin levels in autistic people are generally very low, which in my opinion is exactly what autism “feels like” in social situations: ie, you are ambiently aware that hugging, physical touch, conversation either intimate or smalltalk level, and just being in proximity to people you care about should feel nice, everyone else seems to be having a good time, and they cant all be faking it. so what’s my problem? why does it stress me out so badly to be around people i actually want to be around and whom i trust and love? what am i MISSING that other people have? well, it might be the oxytocin for a lot of us. again, the studies on autism are 99% on “curing autism in children” and no one is interested at all in running research on improving quality of life in autistic adults, so the research we have on this is really stupid. but it offers some insight. autistic children given oxytocin nasal spray seem to respond with what you would expect from increasing someone’s low oxytocin levels: less social stress, better verbal fluency around people, better mood around people, etc.
everyone calling this “creepy” and “mind control” needs to really, really reexamine how they relate to their personalities, self-image, and their diagnosis. there is nothing coercive or deceptive being done here, to anyone. this guy ordered oxytocin on his own, administered it to himself on his own, informed his family he was going to do so, and then observed and reported the results. you are allowed to treat your own dysfunctions with medicine and then experience the effects. you sound like Christian Science maniacs saying stuff like “if god wanted me to walk he wouldnt have broken my legs in the first place” and letting their children die of sepsis and vitamin deficiencies because it’s God’s Will. you can actually do whatever you want, forever. when you do something of your own agency, guess what, that’s your personality now. that’s you doing something of your own free will. framing the alleviation of subjectively distressing symptoms (like social anxiety, anhedonia, depression and apathy!!!) as some sort of betrayal of your core tenets of Being Autistic At All Times is so regressive and self-defeating i dont even know where to begin. even if you dont personally experience autism as a disability or inconvenience, which is fine too, you are allowed to improve your conditions anyway. you are allowed to take blood pressure medication. you are allowed to take insulin if you cant make your own. it doesn’t “erase who you are as a diabetic”. jesus christ
blakekathryn
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