#Asperger's syndrome --what is a mental illness? @1a

9.27: psy/Asperger's syndrome/what is a mental illness?:
. an adamant correction by @1a's Joshua Johnson
had me retorting:
how is Asperger's syndrome (autism spectrum disorder)
not a mental illness?

. he could have simply meant that
the condition is like a person's race,
and we should accept them and adapt to them,
whereas if we called them mentally ill,
that implies we should medically treat them;
and, that is a concern that could be related to
the issue of overmedicalization:
. psychiatrist Allen Frances 2013,
"The New Crisis of Confidence in Psychiatric Diagnosis",
said that "psychiatric diagnosis... still relies
exclusively on fallible subjective judgments
rather than objective biological tests."
Frances was also concerned about
"unpredictable overdiagnosis."
For many years, cutting-edge psychiatrists
(such as Peter Breggin, Thomas Szasz)
and outside critics (such as Stuart A. Kirk)
have "been accusing psychiatry of engaging in
the systematic medicalization of normality."
More recently these concerns have come from
those who have worked for and promoted the
American Psychiatric Association
(e.g., Robert Spitzer, Allen Frances).
A 2002 editorial in the British Medical Journal
warned of inappropriate medicalization
leading to disease mongering,
where the boundaries of the definition of illnesses
are expanded to include personal problems
as medical problems [requiring medications];
or, risks of diseases are emphasized
to broaden the market for medications.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
can lead a psychiatrist to focus on
narrow checklists of symptoms,
with little consideration of what is
actually causing the person's problems.

. furthermore,
since Asperger's syndrome is seen as
a genetic structuring of the brain
rather than a chemistry of the brain,
if one is avoiding a genetic condition,
that touches on the issue of eugenics,
which has given abortion a black eye.

things doctors say about Asperger's:

Marina Benjamen, Ph.D. 2019:
"At present, like most mental disorders,
there is no “cure” for Asperger’s Disorder.
But by focusing on learning to cope with the symptoms
and pick up on social cues,
most individuals with Asperger’s Disorder
lead fairly typical lives, with close friends and loved ones."

"Psychiatric Medications

[for symptoms of some condition seen in
those diagnosed as having Asperger's]:
For impulsivity:
Psychostimulants (.. dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine),
clonidine, Tricyclic Antidepressants,  Strattera.
For rituals, compulsions and anxiety:
[obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD)]
SSRIs (fluoxetine),
Tricyclic Antidepressants (clomipramine)
For irritability and aggression:
Mood Stabilizers (valproate, carbamazepine, lithium),
Beta Blockers (nadolol, propranolol),
clonidine, naltrexone,
Neuroleptics [depressants or antipsychotics:
the same drugs managing schizophrenia:]
(risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine,
ziprasidone, haloperidol)."

[For inducing empathy and socialization:
. if autism is a lost spiritual war,
then hallucinogens might open blind eyes;
also some are known to enhance empathy.]