https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/06/01/schizophrenia-autoimmune-lupus-psychiatry/
YES. I believe there are parallels for autism. There is probably some other physiological stuff going on that is causing all the SIB, meltdown and even struggles with talking ability which fluctuate on a day to day basis - all stuff which what makes or breaks your inclusion in society and gatekeeps opportunities. I bet after a few decades when I am a very old man, i will find out that what I had was some INFLAMMATORY PROCESS that and treatable as a baby itself and I could have had a better quality of life instead of struggles, exclusion and rejections at every step.
New research suggests that a subset of patients with psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia may actually have autoimmune disease that attacks the brain
Markx and his colleagues discovered that although April’s illness was clinically indistinguishable from schizophrenia, she also had lupus, an underlying and treatable autoimmune condition that was attacking her brain.
... a complex autoimmune disorder where the immune system turns on its own body, producing many antibodies that attack the skin, joints, kidneys or other organs. But April’s symptoms weren’t typical, and there were no obvious external signs of the disease; the lupus appeared to only be affecting her brain.
After months of targeted treatments — and more than two decades trapped in her mind — April woke up.
ERGO: underlying autoimmune and inflammatory processes may be more common in patients with a variety of psychiatric syndromes than previously believed.
undergone many courses of treatment — antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and electroconvulsive therapy — all to no avail.
