Published on 12, July, 2020
I dont consider myself an alcoholic but I was wondering is anyone else found a connection between autism and alcoholism?
I find it easy to slip into unhealthy habits because getting drunk becomes a routine. Plus I'm guilty of getting obsessed with being "normal" so in my pursuit of this I find myself drinking every day because I guess alcohol culture normalizes drinking every day. and also, I find that social interactions and stuff that would overstimulate me become easier when I'm a little drunk
Is this normal? Are there studies behind it? Or am I just weird lol
i was ignored and bullied throughout my life....... until i began drinking booze. then i was accepted into a social group of bar hoppers... it was the only way i could be accepted into a group. all manner of odd behavior are acceptable in a bar - even asd. (i had no 'tells' of asd, other than being just kind of permanently traumatized.) there were two groups of us eventually: an art booze group, and a booze booze group. i was in the former. luckily, i guess i'm not an alcoholic --- altho some in our groups had to have organ transplants later, i eventually got bored with drinking, somewhat surprised i hadn't become an alcoholic.
naively, when i was in my twenties i thought it was pretty adult to be drinking in bars... i think some with asd (or maybe things that accompany it) are pretty naive and immature in the ways of the world. i count myself as one of that group. i really couldn't see the uh... misery that often exists on the bar stools.
decades later, when pot became legal, i self medicated with pot, every night. i've had insomnia most of my adult life, and pot was a way to get my brain to stop it's constant whirring. i'd conk out on the floor. strangely, i also began manifesting a lot of asperger behaviors that were previously unknown to me: rocking, yelling... i could also focus a lot easier stoned, have a lot of empathy, and my brain would simply slow down... oh --- is this what an NT feels???? i thought. it's rather nice! oh, and i enjoyed the stoner high.
now, i'm kind of bored with pot. frankly, my boozing and stoner habits are a couple grains of sand compared to the rock of gibralter of having undiagnosed aspergers my entire 60 years of life. i feel the substance abuse were tools that i seemed to latch onto out of necessity. no real regrets over that. regrets over a life lost to undiagnosed aspergers.
Really feel for you. It's always hard looking back on how things might have been different - especially when we haven't received the support or understanding that would have helped.
yeah, i don't want to hijack this thread... sometimes i wonder, but that's like.... fantasyland. i guess i'm kind of concrete in my thinking sometimes. also, as satchel paige said, "don't look back. something might be gaining on you." brilliant!
No. I have autistic friends and an autistic partner and therapeutic experience with autistic people. Why do you ask?
Are you yourself autistic ?
It's easy to become overwhelmed by the past. It's useful to consider it in understanding who we are and how we got to where we are, because that helps us with moving forward. Becoming fixated on it is unhelpful though, because it can't be changed, and dwelling in yesterday is no way to enjoy tomorrow. Balance, I guess.