Autism and alcohol

Thank you, I hope so.

I hope things improve for you too x.

Oh yes thank you ️. Sorry to hear your father also struggles with this. Maybe he'll get better. I hope so. 

I’m sorry you struggle with your drinking. I know it can feel like nobody cares, but believe me, people do. Looks like a lot care here. Take things a day at a time, you’ll get there.

I don’t drink alcohol. My body doesn’t metabolise alcohol properly, which makes me instantly sick when I drink it. So I don’t drink it as I really can’t.

My dad has issues with it, he drinks a lot, it’s his crutch I think it helps him deal with the stresses of life. I’m trying to convince him to get help, hoping he will.

Take care of yourself and write about things when you need to. We are here for you.

Haha that's so funny. Dr Google lol so true. Dr Google doesn't even know anything. Ask the doctor in your head that's my advice. That's what I do I look at what I see with my eyes

I don't know I guess. Maybe they're not but yeh. It's not good for me though. I'm not doing that 

Yeh I just say all the autistic people I met were alcoholics you may not be I don't know you. So I apologise if you took what I was saying the wrong way. 

Yes, non-alcoholic wines are dire. I have yet to come across anything drinkable.

Hi, Hope you do find some help soon 

My own experience would I say I've depended on alcohol over decades.  Not to the point I wake up thinking of it, but from teenager years until now (mid 50s), I've had a drink the majority of days in the evening

I do think it was part of my masking, and calming my anxieties - yes the younger years were part of growing up - but the continuing drinking at home was self-medicating,to calm me before sleep.  The ASD link I only think is via my anxieties.

Through therapy over recent weeks I am much calmer, I drink alcohol 2-4 nights a week not 7 but that's only been for the past 4 weeks.

If Alcohol is in the house I'll drink it at night - so wife now just get 1 bottle of red for me at the weekly shop, and I have to jump in the car if I want any more - including even Alcohol free 

I recently started drinking zero alcohol Estrella FreeDamm lager and it is very, very good, especially in the garden on a sunny afternoon. 

I do love being able to enjoy a decent alcohol free lager without the ensuing sluggishness of alcohol.

I have tried some of the non alcoholic wines available, but they fail to come near the taste of a good black red or crisp dry white. 

To be honest I have better things to do, I don’t have time to look at Dr Google all day.

Good Day.

That is a misinterpretation, Roy.

The issue is that someone here suggested that all autistic people are alcoholics.  That is clearly nonsense.

You then say that they are more prone to it (than NT individuals presumably)


I've quoted an American survey to prove one point that up to 81% with ASD don't have a substance issue, and you've come back with a stat from England alone referring to drug dependency that comes with no reference to ASD whatsoever. 


Digging deeper, the stats also reveal (back in 2014)

16.6% of adults in England report drinking to hazardous levels, while 1.2% report levels which indicate probable alcohol dependence.¹

3.1% of adults in England show signs of drug dependence, and men (4.3%) are more likely to be dependent on illegal drugs than women (1.9%).²

Half of the people with drug dependence received mental health treatment in 2014, and adults with drug dependence are twice as likely as the general population to use psychological therapy.

Seeing 1-2% of the UK population are Autistic...    I wonder how we are to ascertain how many of the 16.6% that had a drink problem are also autistic?   Seeing this information wasn't gathered.

Or do people look at the stats re mental health treatment in general & make generalised statements?  

The national average for substance abuse is 3.1%, if up to 30% of autistic people show substance-use related issues then that would indicate a higher level.

Roy said:

neurodiverse people are more prone to addiction

A study in the National Library of Medicine found that substance-use related issues have been observed in 19-30% cases of those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

This would indicate that substance-use related issues haven't been observed in 70-81% of those with ASD.   There's no indication that neurodiverse people are more prone to addiction.  

What else interests you (beyond alcohol)?

People have variable levels of addictive physiology and psychology. I think that they are largely or wholly independent of autistic or allistic status. I had a physical health emergency last June. I was advised to avoid alcohol initially, then drink in moderation. I went from drinking an average of 9 to 18 units of alcohol a week (one to two bottles of wine) to nothing for for four months, then one to three units a week thereafter. It posed no real problem for me. I discovered that many zero alcohol beers were quite palatable, so had a useful alternative to sugary drinks (which I do not like).

I’m sorry you feel so bad and hope that you can take advantage of some of the specialist help available to people who are alcoholics.

Like others here, I am autistic and I am not an alcoholic, so please don’t mislabel me.

I am not suggesting you should seek Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as your main struggle is with alcohol, and Rosie Mod has posted some links, but it would be worth using a CBT technique to challenge and reframe your thought of  “autistic people are all alcoholics”.

Ask yourself what evidence there is that all autistic people are alcoholics, evaluate the conclusion and reframe the answer in your own words, eg. “Not every autistic person drinks alcohol” or “Many autistic people abstain from alcoholic drinks or are moderate drinkers”. You can use this technique for all kinds of assumptions and it can sometimes help to give people a more realistic view of the world and feel a bit better about things. 

All is not lost for autistic alcoholics - it is not written in stone that autistic people can’t stop drinking and perhaps keeping that in mind might make your journey through life easier.

Dear Bananatropics26,

Thank you for posting and telling the community what you are going through. 

The National Autistic Society does not currently operate a crisis or emergency service. We advise you to contact 999 or any of the mental health crisis lines listed on our Urgent Help Page if you or anyone else is at risk of immediate harm: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/urgent-help 

You may find the following useful: 

• National Autistic Society webpage with information about addiction: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/addiction 

• Alcohol Anonymous support: https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/helpline/contact/ 

If you feel that you might need some support with your mental health, you can find advice and information on how to go about seeking help, including links to other resources and details of helplines and listening support services, here: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/seeking-help 

I hope this is helpful to you. 

Kind Regards,
Rosie Mod

Seems a bit of an extreme view to me and would agree with O&U's point about making general sweeping statements about people. The autistic people I know are not alcoholics and barely drink?

But thanks anyway. It just feels like no one cares

GP is not helpful at all