Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
This is first thing I've written here, please be gentle.
I have used alcohol to cope with my somewhat tumultuous life since I was 25. I'm now in my 30s.
I have never entertained the thought that I might be on the spectrum until recently (the past year) when, not only my friends suggested it, but also when I tentatively mentioned it and my own brother didn't bat an eye and said "yeah maybe".
I'm a little shocked and intrigued. I've since spoken to a specialist who just happened to be a friend of my friend - the conversation I had with her felt so relaxed and like a relief. She even said she'd gone through a period of drinking before she was diagnosed.
I'd really be interested to hear if anyone else has had issues with alcohol
It's not really about wanting to drink per se - it's the focus that it gives, and the relief from all the thoughts and feeling uncomfortable.
To level out this post, I'll also add that I'm a grown woman with values and good cognitive reasoning - I've also achieved good things in my life - but not as many as I intended!!
H x
Hi, I can relate to your feeling of the effects of Alcohol and especially the Feeling it gave me of being able to be more open. I only used to do it during social settings where I’m usually at my most uncomfortable and drinking helped.
To add this happened an age ago, I started to drink at 14 (peer pressure) and when my peers began to ‘like and respect’ me more it gave me a qualified reason to stick with it as a social tool. I stopped when I was 18 - for 2 reasons I had drank too much one time and had a negative experience in a social setting and decided that was it for me. I also had entered a relationship too at that same point and never touched drink since.
i surely don’t miss it, never wanted to try it again, even though I struggle hard in social settings, I take comfort in the understanding of how alcohol affects my mindstate and I prefer to be without and be my ‘actual authentic’ self. All this happened way before Autism was even I thing I realised in life (now 36 and only learned about my autism a few years ago). And being able to distinguish my lived experiences and difficulties and success knowing that my condition had an impact on them was an epiphany.
Not sure what my point is haha. (One of the quirks of my condition - I see a topic, thread story and my words and experiences pour out).
hope this adds some value to understanding things for yourself