Alcohol

Normal response from a normal guy given our culture. 

Hi Jules, I don't particularly like drinking and I find drinking a very small amount affects me more or less instantly. I believe, like you mentioned, that this could be due to the hypersensitivity that comes with being autistic. I've been in a circle for a long time where my friends like to drink, and they do not like it when I say I'm not drinking. However, no one else should be able to dictate what you put into your body, only you, and I think alcohol is very expensive and takes far too much of a toll on mental health. 

I cannot disagree with you, Having experienced it. Youth culture  in Europe is only following the the same trend. Hollywood movies are everywhere. That does not make them gospel. What happens after the credits roll is up to your imagination, The biggest seller is ; things are good, then something goes wrong and somehow, , it must involve  a happy ending of widespread acclaim no matter what. Of course,  this is not real life, Those 3 things do not correspond with real life unfortunately, Life can be messy and complicated and very much confusing. Hollywood movies ignore this and in many ways put the blame on you , much like tabloid newspapers. It is not real. 

You do raise a good point (especially in relation to the masculinity and 'coming of age' rituals) it just seems that more and more alcohol is being used as a way to cope with an increasingly messy and unpredictable world. This being said, youth drinking culture is often just as bad across Europe as well as in the UK, but this is just an observation.

It's legal and accepted in our society. I grew up where alcoholism either was laughed-off or considered perfectly normal or even encouraged as some kind of machoism or coming of age nonsense. I've found that in North America and the UK  it is more encouraged as normal, where as, in Europe and other places, it is much more balanced and integrated at appropriated times, such as festivals, outdoor eating/events, music festivals etc etc

Jules said:

Also, I hate how alcohol steals my ability to think, to notice things. I like thinking!

This is precisely the reason that I don't drink! I've never been drunk in my life and just how it affects other people puzzles me.

It's true, I hate how normalised alcohol is in society. I remember going to the coffee shops in Amsterdam and folks were so much more friendly, chill and civilised...

I'm not because they werent really friends !  I had to stop drinking, I was going insane lol,,,,   and so should they.  Its a hidden scandal, I mean  the damage alcohol does to people and society.  

I'm sorry, that sucks :( I'd like to make new friends who don't drink, but it's not easy with this lockdown...

yes  all of them ,,,,,,  so we were only friends because we got drunk together ! 

I found that when I decided to stop drinking it made some of those that do quite uncomfortable. I was able to have some restraint which they didn't have and I could sense it made them uneasy.

Have you lost friends when you stopped drinking? I find that some people only want to get drunk at weekends and aren't interested in anything else

I agree with every word of what u have just said. I too stopped drinking because I was losing control.  Best thing I have ever done.  It is a large part of socialising by large sections of society because the drinks industry tells us everyday that is good to drink. 

I recently stopped drinking because I can't handle it anymore. I get drunk faster than other people do, and make a massive tit of myself and annoy people - I can't regulate my emotions when I'm drunk and become neurotic and erratic. I used to be an alcoholic in the past, because it helped me mask and act confident and extroverted... stopping drinking is quite lonely, because it isolates me from people who do drink, and means that I can't do nights out, parties etc (I can't cope with big groups of people at all without alcohol). It amazes me that alcohol is such a huge part of neurotypical socialising because it's so poisonous and makes people act like pricks.

When I drink more than 2 glasses of wine/beer (I don't even talk about whisky or vodka), I feel sleepy. That's why I don't drink much and only on occasion. 

I have not had an alcoholic drink for over forty years.

I originally drank to relieve social anxiety, but I would over medicate and feel ill for days, utterly drained, unable to work, function normally or cope with company.  So I just stopped.

I later had problems with prescription meds for anxiety and stopped them as well, but I guess that's another topic.

Ben

Caffeine is my Alcohol. And I am compulsive.

yeah... used to get pretty drunk with my group. it was the only way i could be accepted into a group. when one of them (joe) punches his room mate in the face in a bar and only gets a kick out for the day - u no they'll accept anyone. literally. and that's what it took for me. thankfully, i don't seem to be predisposed to alcoholism.

i was only able to be in social groups that got pretty snockered - at least when i was a young adult - this due to my asd. yes, asd led me to social drinking...

anyway, i don't care for being at all drunk now, but enjoy a whiskey with water and ice. about 1 whiskey to 3 or 4 club soda. i love the flavor, the bubbles, and the smell of a good whiskey. if it's a japanese whiskey, a twist of lemon.

I don't like being properly drunk, because I want to feel in control. If I feel clumsy and stupid then I think I've gone too far. Having said that, I really enjoy being moderately tipsy because it is like an off switch for social discomfort and overthinking everything, so it allows me to enjoy myself like a normal outgoing person. I used to hate parties and I couldn't get up the nerve to dance even though I wanted to. But then one day I tried vodka for the first time and I suddenly realised that I could have fun and dance without worrying about people watching me :D

For me, socialising with the help of alcohol is like riding a bike with stabilisers. I drink a bit to improve my confidence while I practice, but I try to rely on it as little as possible.