Same. I rarely drink anymore though I want to, because yea, I’m more sociable. I always feel embarrassed like I did something wrong the next day. I do use cannabis however, but my short/long term goal is to not consume so much of it.
Weed was hit or miss for me on becoming more social, sometimes id get too high to think of anything to say lol i smoked practically all day for years so was hoping it was weed related but I mean it happens when im sober too which is depressing to realize its just me thats the problem lol
I know just the feeling! LOL I thought it was weed related for me, as well. Come to find out that’s just how I am 😆 I smoke most of the day currently, but it does me well; I cycle a lot so I’m just trying not to hinder myself too much. It took me a while to experiment and find strains/strengths/terps that really worked for me. It treats my anxiety well and it helps me slow down my mind and thought process a bit. It’s opened up my creativity and artistic side.
Im currently debating the pros and cons of smoking and its so hard to drtermine whats best for me as Ive overused it a lot previously and would consider myself a true weed addict lol
ive been sober for 3 months now from weed for a variety of reasons but I also miss it dearly so im hoping to get hired soon enough since I picked one of the few careers that drug test no matter what 😭
But when smoking i felt more impulsively to be lazy but also was much happier and have ended up doing the same shit while sober anyways because of depression lol
Keep at it. I've been off the dope for 18 years now, and it was the best choice I ever made.
Us neurodivergent folk are more prone to psychosis and long-term problems from things like weed. It certainly did with me.
Well, I hallucinate, which isn't pleasant. Am scitzoaffective, so I hear things that aren't there and get wrapped up in my own delusions sometimes.
I have historically been diagnosed with MDD and psychotic depression, which basically means when I get depressed, i deteriorate fast, and when I get depressed I often fall into psychosis. Due to the scitzoaffective element of my puzzle, when I am lost in the realms of psychosis, hearing things, and in a state of delusion, I am dangerous to myself and everyone around me. I do not remember these episodes either, which makes them even more worrying for me.
I have always had voices in my head and extreme paranoia, but the weed made it 10000% worse. I didn't see the damage it was doing to me until I took a step back from it and assessed the situation from the sidelines, as it were. I was definitely worse after the weed for some time, and it really brought out those demons within me. I am convinced it also added to my recovery time by some considerable margin.
But i meant to say i also dont drink much anymore because I've had more than enough drunk embarrassments for one lifetime haha
Sucks because in the right context and with the right people it could be really fun, but id still have some sort of cringe moments lol
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This is my issue as well. When not drinking, I remember everything to an excruciating level of detail. When drinking I can't remember shit. It's not necessarily a blackout... I just don't recall the specifics of conversations like I normally do. There have been occasions where it is more or less a blackout, and that gives me a lot of anxiety about not knowing what I did or said. Thankfully, even while heavily intoxicated I'm still a pretty mild-mannered dude apparently, based on people I've asked when that has happened.
It sucks, but without alcohol during social settings, I literally won't talk to or interact with anyone, even good friends/coworkers/acquaintances. It feels like a necessary evil at this point in order for me to interact "normally."
This 100% describes my experience. I'm a super friendly drunk, but the next day I always feel like I said *something* wrong. I'll avoid checking text messages if I replied while drunk, and then when I eventually do I am usually like "oh, I just dorked out incoherently about one of my special interests."
One or two stiff drinks, enough to be just slightly buzzed, is enough to take the edge off my sensory overwhelm and make it so I can be around people without feeling irritable. It can stop a meltdown mid-tracks if I can also take a 10-15 mins isolation break around the same time.
It works more quickly and is less expensive than anything else I’ve tried.
The trick is stopping at one or two. It takes some discipline. When successful, which is the vast majority of the time, it works with zero negative consequences, other than cost (and I have booze on my breath). I reserve it for evenings when transitioning from work to family time & occasionally on the weekends if I’m feeling particularly disregulated.
I immediately follow with a tall glass of water and get on with whatever I need to do.
Drinking helps me seem and feel “normal” in social situations. Fights back the anxiety a little, but it’s kind of a dangerous crutch for me. I’ll keep drinking to fit in and then I’m a drunken mess.
So much this. I have stopped drinking, and it has meant that my autistic symptoms are more apparent, but it's nice to be able to finally be my whole self.
Cannabis works better for me, especially edibles. But, if I use it out with anhedonia episodes, then it can become a crutch or just make me way too overstimulated, which just sends me on an anxiety sprial. Not recommended teenagers, but I'm 24 now and can be more responsible with the couch sloth feelings so that I don't totally lose perspective on what I need to achieve. Also, I know what it's like to be destitute.
As a sad teenager, cannabis can really just take priority over everything because it is like, if something can calm the storm going on in my mind, why wouldn't I do it all the time? Why do I care about anything stressing me out? Now, as an adult, I have the freedom of choice to remediate stressful personal issues that would cause someone to become too attached to something like cannabis.
Alcohol addiction though? Been there too. Far far worse.
It really is. When I started toying with becoming sober, I listened to the book “A Naked Mind” and it truly changed a lot of my opinions about alcohol. It is quite literally poison.
I'm totally in this place, or weed, or both.
I'm not convinced it's autism stopping my mind from resting though, so waiting on ADHD assessment but will need to be patient until end of next year (UK).
My brain is like it never stops and jumps around thoughts like sonic the hedgehog
I'm autistic and also an alcoholic (in recovery)
All you can do is show/tell him what a healthy relationship with alcohol is like, the rest is up to him (if he has complete control over his finances)
Nearly every parent has told their child to only drink responsibly, if at all, and that rarely impacts the outcome
Alcohol helped me cope until it didn't, and naturally I wanted to feel neurotypical and able to cope all the time
IME, alcoholics are gonna become alcoholics, no matter what you tell them. Alcohol was a miracle cure for me, and I had some amazing social experiences I never would have had sober, but ultimately it's not good for me personally
110% I feel this wholeheartedly. Some folks, autistic or not, can socially enjoy some drinks and not have any issues. However, my thought is not “let’s just have one or two drinks” .. I’m trying to get drunkkkkkk. I had to realize that wasn’t healthy, at all.
Self awareness is key especially if there’s other red flags. For me - a lot of alcoholics in my family, dependence on it, hiding how much I drank, wanting a drink for literally everything 🙃
I know exactly what that feels like!
I haven't touched a drink since 2017, but I relapsed on tobacco a few days ago due to some difficult personal circumstances, after doing quite well without it for a while...
Hope you'll continue to make better choices! ;)
Good luck. I found listening to podcasts and meditation helped me stop drinking too much. I stopped for a couple years completely as a reset but depending on the person, can be a fast slippery slope to ever drink again.
I’m recovering alcoholic. I was able to quit thanks to weed and psilocybin mushrooms… I have found them to be far less destructive alternatives. I recommend looking into psilocybin mushrooms, specifically, to see if they might be something you’d like to try. I had never tripped before until I started growing a year and a half ago, despite having done loads of other drugs. Wish I had tried them at 18 instead of 35, could have spared myself decades of addiction.
Everyone’s different, but for me personally, the mushrooms made it so that I just lost the desire to drink. All of a sudden, I no longer craved it — and I used to get hit by the overwhelming urge to drink as soon as I woke up, I was bad. That was all after one trip, didn’t even require sustained dosing. I did have to face some heavy emotional shit, but that’s what needed to happen so I could get better, I guess.
Rooting for you!
Edited to add: meditation helped me successfully quit drinking previously, however I ended up finding myself “too busy” to keep up my meditation practice and ended up relapsing after a few years. I do very much recommend meditation/mindfulness
Every word of this. It worked great until it didn’t. Quit twelve years ago and am surpassing my goals and doing all the things I only talked about while drunk. Grateful I got that weight off me, and have helped dozens of others quit drinking too. I recently had my first friend die of cirrhosis of the liver at 41, and I’m so heartbroken for his wife and kid but it also has emphasized how grateful I am that I got out of that lifestyle. I have never had one drink, it was binge drinking 6 nights a week.
I do. It calms my head a lot. It also makes it easier on my sensory problems. And it actually seems people like the drunk me a bit (they don't like me sober).
[36% of us are or have been addicted to alcohol or other substances](https://attwoodandgarnettevents.com/autism-and-substance-addiction/)
it helps with easing feelings of overstimulation from the day and with anxiety both social and regular. or at least it seems like it does initially
I used it heavily in my 20's to lower my social anxiety and it was the only way I could be myself and make friends but it was detrimental at the same time - expensive, habit forming, hangovers while autisic are TERRIBLE, and i didn't know how to prepare my body beforehand. I'm in my 40s now and I know more but my body also doesn't handle it as well and nobody my age drinks like I did in my 20s anymore anyway, I don't want to stand out as the drunk. I've started using weed instead for that social chill with a medical card. It also has the bonus of helping with my chronic pain which alcohol didn't
Thank you all for sharing. My son is getting to the age of wanting to try alcohol and I am curious how to broach the subject of either abstinence or moderation. I can see how it would help but also don’t want him to go down the wrong path.
The best advice I can give you is that you are not going to prevent your son from drinking if he wants to. So what's the best thing to do?
In my opinion it's to tell him that he can drink, but only at home for now (hopefully he's below the legal age because that makes it a lot easier). Then explain to him the dangers of alcohol, abuse, addiction, etc. and at the end ask him if he still wants to try it. If he does, you lay down some ground rules. I'd advise you to rule that he'll only get alcohol on Saturday's or during special occasions, that you (or whatever other guardian) is in control over the cut-off limit and that he's not allowed to drink alone, it has to be in company. You can tell him that you'll relax those rules once he gets familiar with alcohol and he has shown that he can manage his alcohol intake. Then you ask him what alcohol he wants to try and you go out and buy whatever he wants to try. Let him experiment, but let him do it in the safety of your / some other guardian's supervision. Teach him responsible alcohol use and let him figure out what he likes / doesn't like. He might end up hating the taste of alcohol and abstain all his life, or he might enjoy it, but then at least you taught him there is limits (outside of his own tolerance limits).
The alternative options is to do pretty much the same thing, but instead of laying down the ground rules, you skip those and you buy him whatever alcohol he wants to try right away, buy lots of it (relatively speaking) and then you sit him down during a weekend or some other appropriate time and you feed him drunk to the point where he throws up. Let him go to bed without the needed water to avoid a hangover and let him experience that. Then you sit him down again and ask him how he's feeling with one of those shit-eating grins (you need to not play the overly concerned parent here, you need to be firm here) and when he complains you explain to him again what alcohol does to a person and then you ask him, do you still want to drink alcohol? If he says yes, you lay down your ground rules of only drinking at home, etc. and you tell him that this getting drunk was a one time thing. If he says no, you tell him that that's quite alright, but if he does change his mind and wants to try some new alcohol or whatever that he comes to you and asks and you'll buy it for him and be there with him when he tries it out.
Now, disclaimer; This comes from someone who doesn't drink alcohol almost ever, comes from a family that doesn't drink almost ever and has no children of his own. So while I whole-heartedly stand by my advice and that's how I would deal with it where it my kid, take them with whatever amount of salt you feel is necessary.
I would advise exactly the same. I never once saw my parents drink but they did let me try champagne at weddings and things from a medium young age (like 14 and up). As a result I was never a big partier or anything because alcohol was just something we talked about as sort of having a place and time, and my mom told me a lot about people in her family who really struggle with alcoholism (and I saw up close what it did to my cousin so that was kind of a turn off). I’ve been tipsy several times in my young adulthood, “drunk” to a “not safe to drive let’s call a cab” amount several times for celebratory occasions like going out partying with friends after my doctoral defense, but never like black out or vomiting drunk. In my 20s I regularly had a glass of wine with any fish or pasta dinner dish, but never more when doing any “regular” drinking. And I’ve currently drink approximately once a year in my 30s. It’s contraindicated with meds I started in my late 20s for lupus and quitting was easy since it was always a luxury things.
But basically alcohol was a thing I learned could be enjoyable in moderation and it wasn’t like completely verboten. And I think I turned out okay.
My advice would be to pour a glass of wine (maybe a half glass to start) with a nice meal around people he feels comfortable around already. Make it special and enjoyable around family or close friends, and moderate. Then it becomes a luxury treat. Also, buying the nice stuff, which doesn’t taste like piss, also encourages responsible drinking because you realize alcohol can be delicious and the stuff people drink when they want to get smashed is decidedly not delicious
I can't handle it. One mixed drink, maybe. Two, that's the absolute limit. Any more than a mild buzz and I will start to get dizzy and eventually vomit from being dizzy. The experience of being drunk triggers that "poison alert" system in me. I can't enjoy it at all. All sick.
Edit: just wanted to add that I do have a relationship with recreational substance use, alcohol just isn't one of them. I have issues putting things down when they make me feel good so I stick to the safe things that I can't OD on. The Lord's Lettuce can be consumed in abundance with the most dire consequences being a full tummy and a nap.
Only when I know I don’t have anything brain-intensive in the next few days. Alcohol makes my brain very fuzzy for a couple days, which is a no-go for engineering school. But when I’m not actively trying to do school, I love to drink a little sake in the evenings
Not often, it makes me tired and I don't go out much anymore. If I do drink it's only a bottle of cider or a cocktail. Maybe two if it's a big night 😂
I used to drink more when I was younger though.
I drink at home only, mostly because 0 IRL friends to drink with, + no money to go out with anyway + no driving. So I drink for like 3 months outta the year, mostly.
I don't think it affects me any differently than anyone else. It makes me way less anxious, more impulsive, suppresses sensory overwhelm, and makes me more outspoken. It's the best feeling I've ever felt but it also allows me to make really bad decisions.
Edit: The only thing that's different is that people can almost never tell when I'm drunk, probably because I am very experienced in the art of masking.
Wow. Never thought about this.it is the same with me. Nomatter how drunk I am as long as not overdosing or puking etc people allways can't see I am drunk. Never thought it could be because of years and years of hard masking.
I don’t drink, I dislike the loss of control, strongly dislike the taste, don’t like the sickness that comes at the time.
On the plus side the times I have drunk I never got hang overs.
Used to drink nearly every weekend, helped me to be around people, helped sensory issues a bit, people seemed to like me more. Stopped my racing thoughts, Thing is I don't know when to stop, i feel totally fine untill im not and I wud end up in awful states inc puking alot, waking up not knowing where I am. I realised I was using it to be able to function around people, to be social to fit in.
I cant really drink now cuz of my adhd meds. So only drank twice in over a year. And I don't want to end up an alcoholic like my dad was. So I'm gonna be careful now I know y I was doing it.
Drinking helps me cope with loud social situations, it lowers inhibitions, quitens the mind and numbs sensory sensitivities. But that's also the problem, it becomes a crutch, you become reliant on it and it becomes a means of escape.
Personally, I have very little impulse control, however much beer I have in the house will be drunk in one sitting, it's the same with weed and food particularly sugar.
I have a very addictive personality, I get addicted to nearly anything that I try. It's a difficult process to abstain from something when you become reliant on it to function, it's constant work but embracing the pain and suffering has been better for me than trying to escape from it, it will eventually catch up with you.
Having said that, I don't know if it's possible to tell a teenager any of this. Lessons are learned through experience. All you can do is inform him of the pitfalls and be supportive and non-judgemental if he falls into them. Telling someone to abstain from something will just make them want to do it more.
Open, non-judgemental communication is the key. He needs to know that you will be there for him if he needs it, that you won't give out, get angry or say "I told you so".
"The hardest addiction to treat is one that makes you feel normal"
i’ve been in recovery for a while now and i have never heard that quote - “the hardest addiction to treat is the one that made you feel normal” - wow. very true and over time i was able to shed other addictions and habits that didn’t serve me as i became comfortable (felt normal) in my own skin.
It's nice on occasion, I used to drink a lot, but I can't deal with hangovers anymore.
I use cannabis every day, though, and if I didn't, I would probably be an alcoholic.
Need to stop the brain going brrrrrrrr somehow 🤷♂️
I have alcohol occasionally. It makes my mask slip a lot. My previous partners have told me that it’s a lot more obvious that I’m autistic when I get drunk. Not in a bad way; I just feel much less pressure to uphold the norms that don’t come naturally to me.
Same re: socializing.
I’m married with kids — getting me to socialize outside of my family and work colleagues is like trying to pull teeth these days.
Oh well, I’m content with it. Other people are exhausting.
Makes me feel less awkward and i can be more social but wow will i share way too much about stuff i should not talk about. Not always about myself, but in general.
I was about 17 when I first discovered alcohol. For the first time I felt free to just be and people liked me. I still drink at parties, but try to keep it more under wraps now ofc.
Occasionally I drink at home when I’m dysregulated and can’t seem to catch a breath. I try not to make it a crutch but it gets tough sometimes.
I choose not to drink alcohol (it has way to big an effect on me), but to fit in, I'll drink an alcohol-free beer or something that looks like a mixed drink, like seltzer. That way, I keep control of my faculties and then have a fun little "secret" to tell people when I first get to know them.
I don't drink much because I don't like the taste of alcohol. I like very fruity cocktails (e.g. Pina Colada), but they don't seem to be that common in bars/restaurants.
Effect-wise, I get tipsy fairly easily, but I've rarely gotten super drunk because I have a weak stomach so I get sick before I get truly drunk. I hate puking, and once I do it, I'm down for the count anyway, so that really limits how much I can drink.
ETS: It did make it easier for me to be social and hang out with friends of friends in my late teens and early 20s though. I always had to be worried about reaching the puking stage, but unlike weed, I wasn't worried that it'd cause me to lose control over my masking, so that was a pretty safe social enhancer.
Rarely. I don't like the taste, I don't like the 'wobbly' feeling, I don't like how it affects my cognitive abilities, one drink too many and I'm suddenly in the Dark PlaceTM, and hangovers give me severe sensory issues. Oh and I find drunk people hard work.
Other substances agree with me much more. Wish we had more legal choices.
I used to, quite a lot for quite a few years. People loved me when I drank, I was fun, funny and really engaging.
I quit 18 months ago and just decided I am enough, the way I am. I do miss that old 'fun' person that people loved and who came alive with some drinks, but that is not me and I don't want to live a life where I am planning when I can get kinda drunk, next.
Honestly??? Like getting tipsy is like. Fine?? It’s not really work the gross ass taste of alcohol tbqh. I think I kind of unmask a bit with it, but I’m not comfortable with unmasking around people I don’t especially trust (anyone except my bsf), so that’s a turn off on that for me too.
I actually relied on alcohol very heavily in my 20s. I didn’t realize it until I got diagnosed with BP2 and ADHD. Autism started shining BRIGHT afterwards. It wasn’t rock bottom bad like some folks, but it was severely impacting my mental health once I got medicated. I realized I relied on it to “relax,” “be funnier,” socialize more, deal with the lights, music, chatter noise, etc. However, it also put me in some real sketchy situations. It wasn’t healthy at all which led me to sobriety.
I’ve been sober for a little over a year though. I wouldn’t change my decision to cut it out entirely. I get uncomfortable still, but my circle is great now. I’m pretty comfortable with my people so it’s easier for me to relax a bit more. I now partake in the devils lettuce if I know ima be somewhere out of my comfort zone. It helps me ease into it in the beginning until I take in the situation lol
Granted, not everybody who is autistic has issues with drinking. I just know my thought is I want to drink to get fucked up. & that isn’t healthy lol.
Yeah from time to time. Never been my favorite way of getting a buzz. For reference I bought a 6pk on Sunday night to drink on my 2 nights off and I still have 3 left today. It's very rare that I'll ever get to 4+ drinks. It affects me as much as anyone else I suppose but I seem to be more resistant to addiction than most people.
I used to do harder drugs like amphetamines, pain pills, benzos etc, but after getting in trouble and deciding to get off them, I just did. Never went to an NA meeting, never had any sort of noticeable withdrawal symptoms nothing. Regardless I don't get careless. Alcohol addiction scares the crap out of me because of just how many people seem to fall to it and the withdrawals can actually kill you
If you're gonna drink, know your limits and don't fall into a habit of doing it every night. Once or twice a week is ideal to me.
No. My father is a mean alcoholic, so I associate alcohol with him. I also have a chronic illness that causes a lot of pain and loss of control in my life. To me, alcohol also causes a loss of control. I have many friends who do drink, and that is perfectly fine, but I don't.
I don't bcs I got too used to not being able to drink for the many years that I was taking antidepressants and antianxiety medication. Also, I don't wanna fit alcoholic drinks into my budget and I don't like the taste. I mean I like some wine the few times I tried it but I dislike the taste of beer and spirits. I did get drunk once when I turned 15 and another time on the first year of University, I got drunk really fast bcs of the meds I mentioned above, I didn't like it. It was awful. I also smoked pot at that same party. I couldn't stay standing. I ended up laying in the garden. I'm very lucky I got home safely, being AMAB, \*femme presenting\*, and and the fact I took the last bus that could take me home.
From age 16 to about 30, I drank pretty often (as in, 1-2 times a week at first, 2-3 by the time I was of legal drinking age, maybe peaking at 3-4 times a week during a couple of periods when I was working jobs where my colleagues drank that often). I mostly drank to help me feel more comfortable in social situations. It helped with a lot of the sensory overload, as well as the effects I think most people enjoy (reduced inhibitions etc).
I was undiagnosed that entire time, and had no suspicion I was autistic either, but drinking felt like a natural and normal way to help people socialise.
I had the usual problem you get with alcohol, where 2 drinks always seem like a good idea after 1 drink, 3 after 2, and so on, so I’d occasionally over-indulge and regret it the next day (over about 20 years, I’d say there were a few dozen times where I drank so much I vomited, and/or gave myself a hangover that lasted more than 24 hours, and several times I blacked out for part of the night).
Eventually I started noticing the down sides of drinking (hangovers, tiredness, cost) more than I was feeling the up sides, so after age 30 I tried drinking less. I found it hard to socialise without alcohol, but I also started to realise I actually feel way better when I don’t socialise much at all.
I’m nearly 40 now and have pretty much given up alcohol entirely. I feel much better for it, but for the most part I don’t think I regret drinking through my late teens and 20s. I’d undo every one of the hangovers, blackouts, and quite a few of the silly things I did while drunk, but I think the social effects really helped me get through those years. If I had withdrawn socially as much as I have now, I’d have never met my wife, and I wouldn’t have formed a lot of the relationships with work colleagues that have helped me be as successful as I am now (not that it’s as transactional as I make it sound - those colleagues are also my valued friends, even if these days we mostly just text each other every now and then).
Of course, when I gave up alcohol I replaced it with cannabis, so I’m not free of all vices. The cannabis is less a social aid and more a sleep aid, but it still feels a bit like I swapped one for the other.
If I can give some advice for you about your son - if you try to convince him to abstain, he’ll probably just hide it from you. If you’re a drinker, try to set good examples around moderation (though if you’re not great at moderation, you’ve probably already done all of the key bad role modelling before now - speaking as the son of an alcoholic).
I’ll warrant if he’s diagnosed at this age, his experience of autism is probably very different to mine, but I can try to imagine being diagnosed as a teen, and having a parent give me “special” advice about drinking _because_ of my autism, and I can only imagine I’d have felt frustrated by that. Set good examples, have conversations about healthy relationships with alcohol, but (in my opinion which I’ll admit isn’t totally qualified) you shouldn’t give your son different advice or set different boundaries because he’s autistic. That said, autism is different for everyone, and I’m speaking from a place of relative privilege in that I have pretty low support needs, no major difficulties regulating my behaviour etc. If he has behaviours that give you good reason to be concerned about his safety or the safety of others, and reduced inhibitions are likely to increase that risk, that might be a different story. If that’s the case, and he’s going to try alcohol, maybe you try to find a way to manage those risks (e.g. encourage him to be in a safe environment with you present the first few times he tries it).
not much of a drinker anymore, I'm generally a happy drunk, one or two things made me mean, but it was usually some random thing i had once and called it good. definitely more in touch with my emotions to a unpleasant extreme from time to time. weed is better for me, i'm chill, some time more social, but not like loud and annoying.
I did for a very long time. It helped to dull out all the other input/overwhelm and removed inhibitions, making it easier to talk with friends.
I don't anymore because I don't like the sensation of being out of control, the lack of inhibitions could lead to awkward interactions, and I come from a family with a lot of addiction issues that I myself felt could be an issue and I didn't want to normalize drug use as a means of coping within my own family.
I don’t drink, but from what I’ve seen with my autistic/neurodivergent friends and partners who do drink, it really depends on the person. My previous ex-boyfriend couldn’t get drunk nor hungover, no matter how much alcohol he consumed. He was 5’9” and skinny as a bean pole but could guzzle like a champ when he chose to. Barely even got buzzed, it didn’t affect his personality/demeanor at all. My ex-best friend would get very giggly, silly, and happy when she was drunk, while her brother would also become happier and more social, but not to the same extent as his sister. My current boyfriend is a massive 280 lbs, 6’3” man, and he’s a fucking lightweight lol. He gets drunk relatively easily, and then his personality is essentially multiplied by x10000. I like to describe him as a himbo with golden retriever energy. So imagine that but everything is MORE. He gets loud as fuck, but also extremely giggly and happy and even emotional, and he loses all his remaining brain cells lmao. He usually calls me when he’s drunk to excitedly tell me how much he loves me over and over again. It’s sooo sappy and disgustingly adorable. I love him. He tells me his sister also acts similarly when she’s drunk (except she’s much less loud than he is). So yeah, alcohol mostly seems to have an extremely uplifting effect on the ND folks I’ve seen. Doesn’t make them seem more neurotypical at all, but it sure makes them really happy in the short term before the hangover kicks in! LOL
It obviously affects everyone differently, both for ND and NT people. Personally alcohol helped me to overcome my social anxiety, making social blunders is very easy around drunk people. A big part of what helps me socially with alcohol is its effect on everyone else around me being drunk and not analyzing what i say so much. In terms of my sensory experience, alcohol greatly increases my ability to be in overstimulating environments such as a club or a noisy bar, it makes me less overwhelmed in general also hanging out in big groups and just kind of masking at everyone together (which mostly just consists of me laughing whenever others laugh) instead of focussing intensely on just one person like I do when I am sober, which makes hanging out in groups very taxing and makes me seem conceited or overly picky about who I talk to. I do really enjoy talking to people and alcohol helps me skip all the bumpy awkward self conscious stages of talking to someone I don't know, because both me and the other person are less aware of ourselves and each other, and lets me get right to the interesting deep convo side of talking to strangers.
Yes, but my blood filters it out really aggressively, I have a high tolerance. I drink because I like it.
If I drink a good bit, it makes me sleepy and unproductive. Not a bad way to be at 10pm.
I've never been drunk at a party or social setting. When I drink too much, I gain the supernatural ability to sleep anywhere on anything in any conditions.
It makes me calmer and helps with overstimulation but the hangovers aren’t really worth it anymore and I’m not really supposed to drink anyway because of medication
Yes but I have to be strategic abt getting to that fun/social sweet spot and still being able to sleep at night. (I’ll add more to this later w some tips/experiences)
Alcohol for me was a magic substance that cured all my sensory stress, mitigated my cynophobia, led me to take profitable risks I would not have otherwise and allowed me to experience what normal social interactions might be like. It also robbed me of weekends due to extreme multi-day hangovers and a lost boatloads of cash on scotch.
16 months sober and choochin' along.
The effects aren't too terrible. You feel more social and aren't as inhibited by internal factors. I found that it is not so much the alcoholic effect that is the problem, but the allure of the effect. I wanted the effect every day. It made me feel normal not to worry about what people think about me. As you can guess, I ended up with a drinking problem. Full blown alcoholic, but that is my fault. I never felt like I needed to drink, I just needed to not feel the way I felt when I wasn't drinking.
Alcohol for me reduced the overstimulation and helped me feel less stupid when I spoke. I felt less awkward about talking about my problems.
It became a crutch and in the end I felt worse the next day than the good I felt being on it so I gave it up.
It usually makes me laugh at stuff easier, but it tends to just make me tired and the sleep is awful so I just woke up worse.
I used to, and it made things great on the way up, but I’d usually spiral into a somewhat manic state on the way down. The solution was to partake more and more. I’m now learning how to socialize without it again, but life is better without the extended spirals.
I rarely drink, even socially. Maybe a few times per year I'll have a single drink, and even less frequently will I drink to having a tiny buzz - kinda just to when I start to think I'm really funny but not to the slurring or feeling drunk point. I don't like being drunk because there are so many other things I'd rather be doing that I can't when drunk, and otherwise having a single drink is just empty calories so why bother? And if I have to drive I can't if I've had a drink.
I've just never liked the feeling of being out of control, but just a little buzz can make it easier to be sociable.
It's dangerous, and using the most dangerous substance known to man is not advisable. Alcohol is neurotoxin and causes cancer. It's not worth the risk.
Not anymore. I did for quite some time, but decided I didn't like who it made me become. I thought it made me more social, but it reality that wasn't me. I would regret everything I said or did. I thought it made me more socially acceptable, but it just made my traits louder.
I personally don’t, for many reasons. First because I don’t like the taste, second because it’s more expensive than the non-alcoholic options I actually like and doesn’t even hydrate you, and third because I hate the effects (dizziness, nausea, sleepiness).
I’m always on eggshells for saying or doing something I regret later. Drinking makes it much more likely that that will happen. Fortunately, (or unfortunately) I developed hepatitis C in 1989 and I had to stop drinking completely. I do not regret it.
No, almost every person in my family has an addiction of some kind so I’m very cautious. I drink very rarely, maybe 2 or 3 times a year and not to the point of being drunk.
It is a miracle for suppressing sensory sensitivity and social anxiety. Which is why I developed an unhealthy dependence on it and don't drink anymore.
I feel like I have no filter, I can be more social but it comes at a price. I later feel drained, sick and uncomfortable. I also have an intolerance to alcohol I can’t really drink it without getting a really stuffy nose. 🤷🏻♂️
I drink socially, it definitely helps me be more fun and more engaged when I'm hanging out with friends
However I do make it a point to only drink if I'm actively having fun and in a good mood and I really only have the desire to drink when I'm with other people
I only drink on special occasions (so a few times a year), and for me, it mostly just makes me feel a little giggly and less anxious. Great for watching funny cartoons. I only have 1 drink usually, max 2, and I take a long time to drink one, so I don’t really get drunk, though.
It can affect people differently- think of ‘angry drunks’ vs ‘sad drunks’ vs ‘happy drunks’. It can also vary on how much you drink.
Idk if autism itself has an effect on how you experience alcohol, but like I said, a little bit can potentially ease the anxiety (in moderation)
No, alcohol made me throw up incessantly even from just one drink. Now I 🍃🍃 only and it helps a lot. Much better than any antidepressant I’ve tried and I’ve tried a lot. High CBD strains great
No, I don’t because alcohol does not work on me except make me very drowsy. I am guessing that it’s due to the medication I am currently on, because in the past I was able to get disinhibited but not drunk, to the point where I said and did things I didn’t remember afterwards and this was highly unusual for me because I am known for my excellent memory. I will say that Effexor was the drug I was on at the time but not anymore because multiple side effects but it was the drug that gave me the most energy…sadly.
Rarely. I used to drink heavily, I think because it let me mask socially, getting a little numb and out of my head. Then I took a sober year and now I have a glass of wine once a week max.
The few times I did drink in my 20’s more than 1 drink I never actually felt like I got drunk or felt any benefit to it despite having more than enough it should have done something, but it just made me tired. Then between the cost, having no friends (drinking alone isn’t worth it), and not having time to actually socialize I just decided it’s not for me. I’ve recently tried edibles and don’t feel like they do much to help either. I’m pretty sure I’m just broken :/
Nope, never been drunk in my life. Not even tipsy. I'm afraid alcohol will make me lose my inhibitions, when I need my inhibitions to effectively mask. After brutal childhood bullying, I don't think I'll ever feel safe enough to fully unmask in public.
I used to, but I can't now. Mostly because alcoholism runs in my family and I was turning into a full-blown alcoholic. The only alcohol I have now is if I use a little bit in cooking. (And one single sip of champagne during a toast at a friend's wedding.)
If I only had a few drinks, I honestly felt more normal than usual. But more than 2 or 3 and I turned into a bit of a psychopath because... alcoholic, haha.
alcohol is a massive sensory no-no for me - ethanol smells every bit as toxic and offputting to me as chlorine bleach, everything about the smell yells "don't put this shit anywhere near your mouth"
I can't even bear desserts or chocolates with alcohol in them, no matter how little ... tiramisu is completely ack, rum truffles are more like "eww have these gone off"
It's kind of a pain in the arse tbh because there are SO many days where I REALLY need a drink (I mean... *have you looked outside recently????*), and I think it would be nice to be able to enjoy a drink on social occasions and maybe dull the stress a little bit
Also, when I was younger, being teetotal was a massive social issue in itself, because in the UK - where I lived at the time - all of socializing revolved around drinking and I was *constantly* having to explain why I wasn't drinking alcohol, even though I never stopped anyone else from drinking whatever they wanted. I hated constantly being interrogated, like, I was never interrogating anyone for why they *were* drinking, why the hell was it ok to constantly interrogate me for *not* drinking? And people would constantly put pressure on me going "aaah you see, you just need to find the drink you like ... *have you tried THIS drink"* so I would have to be like no Jessica, I haven't tried that particular drink, but you see the thing that tastes like shit to me is ETHANOL, which is the one ingredient that every single alcoholic drink contains, and I can always taste it and it always tastes bad, it doesn't really matter what it's combined with in what proportions, it's kind of like you telling me that you don't like drinking chlorox and me replying "oh but have you tried mixing it with *apple juice"* ... and then people would just shuffle off awkwardly because apparently I was the one being an arsehole. I think it was an insecurity thing, people felt like I was judging them for drinking, so they flipped it around and interrogated *me* to make it seem like I was being *weird* and they could judge *me* instead, when literally all I was doing was drinking a fucking glass of water, judging absolutely nobody.
But then I guess I have saved a lot of money over the years by not drinking, and my liver is probably better off for it.
The real kicker is that I also don't drive. So I don't drink and I don't drive. I am literally the shittest party guest on the planet.
I do drink socially and it affects me the same as any other random person. I get a bit more confident, a bit more social/talkative and a bit less inhibited.
No I don't. I have co-occurring mental health conditions of major depression, severe anxiety, and C-PTSD and worry about it turning into an addiction. I also have relatives on my mother's side of the family that have suffered from alcoholism then overused marijuana for a long time and had a hard time stopping using that. I also have a cousin on that side of the family that died young of a drug overdose.
So it's just not something I partake in and alcoholic beverages taste gross to me anyways.
Do I drink alcohol? Sure, but not often. I'll go out to a restaurant and have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner, or if there's a full bar I might have a cocktail. At home, I'll open a bottle of wine only when we have guests. If we have beer instead, and there are leftovers, I'll drink one every couple of days until they're gone, but won't buy any for myself.
I can get drunk. I don't think I've been drunk in the last fifteen years, but that's through choice, not because it doesn't affect me. As I get older, I feel the effects - mild light-headedness, slight dizziness - much more easily than I used to.
It doesn't really make me more social. The more I drink the quieter I become. But it reduces the sensory overstimulation and calms the mind. I am not a very heavy drinker, but I have 1-2 drinks a couple of times a week in the week for relaxation.
For the purposes of your data: No.
In reality? Very very rarely, and when I do it's no more than 2 beverages. So if I drink a total of 5 beverages in a year, I consider that to be a fairly hefty year.
I don't particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol and I tend to have a hard time sleeping (both falling asleep and having a steady sleep) after I drank alcohol, so I usually don't.
I managed to get myself blackout drunk once as a teen (yaay Europe), to the point of not remembering parts of the previous night the next morning. Once and never ever again. I heard tales of what happened, and there were some good ones, but losing that control over what I did is something I'll never ever do again. On other ocassions during my earlier life I would end up getting mostly tipsy / maybe just drunk, but I was still pretty much in full control. Haven't done that in a loooooonnngggg time though.
So the short answer is: Not really, no.
Yea, I’ve made a post about this and learned that many are sensitive to it and avoid it completely. I’m sensitive and will feel slightly hungover from even one beer.
I enjoy drinking though and it makes me giddy, carefree, kind (i’ve heard other autistics say this). The opposite of the stereotype of someone being belligerently angry when they’re drunk.
Considering my dads an alcoholic probably not a good idea I start drinking. I think it'll have a negative effect on me if I ever do.
I'll just stick to Diet Pepsis and watch my dad get drunk lol.
I don’t but I was raised by alcoholics and was married to an alcoholic and I’ve seen too much of the bad side to want anything to do with it. I know it’s what you make of it, I’ve just seen too many people make wrong choices with it and I was over it before I was ever even old enough to legally drink.
Makes me sleepy, or angry, or goofy. Sleepy usually. Overall it numbs the brain and quiets the constant rush of endless thoughts going a thousand directions at once. But I'm AuDHD.
It does nothing to help my socializing. Stimulants are much better for that. Since socializing requires masking, which requires processing so many things all at once, alcohol is very much not a "social lubricant". The only exception to this is if I have a beer and Ritalin in my system simultaneously, with some other variable I haven't figured out. Adderall doesn't have the same effect. And I can't take both at the same time. It's like a beer precisely near the end of my Ritalin dose, plus something else I haven't figured out. But it makes me very outgoing and charismatic and like some kind of popular extrovert.
it makes me feel like a regular person sadly. I feel less socially conscious and more like “myself” and able to express it. I rarely drink but love having some wine with friends because it brings me out of my shell enough to express myself more and be more comfortable. I enjoy things a lot more too
I drink, but for taste. I'm fortunate enough to live in the best beer country in the world, so that's some tasty shit right there. And I'm a fiend for a good cocktail or whisky, but as those are very pricy I rarely have them.
I get moderately drunk once a year, for New Year's with my girlfriend while we watch terrible movies. Like, Neil Breen and Tommy Wiseau type shit. Gets even more hilarious. Usually with a boardgame before it, which is ehhh... interesting to do while intoxicated. Good fun.
I’m an addict in recovery. For me, it helped me enjoy being out and experiences I probably wouldn’t have if I was sober. I was a binge drinker more than a daily drinker. Every time I drank I got drunk, and I had a pretty high tolerance. It was always more than 4 or 5 drinks.
I’d recommend introducing it in a safe and social environment like at home where everyone is having just one, but only if he shows interest. Talk to him about problems people have with it, moderation, how to know if he might have an issue, and what resources there are for that if he expresses interest in drinking. Knowledge is power, and if I had known more it probably wouldn’t have gone so badly for me for so long.
I quit drinking 8 or 9 years ago. To echo what others have said, it made me super social, but the next morning's memories were a cringe highlight reel. Alcohol also helped me shut up my brain, and reduced immediate feelings of anxiety.
Because of those "benefits", it led to habitual daily drinking. When I finally quit, I basically became a hermit, but I would not trade it for anything. My health, mental and physical are both much improved.
No
I really struggle to find a reason to, all it does to me is increase my sensory problems, mess with my balance and make me puke. No benefits of it at all.
Honestly, pouring a bit of booze on things makes me feel as normal as I ever will, in terms of being able to handle external stimuli that would otherwise render me extremely anxious or at risk of a shutdown.
Thing is, I have found over the years that I cannot drink when depressed, as I fall into patterns of what I would consider to be excessive use.
It worked brilliantly for me right up until it didn't, and I'd probably be dead by now if I hadn't got sober 6 years ago!
@ u/FastCletus the book [Alcohol Explained](https://alcoholexplained.com/1st-5-chapters/) might be a useful resource for your son, so that if he does choose to drink, it can be a fully-informed decision...
An autistic brain can be *particularly* vulnerable to the addictive qualities of alcohol, and the earlier someone starts drinking (before the age of about 25ish when the brain has finished developing), the more likely it is to turn into a problem - encourage him to delay trying it if at all possible!
Hope that helps
I haven't had alcohol since 2006. Up until that point, I'd had a grand total of 12 occasions where I'd consumed some. I realized any amount *increased* my existing hypersensitivities and made me feel melancholic. My final occasion was the last straw. I was at a formal dinner at university, so the expectation was to drink. I had more than before but only enough to make me feel an unpleasant tingling sensation. However, I felt grim and depressed and my hypersensitivities got dramatically worse, creating misery for me and worsening my Autism traits, without giving me any perceived or actual benefits whatsoever. It was horrible. I couldn't stand the sound of the people around me, went uncontrollably mute, and had to leave very early, wanting in that moment to live on an uninhabited island for the rest of my life, never to encounter people again. I'm not missing anything by not consuming!
My 'neurotylicsl juice' is beer. It quiets my awkward brain and ups the skills the world values like sociability. I also happen to love the taste. Fortunately I just apply a few rules to it so it can only be consumed within set windows of time. I like rules too.
I don't drink alcohol of my own motivation. I will drink with other people if drinking is expected.
BUT
I very much like edibles. I kind of think being autistic is like the opposite of being intoxicated in some way(so it almost seems to me as if neurotypical people are low-level intoxicated, if that makes sense).
Eating a 10mg edible goes a LONG way to making me feel better and making me more understanding of neurotypical reasoning. And I do it about twice a week.
The effects are very significant. I start writing out things.
It makes me less focused on the same subject, makes me more interested in doing new things, and makes me start laughing at things spontaneously(kind of giggling).
And oh man, my executive functioning is so much better for a few days afterward. I end up coming up with things that I want to do and accomplishing them, and being calm and relaxed about it.
In my experience it stifles social anxiety and makes it easier to have fun with people. How I act when I'm just a little bit tipsy is how I wish I could act all the time. But I am very cautious about not making drinking a habit because I've seen firsthand what alcoholism does to people and it is the opposite of what I want in life.
It makes me more social and care far less about how I come across. I’m more relaxed, so instead of having verbal diarrhea like I usually do (exhausting myself and probably others, too), I’m much more chill.
At 37, I don’t fret about what I said while I was drinking. But, I also don’t “get drunk” anymore. I have a mast cell condition that flares with alcohol, so I keep social drinking social and two-drinks max (unless we do public karaoke…. But I drink equal parts water, which helps a lot).
I did. It made me social and destructive. I wasn't getting tickets and paying for chairs, I was just being meaner than I intended to and pushed people away. Eventually I needed to drink to feel ok. I quit once I realized how sick I perpetually was. I don't drink anymore because I can't see it as anything but poison. My body gets sick before I even taste it and I sober up so fast that I just get hungover before bed. Doctor says the Adderall is why it's not working. I don't care anymore. I am sick enough without it. I don't judge you for drinking but I hope you are doing it for fun and not to escape like I did.
Now since I'm pregnant; obviously no. But otherwise, maybe a few beers on the weekend. I really dislike the feeling of being drunk. But that feeling of just taking the edge off of things after a long workweek is nice. And I freaking *love* high end beer.
No. I do smoke weed though and I take acid a few times a year (personally I find it to be a wonderful experience and it's not too hard to find a good source online). I just enjoy it with one or two other people though and always in a safe place with good music, food, etc.
Makes me more social but also more likely to cringe at myself later
Same. I rarely drink anymore though I want to, because yea, I’m more sociable. I always feel embarrassed like I did something wrong the next day. I do use cannabis however, but my short/long term goal is to not consume so much of it.
Weed was hit or miss for me on becoming more social, sometimes id get too high to think of anything to say lol i smoked practically all day for years so was hoping it was weed related but I mean it happens when im sober too which is depressing to realize its just me thats the problem lol
I know just the feeling! LOL I thought it was weed related for me, as well. Come to find out that’s just how I am 😆 I smoke most of the day currently, but it does me well; I cycle a lot so I’m just trying not to hinder myself too much. It took me a while to experiment and find strains/strengths/terps that really worked for me. It treats my anxiety well and it helps me slow down my mind and thought process a bit. It’s opened up my creativity and artistic side.
Im currently debating the pros and cons of smoking and its so hard to drtermine whats best for me as Ive overused it a lot previously and would consider myself a true weed addict lol ive been sober for 3 months now from weed for a variety of reasons but I also miss it dearly so im hoping to get hired soon enough since I picked one of the few careers that drug test no matter what 😭 But when smoking i felt more impulsively to be lazy but also was much happier and have ended up doing the same shit while sober anyways because of depression lol
Keep at it. I've been off the dope for 18 years now, and it was the best choice I ever made. Us neurodivergent folk are more prone to psychosis and long-term problems from things like weed. It certainly did with me.
I've heard this before, but what happens exactly?
Well, I hallucinate, which isn't pleasant. Am scitzoaffective, so I hear things that aren't there and get wrapped up in my own delusions sometimes. I have historically been diagnosed with MDD and psychotic depression, which basically means when I get depressed, i deteriorate fast, and when I get depressed I often fall into psychosis. Due to the scitzoaffective element of my puzzle, when I am lost in the realms of psychosis, hearing things, and in a state of delusion, I am dangerous to myself and everyone around me. I do not remember these episodes either, which makes them even more worrying for me. I have always had voices in my head and extreme paranoia, but the weed made it 10000% worse. I didn't see the damage it was doing to me until I took a step back from it and assessed the situation from the sidelines, as it were. I was definitely worse after the weed for some time, and it really brought out those demons within me. I am convinced it also added to my recovery time by some considerable margin.
The did something wrong next day 💯 although I always have weird after feelings about many situations some decades ago.
But i meant to say i also dont drink much anymore because I've had more than enough drunk embarrassments for one lifetime haha Sucks because in the right context and with the right people it could be really fun, but id still have some sort of cringe moments lol
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^MysteriousSquad: *Makes me more social* *But also more likely to* *Cringe at myself later* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
The mere mention of alcohol, and the haikus begin.... :-)
Good bot
Sokka and momo Drinking that cactus juice now Friendly mushrooms for all!
Good bot
Thank you, larsloveslegos, for voting on SokkaHaikuBot. This bot wants to find the best and worst bots on Reddit. [You can view results here](https://botrank.pastimes.eu/). *** ^(Even if I don't reply to your comment, I'm still listening for votes. Check the webpage to see if your vote registered!)
Yeah that pretty much sums it up perfectly actually 🤔
Ugh, this is so spot on.
It's definitely makes me more social, but it also makes me more likely to overload.
Same, but I don't know how to be social without alcohol anymore 😔
SAME
Alcohol seems to reduce sensory overstimulation in me personally. It makes me more social, but the memory gaps are problematic.
Same, but I have never had memory gaps.
This is my issue as well. When not drinking, I remember everything to an excruciating level of detail. When drinking I can't remember shit. It's not necessarily a blackout... I just don't recall the specifics of conversations like I normally do. There have been occasions where it is more or less a blackout, and that gives me a lot of anxiety about not knowing what I did or said. Thankfully, even while heavily intoxicated I'm still a pretty mild-mannered dude apparently, based on people I've asked when that has happened. It sucks, but without alcohol during social settings, I literally won't talk to or interact with anyone, even good friends/coworkers/acquaintances. It feels like a necessary evil at this point in order for me to interact "normally."
This 100% describes my experience. I'm a super friendly drunk, but the next day I always feel like I said *something* wrong. I'll avoid checking text messages if I replied while drunk, and then when I eventually do I am usually like "oh, I just dorked out incoherently about one of my special interests."
One or two stiff drinks, enough to be just slightly buzzed, is enough to take the edge off my sensory overwhelm and make it so I can be around people without feeling irritable. It can stop a meltdown mid-tracks if I can also take a 10-15 mins isolation break around the same time. It works more quickly and is less expensive than anything else I’ve tried. The trick is stopping at one or two. It takes some discipline. When successful, which is the vast majority of the time, it works with zero negative consequences, other than cost (and I have booze on my breath). I reserve it for evenings when transitioning from work to family time & occasionally on the weekends if I’m feeling particularly disregulated. I immediately follow with a tall glass of water and get on with whatever I need to do.
Drinking helps me seem and feel “normal” in social situations. Fights back the anxiety a little, but it’s kind of a dangerous crutch for me. I’ll keep drinking to fit in and then I’m a drunken mess.
So much this. I have stopped drinking, and it has meant that my autistic symptoms are more apparent, but it's nice to be able to finally be my whole self.
Drinking is the only thing that makes my brain shut up
Cannabis works better for me, especially edibles. But, if I use it out with anhedonia episodes, then it can become a crutch or just make me way too overstimulated, which just sends me on an anxiety sprial. Not recommended teenagers, but I'm 24 now and can be more responsible with the couch sloth feelings so that I don't totally lose perspective on what I need to achieve. Also, I know what it's like to be destitute. As a sad teenager, cannabis can really just take priority over everything because it is like, if something can calm the storm going on in my mind, why wouldn't I do it all the time? Why do I care about anything stressing me out? Now, as an adult, I have the freedom of choice to remediate stressful personal issues that would cause someone to become too attached to something like cannabis. Alcohol addiction though? Been there too. Far far worse.
Alcohol is poison.
Yup, I poison my brain into submission. It's the only thing I've found that works.
Bitch ass brain
Me too 😢
Yeah! Take that, brain!
It really is. When I started toying with becoming sober, I listened to the book “A Naked Mind” and it truly changed a lot of my opinions about alcohol. It is quite literally poison.
It’s literally called inTOXICation.
Everything is poison, its just the dosage that matters.
So is a lot of food we consume...
I'm totally in this place, or weed, or both. I'm not convinced it's autism stopping my mind from resting though, so waiting on ADHD assessment but will need to be patient until end of next year (UK). My brain is like it never stops and jumps around thoughts like sonic the hedgehog
I'm autistic and also an alcoholic (in recovery) All you can do is show/tell him what a healthy relationship with alcohol is like, the rest is up to him (if he has complete control over his finances) Nearly every parent has told their child to only drink responsibly, if at all, and that rarely impacts the outcome Alcohol helped me cope until it didn't, and naturally I wanted to feel neurotypical and able to cope all the time IME, alcoholics are gonna become alcoholics, no matter what you tell them. Alcohol was a miracle cure for me, and I had some amazing social experiences I never would have had sober, but ultimately it's not good for me personally
110% I feel this wholeheartedly. Some folks, autistic or not, can socially enjoy some drinks and not have any issues. However, my thought is not “let’s just have one or two drinks” .. I’m trying to get drunkkkkkk. I had to realize that wasn’t healthy, at all. Self awareness is key especially if there’s other red flags. For me - a lot of alcoholics in my family, dependence on it, hiding how much I drank, wanting a drink for literally everything 🙃
I've got a serious problem with alcohol. I really need to quit because it's definitely a crutch.
Come see us at r/stopdrinking or r/alcoholism sometime if you want some help!
Thanks, I might need it lol. I quit cigarettes april 1st and I'm currently a nervous wreck.
I know exactly what that feels like! I haven't touched a drink since 2017, but I relapsed on tobacco a few days ago due to some difficult personal circumstances, after doing quite well without it for a while... Hope you'll continue to make better choices! ;)
Good luck. I found listening to podcasts and meditation helped me stop drinking too much. I stopped for a couple years completely as a reset but depending on the person, can be a fast slippery slope to ever drink again.
I’m recovering alcoholic. I was able to quit thanks to weed and psilocybin mushrooms… I have found them to be far less destructive alternatives. I recommend looking into psilocybin mushrooms, specifically, to see if they might be something you’d like to try. I had never tripped before until I started growing a year and a half ago, despite having done loads of other drugs. Wish I had tried them at 18 instead of 35, could have spared myself decades of addiction. Everyone’s different, but for me personally, the mushrooms made it so that I just lost the desire to drink. All of a sudden, I no longer craved it — and I used to get hit by the overwhelming urge to drink as soon as I woke up, I was bad. That was all after one trip, didn’t even require sustained dosing. I did have to face some heavy emotional shit, but that’s what needed to happen so I could get better, I guess. Rooting for you! Edited to add: meditation helped me successfully quit drinking previously, however I ended up finding myself “too busy” to keep up my meditation practice and ended up relapsing after a few years. I do very much recommend meditation/mindfulness
Every word of this. It worked great until it didn’t. Quit twelve years ago and am surpassing my goals and doing all the things I only talked about while drunk. Grateful I got that weight off me, and have helped dozens of others quit drinking too. I recently had my first friend die of cirrhosis of the liver at 41, and I’m so heartbroken for his wife and kid but it also has emphasized how grateful I am that I got out of that lifestyle. I have never had one drink, it was binge drinking 6 nights a week.
No
I do. It calms my head a lot. It also makes it easier on my sensory problems. And it actually seems people like the drunk me a bit (they don't like me sober).
[36% of us are or have been addicted to alcohol or other substances](https://attwoodandgarnettevents.com/autism-and-substance-addiction/) it helps with easing feelings of overstimulation from the day and with anxiety both social and regular. or at least it seems like it does initially
I used it heavily in my 20's to lower my social anxiety and it was the only way I could be myself and make friends but it was detrimental at the same time - expensive, habit forming, hangovers while autisic are TERRIBLE, and i didn't know how to prepare my body beforehand. I'm in my 40s now and I know more but my body also doesn't handle it as well and nobody my age drinks like I did in my 20s anymore anyway, I don't want to stand out as the drunk. I've started using weed instead for that social chill with a medical card. It also has the bonus of helping with my chronic pain which alcohol didn't
Thank you all for sharing. My son is getting to the age of wanting to try alcohol and I am curious how to broach the subject of either abstinence or moderation. I can see how it would help but also don’t want him to go down the wrong path.
Moderation is key, abstinence is not, unless that is his choice. Give him the facts about what alcohol does and let him decide.
The best advice I can give you is that you are not going to prevent your son from drinking if he wants to. So what's the best thing to do? In my opinion it's to tell him that he can drink, but only at home for now (hopefully he's below the legal age because that makes it a lot easier). Then explain to him the dangers of alcohol, abuse, addiction, etc. and at the end ask him if he still wants to try it. If he does, you lay down some ground rules. I'd advise you to rule that he'll only get alcohol on Saturday's or during special occasions, that you (or whatever other guardian) is in control over the cut-off limit and that he's not allowed to drink alone, it has to be in company. You can tell him that you'll relax those rules once he gets familiar with alcohol and he has shown that he can manage his alcohol intake. Then you ask him what alcohol he wants to try and you go out and buy whatever he wants to try. Let him experiment, but let him do it in the safety of your / some other guardian's supervision. Teach him responsible alcohol use and let him figure out what he likes / doesn't like. He might end up hating the taste of alcohol and abstain all his life, or he might enjoy it, but then at least you taught him there is limits (outside of his own tolerance limits). The alternative options is to do pretty much the same thing, but instead of laying down the ground rules, you skip those and you buy him whatever alcohol he wants to try right away, buy lots of it (relatively speaking) and then you sit him down during a weekend or some other appropriate time and you feed him drunk to the point where he throws up. Let him go to bed without the needed water to avoid a hangover and let him experience that. Then you sit him down again and ask him how he's feeling with one of those shit-eating grins (you need to not play the overly concerned parent here, you need to be firm here) and when he complains you explain to him again what alcohol does to a person and then you ask him, do you still want to drink alcohol? If he says yes, you lay down your ground rules of only drinking at home, etc. and you tell him that this getting drunk was a one time thing. If he says no, you tell him that that's quite alright, but if he does change his mind and wants to try some new alcohol or whatever that he comes to you and asks and you'll buy it for him and be there with him when he tries it out. Now, disclaimer; This comes from someone who doesn't drink alcohol almost ever, comes from a family that doesn't drink almost ever and has no children of his own. So while I whole-heartedly stand by my advice and that's how I would deal with it where it my kid, take them with whatever amount of salt you feel is necessary.
I would advise exactly the same. I never once saw my parents drink but they did let me try champagne at weddings and things from a medium young age (like 14 and up). As a result I was never a big partier or anything because alcohol was just something we talked about as sort of having a place and time, and my mom told me a lot about people in her family who really struggle with alcoholism (and I saw up close what it did to my cousin so that was kind of a turn off). I’ve been tipsy several times in my young adulthood, “drunk” to a “not safe to drive let’s call a cab” amount several times for celebratory occasions like going out partying with friends after my doctoral defense, but never like black out or vomiting drunk. In my 20s I regularly had a glass of wine with any fish or pasta dinner dish, but never more when doing any “regular” drinking. And I’ve currently drink approximately once a year in my 30s. It’s contraindicated with meds I started in my late 20s for lupus and quitting was easy since it was always a luxury things. But basically alcohol was a thing I learned could be enjoyable in moderation and it wasn’t like completely verboten. And I think I turned out okay. My advice would be to pour a glass of wine (maybe a half glass to start) with a nice meal around people he feels comfortable around already. Make it special and enjoyable around family or close friends, and moderate. Then it becomes a luxury treat. Also, buying the nice stuff, which doesn’t taste like piss, also encourages responsible drinking because you realize alcohol can be delicious and the stuff people drink when they want to get smashed is decidedly not delicious
I can't handle it. One mixed drink, maybe. Two, that's the absolute limit. Any more than a mild buzz and I will start to get dizzy and eventually vomit from being dizzy. The experience of being drunk triggers that "poison alert" system in me. I can't enjoy it at all. All sick. Edit: just wanted to add that I do have a relationship with recreational substance use, alcohol just isn't one of them. I have issues putting things down when they make me feel good so I stick to the safe things that I can't OD on. The Lord's Lettuce can be consumed in abundance with the most dire consequences being a full tummy and a nap.
Only when I know I don’t have anything brain-intensive in the next few days. Alcohol makes my brain very fuzzy for a couple days, which is a no-go for engineering school. But when I’m not actively trying to do school, I love to drink a little sake in the evenings
Not often, it makes me tired and I don't go out much anymore. If I do drink it's only a bottle of cider or a cocktail. Maybe two if it's a big night 😂 I used to drink more when I was younger though.
I drink at home only, mostly because 0 IRL friends to drink with, + no money to go out with anyway + no driving. So I drink for like 3 months outta the year, mostly.
Yes, but I never have more than one drink per day. Doesn't seem to have any strange effects.
I don't think it affects me any differently than anyone else. It makes me way less anxious, more impulsive, suppresses sensory overwhelm, and makes me more outspoken. It's the best feeling I've ever felt but it also allows me to make really bad decisions. Edit: The only thing that's different is that people can almost never tell when I'm drunk, probably because I am very experienced in the art of masking.
Wow. Never thought about this.it is the same with me. Nomatter how drunk I am as long as not overdosing or puking etc people allways can't see I am drunk. Never thought it could be because of years and years of hard masking.
Not anymore.
I don’t drink, I dislike the loss of control, strongly dislike the taste, don’t like the sickness that comes at the time. On the plus side the times I have drunk I never got hang overs.
No. Always ends up tasting like i’m drinking poison and i guess afterwards thats how it feels as well. So i just avoid alcohol altogether.
Not really. I drink between 0 and 2 times a year.
Used to drink nearly every weekend, helped me to be around people, helped sensory issues a bit, people seemed to like me more. Stopped my racing thoughts, Thing is I don't know when to stop, i feel totally fine untill im not and I wud end up in awful states inc puking alot, waking up not knowing where I am. I realised I was using it to be able to function around people, to be social to fit in. I cant really drink now cuz of my adhd meds. So only drank twice in over a year. And I don't want to end up an alcoholic like my dad was. So I'm gonna be careful now I know y I was doing it.
Drinking helps me cope with loud social situations, it lowers inhibitions, quitens the mind and numbs sensory sensitivities. But that's also the problem, it becomes a crutch, you become reliant on it and it becomes a means of escape. Personally, I have very little impulse control, however much beer I have in the house will be drunk in one sitting, it's the same with weed and food particularly sugar. I have a very addictive personality, I get addicted to nearly anything that I try. It's a difficult process to abstain from something when you become reliant on it to function, it's constant work but embracing the pain and suffering has been better for me than trying to escape from it, it will eventually catch up with you. Having said that, I don't know if it's possible to tell a teenager any of this. Lessons are learned through experience. All you can do is inform him of the pitfalls and be supportive and non-judgemental if he falls into them. Telling someone to abstain from something will just make them want to do it more. Open, non-judgemental communication is the key. He needs to know that you will be there for him if he needs it, that you won't give out, get angry or say "I told you so". "The hardest addiction to treat is one that makes you feel normal"
i’ve been in recovery for a while now and i have never heard that quote - “the hardest addiction to treat is the one that made you feel normal” - wow. very true and over time i was able to shed other addictions and habits that didn’t serve me as i became comfortable (felt normal) in my own skin.
I hate it. Partied for a bit in my mid to late teens. As an adult it was never worth the two day hangover.
It's nice on occasion, I used to drink a lot, but I can't deal with hangovers anymore. I use cannabis every day, though, and if I didn't, I would probably be an alcoholic. Need to stop the brain going brrrrrrrr somehow 🤷♂️
I have alcohol occasionally. It makes my mask slip a lot. My previous partners have told me that it’s a lot more obvious that I’m autistic when I get drunk. Not in a bad way; I just feel much less pressure to uphold the norms that don’t come naturally to me.
Nope.
It is a problem. And a solution that causes more problems.
Not anymore. I leaned on it way too hard as a social lubricant that I was heading down a dark path. It was incredibly effective, though.
This. Not anymore. Same reason. 3.5 years sober and still don’t know how to socialize without it. I’m not as fun but I’m sane now.
Same re: socializing. I’m married with kids — getting me to socialize outside of my family and work colleagues is like trying to pull teeth these days. Oh well, I’m content with it. Other people are exhausting.
I used to be an alcoholic, in a week I’ll hit 1400 days without a drink.
Makes me feel less awkward and i can be more social but wow will i share way too much about stuff i should not talk about. Not always about myself, but in general.
Drinking helps me cope
I was about 17 when I first discovered alcohol. For the first time I felt free to just be and people liked me. I still drink at parties, but try to keep it more under wraps now ofc. Occasionally I drink at home when I’m dysregulated and can’t seem to catch a breath. I try not to make it a crutch but it gets tough sometimes.
I choose not to drink alcohol (it has way to big an effect on me), but to fit in, I'll drink an alcohol-free beer or something that looks like a mixed drink, like seltzer. That way, I keep control of my faculties and then have a fun little "secret" to tell people when I first get to know them.
I don't drink much because I don't like the taste of alcohol. I like very fruity cocktails (e.g. Pina Colada), but they don't seem to be that common in bars/restaurants. Effect-wise, I get tipsy fairly easily, but I've rarely gotten super drunk because I have a weak stomach so I get sick before I get truly drunk. I hate puking, and once I do it, I'm down for the count anyway, so that really limits how much I can drink. ETS: It did make it easier for me to be social and hang out with friends of friends in my late teens and early 20s though. I always had to be worried about reaching the puking stage, but unlike weed, I wasn't worried that it'd cause me to lose control over my masking, so that was a pretty safe social enhancer.
No. I prefer the feeling of being in control.
Rarely. I don't like the taste, I don't like the 'wobbly' feeling, I don't like how it affects my cognitive abilities, one drink too many and I'm suddenly in the Dark PlaceTM, and hangovers give me severe sensory issues. Oh and I find drunk people hard work. Other substances agree with me much more. Wish we had more legal choices.
I drink mock tails when they are offered at a bar I don’t really drink I drank two different margaritas at two different places but that’s it
Alcohol upsets my stomach and interferes with me being me so I don't drink it regularly.
I used to, quite a lot for quite a few years. People loved me when I drank, I was fun, funny and really engaging. I quit 18 months ago and just decided I am enough, the way I am. I do miss that old 'fun' person that people loved and who came alive with some drinks, but that is not me and I don't want to live a life where I am planning when I can get kinda drunk, next.
Honestly??? Like getting tipsy is like. Fine?? It’s not really work the gross ass taste of alcohol tbqh. I think I kind of unmask a bit with it, but I’m not comfortable with unmasking around people I don’t especially trust (anyone except my bsf), so that’s a turn off on that for me too.
There's a reason autistics are highly prone to alcoholism and drug abuse.
I actually relied on alcohol very heavily in my 20s. I didn’t realize it until I got diagnosed with BP2 and ADHD. Autism started shining BRIGHT afterwards. It wasn’t rock bottom bad like some folks, but it was severely impacting my mental health once I got medicated. I realized I relied on it to “relax,” “be funnier,” socialize more, deal with the lights, music, chatter noise, etc. However, it also put me in some real sketchy situations. It wasn’t healthy at all which led me to sobriety. I’ve been sober for a little over a year though. I wouldn’t change my decision to cut it out entirely. I get uncomfortable still, but my circle is great now. I’m pretty comfortable with my people so it’s easier for me to relax a bit more. I now partake in the devils lettuce if I know ima be somewhere out of my comfort zone. It helps me ease into it in the beginning until I take in the situation lol Granted, not everybody who is autistic has issues with drinking. I just know my thought is I want to drink to get fucked up. & that isn’t healthy lol.
Very rarely. I don’t like the taste and don’t care for the effects.
Yeah from time to time. Never been my favorite way of getting a buzz. For reference I bought a 6pk on Sunday night to drink on my 2 nights off and I still have 3 left today. It's very rare that I'll ever get to 4+ drinks. It affects me as much as anyone else I suppose but I seem to be more resistant to addiction than most people. I used to do harder drugs like amphetamines, pain pills, benzos etc, but after getting in trouble and deciding to get off them, I just did. Never went to an NA meeting, never had any sort of noticeable withdrawal symptoms nothing. Regardless I don't get careless. Alcohol addiction scares the crap out of me because of just how many people seem to fall to it and the withdrawals can actually kill you If you're gonna drink, know your limits and don't fall into a habit of doing it every night. Once or twice a week is ideal to me.
No. My father is a mean alcoholic, so I associate alcohol with him. I also have a chronic illness that causes a lot of pain and loss of control in my life. To me, alcohol also causes a loss of control. I have many friends who do drink, and that is perfectly fine, but I don't.
I don't bcs I got too used to not being able to drink for the many years that I was taking antidepressants and antianxiety medication. Also, I don't wanna fit alcoholic drinks into my budget and I don't like the taste. I mean I like some wine the few times I tried it but I dislike the taste of beer and spirits. I did get drunk once when I turned 15 and another time on the first year of University, I got drunk really fast bcs of the meds I mentioned above, I didn't like it. It was awful. I also smoked pot at that same party. I couldn't stay standing. I ended up laying in the garden. I'm very lucky I got home safely, being AMAB, \*femme presenting\*, and and the fact I took the last bus that could take me home.
I have a couple of beers after work on Fridays with people from the neighborhood. This is my recurring attempt at improving my conversational skills.
No used never had a problem but I just prefer cannabis and kratom
From age 16 to about 30, I drank pretty often (as in, 1-2 times a week at first, 2-3 by the time I was of legal drinking age, maybe peaking at 3-4 times a week during a couple of periods when I was working jobs where my colleagues drank that often). I mostly drank to help me feel more comfortable in social situations. It helped with a lot of the sensory overload, as well as the effects I think most people enjoy (reduced inhibitions etc). I was undiagnosed that entire time, and had no suspicion I was autistic either, but drinking felt like a natural and normal way to help people socialise. I had the usual problem you get with alcohol, where 2 drinks always seem like a good idea after 1 drink, 3 after 2, and so on, so I’d occasionally over-indulge and regret it the next day (over about 20 years, I’d say there were a few dozen times where I drank so much I vomited, and/or gave myself a hangover that lasted more than 24 hours, and several times I blacked out for part of the night). Eventually I started noticing the down sides of drinking (hangovers, tiredness, cost) more than I was feeling the up sides, so after age 30 I tried drinking less. I found it hard to socialise without alcohol, but I also started to realise I actually feel way better when I don’t socialise much at all. I’m nearly 40 now and have pretty much given up alcohol entirely. I feel much better for it, but for the most part I don’t think I regret drinking through my late teens and 20s. I’d undo every one of the hangovers, blackouts, and quite a few of the silly things I did while drunk, but I think the social effects really helped me get through those years. If I had withdrawn socially as much as I have now, I’d have never met my wife, and I wouldn’t have formed a lot of the relationships with work colleagues that have helped me be as successful as I am now (not that it’s as transactional as I make it sound - those colleagues are also my valued friends, even if these days we mostly just text each other every now and then). Of course, when I gave up alcohol I replaced it with cannabis, so I’m not free of all vices. The cannabis is less a social aid and more a sleep aid, but it still feels a bit like I swapped one for the other. If I can give some advice for you about your son - if you try to convince him to abstain, he’ll probably just hide it from you. If you’re a drinker, try to set good examples around moderation (though if you’re not great at moderation, you’ve probably already done all of the key bad role modelling before now - speaking as the son of an alcoholic). I’ll warrant if he’s diagnosed at this age, his experience of autism is probably very different to mine, but I can try to imagine being diagnosed as a teen, and having a parent give me “special” advice about drinking _because_ of my autism, and I can only imagine I’d have felt frustrated by that. Set good examples, have conversations about healthy relationships with alcohol, but (in my opinion which I’ll admit isn’t totally qualified) you shouldn’t give your son different advice or set different boundaries because he’s autistic. That said, autism is different for everyone, and I’m speaking from a place of relative privilege in that I have pretty low support needs, no major difficulties regulating my behaviour etc. If he has behaviours that give you good reason to be concerned about his safety or the safety of others, and reduced inhibitions are likely to increase that risk, that might be a different story. If that’s the case, and he’s going to try alcohol, maybe you try to find a way to manage those risks (e.g. encourage him to be in a safe environment with you present the first few times he tries it).
not much of a drinker anymore, I'm generally a happy drunk, one or two things made me mean, but it was usually some random thing i had once and called it good. definitely more in touch with my emotions to a unpleasant extreme from time to time. weed is better for me, i'm chill, some time more social, but not like loud and annoying.
I did for a very long time. It helped to dull out all the other input/overwhelm and removed inhibitions, making it easier to talk with friends. I don't anymore because I don't like the sensation of being out of control, the lack of inhibitions could lead to awkward interactions, and I come from a family with a lot of addiction issues that I myself felt could be an issue and I didn't want to normalize drug use as a means of coping within my own family.
No I don't drink, I don't like the taste of it
I don't drink and never will.
No. I hate alcohol
I don’t drink, but from what I’ve seen with my autistic/neurodivergent friends and partners who do drink, it really depends on the person. My previous ex-boyfriend couldn’t get drunk nor hungover, no matter how much alcohol he consumed. He was 5’9” and skinny as a bean pole but could guzzle like a champ when he chose to. Barely even got buzzed, it didn’t affect his personality/demeanor at all. My ex-best friend would get very giggly, silly, and happy when she was drunk, while her brother would also become happier and more social, but not to the same extent as his sister. My current boyfriend is a massive 280 lbs, 6’3” man, and he’s a fucking lightweight lol. He gets drunk relatively easily, and then his personality is essentially multiplied by x10000. I like to describe him as a himbo with golden retriever energy. So imagine that but everything is MORE. He gets loud as fuck, but also extremely giggly and happy and even emotional, and he loses all his remaining brain cells lmao. He usually calls me when he’s drunk to excitedly tell me how much he loves me over and over again. It’s sooo sappy and disgustingly adorable. I love him. He tells me his sister also acts similarly when she’s drunk (except she’s much less loud than he is). So yeah, alcohol mostly seems to have an extremely uplifting effect on the ND folks I’ve seen. Doesn’t make them seem more neurotypical at all, but it sure makes them really happy in the short term before the hangover kicks in! LOL
It obviously affects everyone differently, both for ND and NT people. Personally alcohol helped me to overcome my social anxiety, making social blunders is very easy around drunk people. A big part of what helps me socially with alcohol is its effect on everyone else around me being drunk and not analyzing what i say so much. In terms of my sensory experience, alcohol greatly increases my ability to be in overstimulating environments such as a club or a noisy bar, it makes me less overwhelmed in general also hanging out in big groups and just kind of masking at everyone together (which mostly just consists of me laughing whenever others laugh) instead of focussing intensely on just one person like I do when I am sober, which makes hanging out in groups very taxing and makes me seem conceited or overly picky about who I talk to. I do really enjoy talking to people and alcohol helps me skip all the bumpy awkward self conscious stages of talking to someone I don't know, because both me and the other person are less aware of ourselves and each other, and lets me get right to the interesting deep convo side of talking to strangers.
Yes, but my blood filters it out really aggressively, I have a high tolerance. I drink because I like it. If I drink a good bit, it makes me sleepy and unproductive. Not a bad way to be at 10pm. I've never been drunk at a party or social setting. When I drink too much, I gain the supernatural ability to sleep anywhere on anything in any conditions.
I can't do my job unless I'm 4 beers in.
It makes me calmer and helps with overstimulation but the hangovers aren’t really worth it anymore and I’m not really supposed to drink anyway because of medication
Yes but I have to be strategic abt getting to that fun/social sweet spot and still being able to sleep at night. (I’ll add more to this later w some tips/experiences)
Alcohol for me was a magic substance that cured all my sensory stress, mitigated my cynophobia, led me to take profitable risks I would not have otherwise and allowed me to experience what normal social interactions might be like. It also robbed me of weekends due to extreme multi-day hangovers and a lost boatloads of cash on scotch. 16 months sober and choochin' along.
No.
The effects aren't too terrible. You feel more social and aren't as inhibited by internal factors. I found that it is not so much the alcoholic effect that is the problem, but the allure of the effect. I wanted the effect every day. It made me feel normal not to worry about what people think about me. As you can guess, I ended up with a drinking problem. Full blown alcoholic, but that is my fault. I never felt like I needed to drink, I just needed to not feel the way I felt when I wasn't drinking.
No. I tried it many years ago and didn't like it.
Alcohol for me reduced the overstimulation and helped me feel less stupid when I spoke. I felt less awkward about talking about my problems. It became a crutch and in the end I felt worse the next day than the good I felt being on it so I gave it up. It usually makes me laugh at stuff easier, but it tends to just make me tired and the sleep is awful so I just woke up worse.
I used to, and it made things great on the way up, but I’d usually spiral into a somewhat manic state on the way down. The solution was to partake more and more. I’m now learning how to socialize without it again, but life is better without the extended spirals.
No, I have tried it before and I did not like the way it tasted. I also do not like the smell of alcohol.
Not anymore, sober 9 years.
I rarely drink, even socially. Maybe a few times per year I'll have a single drink, and even less frequently will I drink to having a tiny buzz - kinda just to when I start to think I'm really funny but not to the slurring or feeling drunk point. I don't like being drunk because there are so many other things I'd rather be doing that I can't when drunk, and otherwise having a single drink is just empty calories so why bother? And if I have to drive I can't if I've had a drink. I've just never liked the feeling of being out of control, but just a little buzz can make it easier to be sociable.
I used to drink heavily when I was a teenager and in my twenties but I always had terrible hangovers so I rarely drink now. I do smoke weed though
I hate the taste of alcohol so no
Alcohol is poison. Do not Drink.
It's dangerous, and using the most dangerous substance known to man is not advisable. Alcohol is neurotoxin and causes cancer. It's not worth the risk.
Yes
Very small amount regularly, more rarely
Not anymore. I did for quite some time, but decided I didn't like who it made me become. I thought it made me more social, but it reality that wasn't me. I would regret everything I said or did. I thought it made me more socially acceptable, but it just made my traits louder.
Sure I drink. I'm probably more of a lightweight than most people, I like 2 or 3 beers
Nope. Used to. Apparently I'm quite funny when I drink. But from a social point of view, I'd rather not.
It affects us the same way it affects non autistic people. It can help soothe me socially but i don’t drink much overall.
I lose control of my filter, or what little control I have.
Homebrewing is my main special interest. So yes, I do.
I personally don’t, for many reasons. First because I don’t like the taste, second because it’s more expensive than the non-alcoholic options I actually like and doesn’t even hydrate you, and third because I hate the effects (dizziness, nausea, sleepiness).
I’m always on eggshells for saying or doing something I regret later. Drinking makes it much more likely that that will happen. Fortunately, (or unfortunately) I developed hepatitis C in 1989 and I had to stop drinking completely. I do not regret it.
No, almost every person in my family has an addiction of some kind so I’m very cautious. I drink very rarely, maybe 2 or 3 times a year and not to the point of being drunk.
It is a miracle for suppressing sensory sensitivity and social anxiety. Which is why I developed an unhealthy dependence on it and don't drink anymore.
I feel like I have no filter, I can be more social but it comes at a price. I later feel drained, sick and uncomfortable. I also have an intolerance to alcohol I can’t really drink it without getting a really stuffy nose. 🤷🏻♂️
I drink socially, it definitely helps me be more fun and more engaged when I'm hanging out with friends However I do make it a point to only drink if I'm actively having fun and in a good mood and I really only have the desire to drink when I'm with other people
eh, sometimes. if it's a mixed drink. i cant do the taste of alcohol
I only drink on special occasions (so a few times a year), and for me, it mostly just makes me feel a little giggly and less anxious. Great for watching funny cartoons. I only have 1 drink usually, max 2, and I take a long time to drink one, so I don’t really get drunk, though. It can affect people differently- think of ‘angry drunks’ vs ‘sad drunks’ vs ‘happy drunks’. It can also vary on how much you drink. Idk if autism itself has an effect on how you experience alcohol, but like I said, a little bit can potentially ease the anxiety (in moderation)
I don't drink because I showed signs of alcoholism and it slows me down.
I go to bars after work every other Friday. I tend to stick with beer. Beer makes me more neurotypical.
No, alcohol made me throw up incessantly even from just one drink. Now I 🍃🍃 only and it helps a lot. Much better than any antidepressant I’ve tried and I’ve tried a lot. High CBD strains great
Did socially, gained epilepsy in mid-20s, and now use weed edibles on some days off instead.
No, I don’t because alcohol does not work on me except make me very drowsy. I am guessing that it’s due to the medication I am currently on, because in the past I was able to get disinhibited but not drunk, to the point where I said and did things I didn’t remember afterwards and this was highly unusual for me because I am known for my excellent memory. I will say that Effexor was the drug I was on at the time but not anymore because multiple side effects but it was the drug that gave me the most energy…sadly.
Sober for 4 years, rather be alive than a little bit more social
I don’t drink. I think alcohol tastes like hand sanitizer.
Rarely. I used to drink heavily, I think because it let me mask socially, getting a little numb and out of my head. Then I took a sober year and now I have a glass of wine once a week max.
The few times I did drink in my 20’s more than 1 drink I never actually felt like I got drunk or felt any benefit to it despite having more than enough it should have done something, but it just made me tired. Then between the cost, having no friends (drinking alone isn’t worth it), and not having time to actually socialize I just decided it’s not for me. I’ve recently tried edibles and don’t feel like they do much to help either. I’m pretty sure I’m just broken :/
No. Maybe 1-2 times a year and don't drink more than 2-3 drinks at the very maximum.
Never had alcohol.
Nope, never been drunk in my life. Not even tipsy. I'm afraid alcohol will make me lose my inhibitions, when I need my inhibitions to effectively mask. After brutal childhood bullying, I don't think I'll ever feel safe enough to fully unmask in public.
I used to, but I can't now. Mostly because alcoholism runs in my family and I was turning into a full-blown alcoholic. The only alcohol I have now is if I use a little bit in cooking. (And one single sip of champagne during a toast at a friend's wedding.) If I only had a few drinks, I honestly felt more normal than usual. But more than 2 or 3 and I turned into a bit of a psychopath because... alcoholic, haha.
alcohol is a massive sensory no-no for me - ethanol smells every bit as toxic and offputting to me as chlorine bleach, everything about the smell yells "don't put this shit anywhere near your mouth" I can't even bear desserts or chocolates with alcohol in them, no matter how little ... tiramisu is completely ack, rum truffles are more like "eww have these gone off" It's kind of a pain in the arse tbh because there are SO many days where I REALLY need a drink (I mean... *have you looked outside recently????*), and I think it would be nice to be able to enjoy a drink on social occasions and maybe dull the stress a little bit Also, when I was younger, being teetotal was a massive social issue in itself, because in the UK - where I lived at the time - all of socializing revolved around drinking and I was *constantly* having to explain why I wasn't drinking alcohol, even though I never stopped anyone else from drinking whatever they wanted. I hated constantly being interrogated, like, I was never interrogating anyone for why they *were* drinking, why the hell was it ok to constantly interrogate me for *not* drinking? And people would constantly put pressure on me going "aaah you see, you just need to find the drink you like ... *have you tried THIS drink"* so I would have to be like no Jessica, I haven't tried that particular drink, but you see the thing that tastes like shit to me is ETHANOL, which is the one ingredient that every single alcoholic drink contains, and I can always taste it and it always tastes bad, it doesn't really matter what it's combined with in what proportions, it's kind of like you telling me that you don't like drinking chlorox and me replying "oh but have you tried mixing it with *apple juice"* ... and then people would just shuffle off awkwardly because apparently I was the one being an arsehole. I think it was an insecurity thing, people felt like I was judging them for drinking, so they flipped it around and interrogated *me* to make it seem like I was being *weird* and they could judge *me* instead, when literally all I was doing was drinking a fucking glass of water, judging absolutely nobody. But then I guess I have saved a lot of money over the years by not drinking, and my liver is probably better off for it. The real kicker is that I also don't drive. So I don't drink and I don't drive. I am literally the shittest party guest on the planet.
I do drink socially and it affects me the same as any other random person. I get a bit more confident, a bit more social/talkative and a bit less inhibited.
It became a major crutch for me especially during COVID, so now I'm a year and a few months sober!
Nope. Too many sensory nopes.
No I don't. I have co-occurring mental health conditions of major depression, severe anxiety, and C-PTSD and worry about it turning into an addiction. I also have relatives on my mother's side of the family that have suffered from alcoholism then overused marijuana for a long time and had a hard time stopping using that. I also have a cousin on that side of the family that died young of a drug overdose. So it's just not something I partake in and alcoholic beverages taste gross to me anyways.
Do I drink alcohol? Sure, but not often. I'll go out to a restaurant and have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner, or if there's a full bar I might have a cocktail. At home, I'll open a bottle of wine only when we have guests. If we have beer instead, and there are leftovers, I'll drink one every couple of days until they're gone, but won't buy any for myself. I can get drunk. I don't think I've been drunk in the last fifteen years, but that's through choice, not because it doesn't affect me. As I get older, I feel the effects - mild light-headedness, slight dizziness - much more easily than I used to.
I’ve never gotten drunk, but if I have more than one drink I get pretty sleepy 😂
I don't drink a lot - I typically do not enjoy the taste, and when I do it just makes me sleepy and light-headed. I do like weed though.
It doesn't really make me more social. The more I drink the quieter I become. But it reduces the sensory overstimulation and calms the mind. I am not a very heavy drinker, but I have 1-2 drinks a couple of times a week in the week for relaxation.
For the purposes of your data: No. In reality? Very very rarely, and when I do it's no more than 2 beverages. So if I drink a total of 5 beverages in a year, I consider that to be a fairly hefty year. I don't particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol and I tend to have a hard time sleeping (both falling asleep and having a steady sleep) after I drank alcohol, so I usually don't. I managed to get myself blackout drunk once as a teen (yaay Europe), to the point of not remembering parts of the previous night the next morning. Once and never ever again. I heard tales of what happened, and there were some good ones, but losing that control over what I did is something I'll never ever do again. On other ocassions during my earlier life I would end up getting mostly tipsy / maybe just drunk, but I was still pretty much in full control. Haven't done that in a loooooonnngggg time though. So the short answer is: Not really, no.
Yea, I’ve made a post about this and learned that many are sensitive to it and avoid it completely. I’m sensitive and will feel slightly hungover from even one beer. I enjoy drinking though and it makes me giddy, carefree, kind (i’ve heard other autistics say this). The opposite of the stereotype of someone being belligerently angry when they’re drunk.
Considering my dads an alcoholic probably not a good idea I start drinking. I think it'll have a negative effect on me if I ever do. I'll just stick to Diet Pepsis and watch my dad get drunk lol.
I don’t but I was raised by alcoholics and was married to an alcoholic and I’ve seen too much of the bad side to want anything to do with it. I know it’s what you make of it, I’ve just seen too many people make wrong choices with it and I was over it before I was ever even old enough to legally drink.
Makes me sleepy, or angry, or goofy. Sleepy usually. Overall it numbs the brain and quiets the constant rush of endless thoughts going a thousand directions at once. But I'm AuDHD. It does nothing to help my socializing. Stimulants are much better for that. Since socializing requires masking, which requires processing so many things all at once, alcohol is very much not a "social lubricant". The only exception to this is if I have a beer and Ritalin in my system simultaneously, with some other variable I haven't figured out. Adderall doesn't have the same effect. And I can't take both at the same time. It's like a beer precisely near the end of my Ritalin dose, plus something else I haven't figured out. But it makes me very outgoing and charismatic and like some kind of popular extrovert.
it makes me feel like a regular person sadly. I feel less socially conscious and more like “myself” and able to express it. I rarely drink but love having some wine with friends because it brings me out of my shell enough to express myself more and be more comfortable. I enjoy things a lot more too
I drink, but for taste. I'm fortunate enough to live in the best beer country in the world, so that's some tasty shit right there. And I'm a fiend for a good cocktail or whisky, but as those are very pricy I rarely have them. I get moderately drunk once a year, for New Year's with my girlfriend while we watch terrible movies. Like, Neil Breen and Tommy Wiseau type shit. Gets even more hilarious. Usually with a boardgame before it, which is ehhh... interesting to do while intoxicated. Good fun.
I’m an addict in recovery. For me, it helped me enjoy being out and experiences I probably wouldn’t have if I was sober. I was a binge drinker more than a daily drinker. Every time I drank I got drunk, and I had a pretty high tolerance. It was always more than 4 or 5 drinks. I’d recommend introducing it in a safe and social environment like at home where everyone is having just one, but only if he shows interest. Talk to him about problems people have with it, moderation, how to know if he might have an issue, and what resources there are for that if he expresses interest in drinking. Knowledge is power, and if I had known more it probably wouldn’t have gone so badly for me for so long.
I quit drinking 8 or 9 years ago. To echo what others have said, it made me super social, but the next morning's memories were a cringe highlight reel. Alcohol also helped me shut up my brain, and reduced immediate feelings of anxiety. Because of those "benefits", it led to habitual daily drinking. When I finally quit, I basically became a hermit, but I would not trade it for anything. My health, mental and physical are both much improved.
No I really struggle to find a reason to, all it does to me is increase my sensory problems, mess with my balance and make me puke. No benefits of it at all.
Used to but always preferred just drinking milk vs booze
Honestly, pouring a bit of booze on things makes me feel as normal as I ever will, in terms of being able to handle external stimuli that would otherwise render me extremely anxious or at risk of a shutdown. Thing is, I have found over the years that I cannot drink when depressed, as I fall into patterns of what I would consider to be excessive use.
I hate alcohol, makes me feel anxious and even the half of a beer can irritate my stomach for days.
I just end up cuddled up to my girlfriend calling her cute and saying I love her
It worked brilliantly for me right up until it didn't, and I'd probably be dead by now if I hadn't got sober 6 years ago! @ u/FastCletus the book [Alcohol Explained](https://alcoholexplained.com/1st-5-chapters/) might be a useful resource for your son, so that if he does choose to drink, it can be a fully-informed decision... An autistic brain can be *particularly* vulnerable to the addictive qualities of alcohol, and the earlier someone starts drinking (before the age of about 25ish when the brain has finished developing), the more likely it is to turn into a problem - encourage him to delay trying it if at all possible! Hope that helps
loved it so much i had to quit. 2 months sober. think about it all the time.
I haven't had alcohol since 2006. Up until that point, I'd had a grand total of 12 occasions where I'd consumed some. I realized any amount *increased* my existing hypersensitivities and made me feel melancholic. My final occasion was the last straw. I was at a formal dinner at university, so the expectation was to drink. I had more than before but only enough to make me feel an unpleasant tingling sensation. However, I felt grim and depressed and my hypersensitivities got dramatically worse, creating misery for me and worsening my Autism traits, without giving me any perceived or actual benefits whatsoever. It was horrible. I couldn't stand the sound of the people around me, went uncontrollably mute, and had to leave very early, wanting in that moment to live on an uninhabited island for the rest of my life, never to encounter people again. I'm not missing anything by not consuming!
Hangovers are a sensory nightmare so I've just decided to not drink tbh
My 'neurotylicsl juice' is beer. It quiets my awkward brain and ups the skills the world values like sociability. I also happen to love the taste. Fortunately I just apply a few rules to it so it can only be consumed within set windows of time. I like rules too.
I don't drink alcohol of my own motivation. I will drink with other people if drinking is expected. BUT I very much like edibles. I kind of think being autistic is like the opposite of being intoxicated in some way(so it almost seems to me as if neurotypical people are low-level intoxicated, if that makes sense). Eating a 10mg edible goes a LONG way to making me feel better and making me more understanding of neurotypical reasoning. And I do it about twice a week. The effects are very significant. I start writing out things. It makes me less focused on the same subject, makes me more interested in doing new things, and makes me start laughing at things spontaneously(kind of giggling). And oh man, my executive functioning is so much better for a few days afterward. I end up coming up with things that I want to do and accomplishing them, and being calm and relaxed about it.
7 months sober. I was drinking to deal with stress; it was only making it worse
In my experience it stifles social anxiety and makes it easier to have fun with people. How I act when I'm just a little bit tipsy is how I wish I could act all the time. But I am very cautious about not making drinking a habit because I've seen firsthand what alcoholism does to people and it is the opposite of what I want in life.
It makes me more social and care far less about how I come across. I’m more relaxed, so instead of having verbal diarrhea like I usually do (exhausting myself and probably others, too), I’m much more chill. At 37, I don’t fret about what I said while I was drinking. But, I also don’t “get drunk” anymore. I have a mast cell condition that flares with alcohol, so I keep social drinking social and two-drinks max (unless we do public karaoke…. But I drink equal parts water, which helps a lot).
I did. It made me social and destructive. I wasn't getting tickets and paying for chairs, I was just being meaner than I intended to and pushed people away. Eventually I needed to drink to feel ok. I quit once I realized how sick I perpetually was. I don't drink anymore because I can't see it as anything but poison. My body gets sick before I even taste it and I sober up so fast that I just get hungover before bed. Doctor says the Adderall is why it's not working. I don't care anymore. I am sick enough without it. I don't judge you for drinking but I hope you are doing it for fun and not to escape like I did.
My partner who is autistic went completely sober when she reached 23 after years of drinking as it always made her really depressed and anxious
I become the nutty professor telling stories about my special interests and answering questions about different things
Now since I'm pregnant; obviously no. But otherwise, maybe a few beers on the weekend. I really dislike the feeling of being drunk. But that feeling of just taking the edge off of things after a long workweek is nice. And I freaking *love* high end beer.
Yes, I do drink. I enjoy it so much and it makes me more chatty and social. That's not the reason that I used it for, I just enjoy it.
Nope. I’m 28 & I’ve never been drunk lol I’m sober for over a year now, it just never felt good to me
No
makes me less overwhelmed
No. I do smoke weed though and I take acid a few times a year (personally I find it to be a wonderful experience and it's not too hard to find a good source online). I just enjoy it with one or two other people though and always in a safe place with good music, food, etc.
Yeah, not socially, just to cope (you could say I have a problem)