Eccentric drinking

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Works wonders as a social lubricant, but I stop enjoying it past 2 drinks.

Alcohol helps on 4th of July with all the fireworks going off, helps numb the sensory hell a little.

I have been drinking in the past, between 16-23 years old it was a lot (like, seriously, got totally smashed at least twice a week) and always in social occasions.

From my perspective, drinking does help with social anxiety. But what it doesn't do, is making you less of an AS person. You may be less irritated by behaviour of NT people and able to chill with people around you. But here's a catch - if they won't drink or do drugs at the same time, they will perceive you as a weird guy/girl who is drunk.

That said, I have abandoned drinking alcohol completely about 5 years ago and perceive it as a lowly thing to do nowadays. For variety of reasons. It started when I was the only sober person at social meeting (it wasn't really a party, we played board games but people were also drinking a lot of beers and smoked). My wife was in advanced pregnancy at the time and I didn't want to drink in case of emergency.

One guy who smoked MJ has out of sudden lost consciousness and fallen to the ground at some point. We couldn't wake him up, he was limp like a squid. I checked his pulse, it was very weak and his breath was also very shallow. It later turned out that he got some heart problems and alcohol coupled with MJ has caused his blood pressure to drop so significantly it was a threat to his life. I was the only person rational and sober enough to call an ambulance. Other people were saying that "he'll be fine", doing nothing and after I've made the call some of them quickly left the flat panicked that cops will arrive and sniff out that they've been smoking. Guy spent four days at the hospital.

The reasons to NOT drink alcohol have piled up when I've thought about it. Nowadays I consider this habit as a cultural baggage which doesn't serve anything meaningful.

It doesn't do much for me other than make me slightly foggy at higher amounts (that might be due to NMDA antagonism though), along with other GABAa agonists, which don't really make be foggy. I think I have issues with GABAa/b receptors. I notice zero difference between a higher or lower dose of a Benzodiazepine, and the lower dose is just as effective (which is to say, not that effective, but it does help a bit).

It does nothing when it comes to autism related stuff for me (still socially dead), and they don't do much with sensory sensitivity either.

I have found that alcohol and other substances or medications do improve my ability to mask and to be social. I think benzos have very similar effects to alcohol, the only difference being that they can be much more functional and sustainable if used with caution.

Benzos have the most benefit for me out of all medications, substances, and intoxicants. I take the minimum amount necessary to achieve the desired effect. Something like 50% - 75% of the standard recommended therapeutic dose. I suffer markedly with social anxiety, and benzos treat that very effectively in my case, and they also definitely increase my masking ability, all round social intelligence, poise, and ability to fit in. My ability to feel comfortable and at ease in transformed beyond all recognition. When I got my Autism diagnosis the other day I asked the guy about benzos and masking and anxiety. He understood exactly where I was coming from, and explained in terms of anxiety reducing my capacity to function, and so he could understand why I have been drawn to benzos. I can get so overwhelmed by anxiety and I had never thought of it in terms of reducing my capacity before, but that makes a lot of sense, and I think that is exactly what is happening.

I have found that as with alcohol getting the dose right is very important. Up to a point these things can be beneficial, but the more and more one goes over and above and beyond a sensible amount, the more literally one can become "arseholed" and take not giving a **** about what anyone else thinks to an extreme. Too much is not helpful, and I think it can lead to too much lowering of inhibitions, so that everything goes out of the window.

It's all about getting the right balance. And of course remaining vigilant about the potentially addictive and problematic nature of self-medicating in ways like this.

Is Xanax a benzo? I can see why you'd want to take 50-75% reduced amount, I took a dose for a medical thing I was super anxious about and it about knocked me out cold. I can see smaller amounts helping a lot in social situations making it not so stressful.

Yes Xanax is a benzo. Valium or Diazepam is one of the other more well known variants of benzo which most people will have heard of.

I agree about the dose, because even if too strong a dose doesn't knock you out cold, it can easily lead to more subtle effects like not caring enough about anything, so it is important not to take too much.

Last month I had to appear on a party where everybody drank. Turning the invitation down wasn't an option, casue it was 18th birthday of my friend since early childhood.

At the beginning I felt like I'm looking at everybody in a sinister way and everything was irritating the hell of me. I was thinking about how to go home asap. But as vodka was kicking in I began to actually small talk with people and when I was all the way drunk (not just tipsy) - I even went on the floor.

The people I know who drink would send me to Al-Anon if I let them visit very much. There are as many people recovering from other people drinking as there are people recovering from drinking.