Are we less likely to be addicts?

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That's not my experience.

I've only recently been diagnosed, and it's given me hope that I can overcome my demons. I've had reoccurring issues with drugs and alcohol throughout my life. I was shy and isolated in my youth. Bullied. Awkward. Anxious. I never fitted in. It was only the weed smokers seemed to tolerate my oddities, and I quickly established myself within those circles. I had family connections and started dealing. It gave me a sense of identity and a social circle. Then I discovered alcohol as a means to overcome social anxiety. I moved on to party drugs. Ecstasy allowed me to connect with people in a way I'd never experienced before. I could stim on the dancefloor listening to techno, and people on drugs accepted me and embraced and accepted my odd behaviours. Drugs became a the currency of my social interactions. It escalated. Drugs masked my anxiety and gave me a role within a community. Drug users form close communities, and within that world there are established rules and rituals. Eventually I became addicted to heroin. It made me comfortable in my own skin. The life of an addict is repetitive and predictable.

I spent many years trying to overcome my addictions for the sake of my family. I attended meetings, but I could never engage with the treatments. I found it impossible to express my emotions within the group sessions, and my reluctance to engage was interpreted as lack of commitment. I relapsed repeatedly. I'd quit one substance only to become addicted to another. I never understood what drove me to do it.

Then my son was diagnosed with autism. Watching how he struggled at school was painful as it resonated with my own experiences and I realised that I was autistic myself. I'm only now starting to understand my own history. My addictions. My failure to respond to treatment. The repeated relationship breakdowns. The mental health issues.

In answer to your question, I believe that autism is the at the root of my addictions. More so, I believe that the traditional treatments were not effective for me because of my autism.

Addiction is the result of:
1. Genetics
and
2. Trauma or unmet needs.

Not everyone with these factors in their life will become an addict, but it makes it more likely. Autism can definitely contribute to #2.

But friends sometimes peer pressure friends to do drugs and alcohol

I believe so. It is not impossible of course.
My husband is an Aspie, and I know when I smoked many years ago he also would smoke , he never got addicted . He liked to do drugs a long time ago , he never became addicted . In our partying days he did not even seem to get drunk.
I quit drinking long ago and he now has a drink or two after dinner but not all the time and he definitely is not addicted.

I don't know of any Aspie's that are addicted. I feel they are into their projects and interests and that these other things can get in the way , maybe it kind of gives them/us an immunity. I have adhd that I know of, and a few other things.

I have an addictive personality, but I am, or was when i did those things in my youth, able to quit but it was not like my husband who was totally unaffected. It was tough for me. But I was not like an NT either where it is almost impossible for them to ever really get clean and sober again.

They seem to ,if they can quit just got to the next addiction.
Maybe it is another affliction of NT's we get to skip !

Here's hoping, weez!

I talked to a PhD Psychologist who has specialized in chem dep for over a decade and also specializes in assessing, diagnosing and working with adult autistics. She didn't say autistics are less like to become addicts, but she did say that sometimes characteristically black and white thinking can help with kicking a habit: "I'm done, and that's that." She also said sometimes autistics can't relate to 12 step programs.

I was a huge sugar fiend as a child, I was in my 20s by the time I really cut down on it. When I was 25 it was weed, then spice, then weed again. I've been a smoker since I was 18. My mom was always deathly afraid of me becoming an alcoholic because her maternal grandfather was one, but that habit always broke itself (hangovers are the worst).

AspE's brief summary makes the most sense. Outside of sugar, I picked up those habits as a coping mechanism, and for a time, it was easier to put on an upbeat social face knowing I could wipe the inner turmoil clean with weed and nicotine.

I took one of those ancestry tests recently, part of the additional information was that I had an affinity towards sweet foods, and very little towards umami (I never had much enthusiasm for meaty dishes).

Having aspergers is a different machine from addiction, I want consistency and reliability in my life, I feel right when I follow a routine (pretty sure we all do). That routine can be drugs, or something that replaces them, the change doesn't come easy, but as long as I'm in a routine I can adapt to the new normal and be a happy camper.

I wonder how even if something analogous to a Nicotine patch was made for pornography addiction, how would it be marketed?.

Autistics are more likely to have depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder

Those three comorbid conditions, are risk factors for drugs and alcohol addiction

I'm not sure because addiction is either an ideology, disease, or just a life choice like all others, depending on who you ask.

I don't think we'll get a clear answer in our lifetimes, and at this point, I don't care.

I think it all depends on the person. I don't think it can be generalized.

I have struggled with eating disorders (addicted to purging), smoking, vaping, skin picking, and binge watching/reading/researching/accomplishing things. All of which are/were to the extreme of course. Thankfully I don't like getting drunk and I don't drink that much. I've also struggled with OCD and tons of anxiety. The only thing that's hereditary is the skin picking which my sister has. All the rest is me, and I'm the only person with AS in my family. I feel like there's an undercurrent of addiction, for whatever reason. If it's not smoking, it's binge watching, if it's not that, it's over the top skin picking, etc. I don't think all AS people are that way though.