Are aspies more prone than NTs to alcohol / drug addiction?

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Whilst there are many stereotypes relating to AS - in particular the one discussed a few threads below this one about being childlike and not being able to lie - I do believe a common trait that most of us share is that we take a good deal of comfort in our special interests and routines.

So if excessive drinking or drug use becomes part of our daily routine, would it be harder for one of us to quit than it would be for someone that didn't have AS?

I'm currently having alcohol counselling, although I'm currently classed as a medium dependancy alcoholic rather than a chronic alcoholic (thank God). In other words, I function well enough to hold down a job and maintain friendships (although I find it harder to maintain friendships with NTs than with fellow aspies). Although my counsellor understands that I only want to moderate my drinking and is encouraging me to do so, another doctor (whom I see as little as possible, as I believe her to be a petty moralist) claims that my problem can only be solved by cutting it liquor completely.

I can't imagine ever giving up booze altogether as it's been a large part of my social life since I hit puberty, and I invariably spend the last two hours of my job looking forward to getting on the train and having a couple of cans on the way home. I'm wondering whether this is just straight forward psychological addiction, or whether it's yet another aspect of AS.

Has anyone else on the forum had similar experiences?

Let me argue both ways.

1.) It would be lesslikely that aspies would indulge in substance abuse because our special interests(not relating to alcohol, drugs,etc) would be different and all encompassing. Knowing the capital of Bhutan is Thimphu, I would be more interested in learning more about the country, it's politics, it's language, Dzongkha, and so on.

2.) It would be morelikely that an aspie does engage in susbtance abuse as a surrogate for social functions that NTs go to, which BTW, have alcohol and drugs in them or as a way to overcome depression and loneliness, in which case I would recomendend finding a friend, a family member, of a counselor to talk to.

But between these deviations, I think most Aspies don't drink. I personally know Aspies who think the drinking culture of NTs is Bs,because of social bs, not the drinks themselves.

I guess I do, i was a late bloomer when it comes to drinking & drugs but once i discovered them... WHOA... look out.

i try to abstain, but it's very very very tough. all I wanna do is party and rage and be out of my mind. :-\

adderall helps a little, i used to take it recreationally, and honestly if it were not for my interest in taking adderall recreationally i never would have even begun to look into my lifestyle and how messed up it is and subsequently gotten diagnosed for ADHD and also asperger's as an aside.
it helps me to feel a little more human and concentrate on messes and not eating like a cow all of the time and trying to save money and live a little better.
i still feel like garbage about life much of the time though because i hate people so much.
and i keep forgetting to make an appointment with the shrink who diagnosed me in the first place because i feel like i could greatly benefit from therapy. i have seen a few psychiatrists and such in my day (years ago, before i was dx'd) and they never helped, never recognized any symptoms in me, thought i was just depressed etc etc.

sorry to ramble, lol. i love drugs & alcohol (particularly drugs, i just like alky because it's legal unlike the rest) because they numb me.

I've never had any interest in either. A glass of wine with dinner once in a while is enough for me.

I posted something similar to what you say before and agree with you. Tackling your substance problem without thinking how your ASD is involved is making it a lot more difficult on yourself.

I used to do exactly the same thing with the beers on the train btw and it was obviously just another routine I had. I also had to have the same amount or more to drink every night over the same length of time no matter when my shift finished, just didn't feel satisfied otherwise. Could never have 'just a couple', open one the rest are doomed. Looking back it was all routine as I wasn't drinking with anyone else so it wasn't social.

How long is your train journey btw? 30mins per can?

I don't drink and don't use drugs, but for the genral Aspie population I guess there are people who are way less likely to drink/drug than NTs, for example because they don't engage in the social events that go around drinking/drug use and are not affected by the "coolness" of these. Then again, most people who become addicts don't drink/drug mostly as a social thing eventually, but more solitarily, eg. to burry feelings. I could see that some Aspies are more prone to this than NTs due to the loneliness tha tmany of us face.

think it can go both ways, I never thought I would stop drink/drugs and now can't see myself doing it ever again.

The tricky thing here is to differentiate between a habitual routine and an actual chemical dependency. You can be a chronic drinker without being an alcoholic. I drink what's considered medically to be in excess - but only for four hours a night to self-medicate due to sleep issues. And that only after a strenuous nightly workout.

Every alcoholic I ever knew carried a drink around with them all day long. While they may have learned to maintain a fairly sober looking front, they were constantly drinking.

I actually clicked on this thread while already drinking a glass of Scottish Oak Leaf and Elderflower wine from the Cairn O' Mohr winery in Perthshire. For me, diversity of experience in food and drink is indeed a special interest

I drink occasionally, at parties and whatnot, but not regularly. And the closest I come to doing drugs is smoking weed.

I think with anything else, it depends on the individual. We are all different. We all like different things, and we all have a different chance of getting addicted to a substance. I think it just plain depends.

I don't think there is a significant different between the percentage of the NT population that goes overboard on drinking or doing drugs and the percentage of people with AS.

Alcohol makes me loosen up, talk more and forget myself for some time, but it's no 'cure' for AS. I've never done drugs so I wouldn't know how they affect me, but I doubt they'd take away all my AS symptoms. Plus you see life a lot more clearly when you're sober.

There are social drinkers and those who drink to be"normal" at social occasions, I reckon the latter, drinking to cope with a social situation, may have aspie aspects to their personalities.

Supposedly, there's a genetic component to addiction, your genes make you predisposed, not being on the spectrum or NT. If you have the gene, perhaps you will become addicted. I'm pretty sure I don't have the gene, or maybe it's because family members have been alcoholics and drug addicts. I don't like alcohol or drugs, either one, that much, unless it's some kind of opiate and I deliberately try to never take those.

I live about a 20 minute drive from the Cairn O'Mohr winery (you got to love that joke: Cairn O'Mhor= care no more you've no idea how many years it took me to figure that one out!!)

Yep. It's in my family, on both sides.
Probably on the Y-chromosome, because most of the men in my family have had or do have problems with alcohol.

One of my uncles has been almost homeless a couple of times because of drunken screw-ups.
My older brother wound up in jail, a mental hospital, and finally an assisted living facility... all because he constantly drank to excess, couldn't manage his own life, and was becoming suidicidal.

I've followed much the same path with alcohol and drugs. I really messed up in early college... dropped out and went back numerous times, almost got arrested, nearly lost my scholarship and got kicked out of college altogether, and did some unbelievably stupid things... all because I felt this overwhelming urge to get out of my mind on substances. In my case, I believe there was a very prominent genetic component, exacerbated by the people I was around, and my crippling, perpetual anxiety. And the constant social and perceptual inconsistencies caused by AS certainly didn't help.

But I somehow made it through all of that, found some kind of center within myself, and now I don't do drugs and I drink far less.

Last edited by Acacia on 29 Sep 2009, 10:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

I know I've smoked and drinked a lot during 16-20 years period to feel more normal, to calm down my mind (I don't know really why but I always refused any medicine and prefered alchool and smoke), and to be accepted. I've also used it sometimes as an excuse to behave in strange way

But I think that many NT guys drink and smoke as to feel part of the comunity.