Are we less likely to be addicts?
I'm pretty sure I have an addictive personality....I always seem to be stuck on some bad habit or other. Luckily I'm scared of really hard drugs and the cops, so I haven't completely destroyed my body yet. And I got off tobacco eventually, using very individualistic methods that most people don't seem to know about.
It's an interesting point about the Aspie asocial thing having a possible protecting influence......but it didn't stop me. I just tended to take my drugs on my own or in very small groups. Definitely wouldn't have taken anything just because "everybody" else was taking it.
People with aspergers have a split outcome on addiction. You have the hardcore rule-followers who would never do anything taboo, or put anything bad in their bodies. Then you have the ones who have rubbed shoulders with the drug scene, and sought out drugs to numb the pain of the chronic frustration, emptiness, and boredom that accompanies aspergers.
Many people with aspergers are fortunate enough to have a specialist subject that they can make a career out of.
My specialist subject was drugs and escapism. I simply had no interest in sports, or anything required sustained attention, practice, and dedication.
As a result, I fell victim to years upon years of drug addiction.
ASPartOfMe
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^^^^
This
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Indeed. As someone who struggles with pornography addiction, I concur. Sobriety isn't the opposite of addiction,*connection* is but frankly all that stuff about 'experiencing' socializing deeply s---ks when it's difficult to come across ppl who find the same things important/care about the same things as you, you worry about them being judgemental, them finding you boring, you not knowing what friendship means to you or whether you would allow a person to be a friend etc.
Pornography or sex addiction is problematic in it's way. I refuse to contribute to the distribution of carelessly used substances for some d---n sensation but always being successful at not responding in ways to my quasi-Darwinian impulses which don't overlap with toxic socio-power structures ubiquitous b/c of inequity, mental health issues and indifference is an issue which can take you to different places. One reason I find feminism important; it's hateful to contribute to so much misery in a sexualized way b/c of pornography.
I don't know if it's more or less likely to be honest.
I do think it can often be harder to break an addiction because connection with other fellow addicts in like group meetings and stuff is a main reason most people conquer their addictions, and it's more challenging for an autistic person to do that.
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"There once was a little molecule who dreamed of being part of the crest of a great wave..."
(From the story 'The Little Molecule' - Amazon Kindle, 2013)
I don't know if we are more or less likely to become addicted, I do know we are not immune from it.
My late fiance discovered he could tolerate the world and pass as relatively "NT" with opiates.
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You're the broken glass in the morning light,
Be a burning star if it takes all night.
This is interesting because all my life, way before I knew anything about auties, I realized my body chemistry was somehow different from most other peoples. I tried just about every drug out there at one time or another (long ago) and none of them do much for me. Sometimes people think I am being self-righteous when I say that, but it is not self-righteous unless something is tempting and drugs, alcohol, etc. are just blah to me.
I am grateful for this, seeing as it becomes such a terribly destructive compulsion for so many. So, based on other posters here, addiction or lack thereof seems to have no obvious relation to autism. So I continue to be weird in other ways besides autism.
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The river is the melody
And sky is the refrain - Gordon Lightfoot
Autism symptoms overlap with the "addictive personality"
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Anxiety
Depression
A disproportionate number of autistics are unemployed. Sometimes people with out many job prospects, end up drug dealers
Drugs and alcohol could replace socializing, for autistics without enough friends
I'm always amazed at all of the threads here where people discuss how much they love smoking marijuana. Despite some relaxed laws here and there, most people still buy marijuana through an underground social network. I often wonder how all of these Aspie's have these weed connections in the first place.
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.