Anyone else have problems with alcohol and drunk people?

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Hi,

One of the barriers between me and the "normal" people is alcohol. I don't drink it because it doesn't do anything positive for me. It makes me feel sick or sleepy. (I also value my brain cells. ) I hate, hate, hate hanging around with people who are drinking. I don't mind if a friend has a glass or two with dinner, but people who are downing copious amounts of alcohol for so-called fun intimidate me. It's like everything people do that freaks me out is magnified by alcohol. They get more touchy-feely, the small talk gets even more trivial and they have to yell it into your face, spitting on you as they do - gahh! It's not just behaviour. Probably because of the associations I have with it, the smell of alcohol on people's breath gets me so tense I can't move. Consequently, I avoid social events where there will be alcohol. Since alcohol flows pretty freely at many Australian social events, that narrows my options for socialising even more than Asperger's already does.

It's also a barrier because some people don't understand when you say you don't drink. They look at you as if you've just admitted you're some kind of alien. They try to find a reason for it - "Are you religious?" is a common one. I don't go out of my way to say that I don't drink, but it sometimes become necessary when people pester you to have something or if they see you often enough to notice you stick with water. "What, you don't drink?" "No." "Anything?" "No." Then at the next social event, "Have a beer," and the whole script begins again. More insidiously, some people will attempt to spike your drink.

Do other people here dislike alcohol for those or other reasons?

Thanks,
Lockheart

Hello!

Good for you! Drinking - and being around those who DO, WHEN they do - doesn't turn ME on, either.

I hope you can find people who share your sentiments to 'hang' with...

73 DE N4RPS/3
Rob

Drinking alcohol makes no sense to me.
It damages the body in many ways, stimulating serotonin production in the short term and leaving people with a lack the day after, as well as a hangover in most cases.
When people drink it around me, my respect for them immediately drops, as it just seems such a dum thing to do. And of course, their behaviour progressively proves my theory...

Yes I totally agree. Don't understand why people drink so much all at once. I do like the occasional glass of wine, but I don't need alcohol to have an enjoyable time.

I don't judge them. It's their thing. I don't want to control them. It's not my place. They're fine by me. If they keep it out of my face and don't bother me with it, we're cool.

If they bother me about it, I have a standard response. I was never an alcoholic but I make it seem that way. "I used to drink, I don't drink, end of story. Don't ever bring this up again. Cool?"

I don't judge them either - I wish they'd return the favour by not judging me.

I am curious about Aspies and alcohol. Does it help you socialise or does it do nothing for you? Do you find it really uncomfortable to hang around people who are drinking or doesn't it bother you? Maybe I should have put a poll on this thread...

1.It would help me socialise if I were willing to drink it, it is a relaxant after all.
2.It depends on how much they drink & how much their intelligence is reduced
as to whether it's uncomfortable or neutral to be around.

I joke that I drank more before I was 21 (legal age in America) than after. I used to drink to excess. At one time I was honestly asked why I drink, and I honestly stated that it was so that I could stop thinking, and the guy that asked me that was truly impressed with my answer.

I don't really like loud parties and I have always cringed with great disdain at the "frat party" mentality and especially the American party mentality of getting as drunk and loud as possible. I drank early on for fitting in purposes, and, as I mentioned, to occasionally get my non-stop brain to shut up for just a brief moment. However, I'm horribly prone to hangovers, and I don't like not having control over my brain. Making it shut up was nice, but not having self-control was not.

I'm 35, and the people with whom I associate now are not "party animals." We all drink, but it's to enjoy a tasty beverage and maybe have a nice social night sitting around a table talking or playing a board game (we're almost all gamers). Everyone I know stops drinking when they start to feel buzzed. Even though I participated in those parties back in the day, I didn't like them at the time and I still don't like them now, and I will steer as far away from them as I can now. I'd rather invite a couple friends over for a board game and some cheese and wine We have a full bar, but we rarely partake, and I quite like it that way. There is really nothing to be gained from getting drunk all the time.

Well I don't really dislike alcohol, though I am hardly normal.......and I can drink quite a lot at one time, but I don't turn into a belligerent as*hole or anything...its mostly I have a high tolerance so it takes more to get me to the level of drunkness I want to be on. So I don't really mind alcohol or people who drink. However alcohol can certainly be abused, and some people do get pretty out of control under it's influence so I probably would not find it pleasant to be around that.

But yeah I think drinking is a personal choice, people should not try to push it on you......that's just not cool, and spiking someones drink without them knowing is even less cool. People that do crap like that just give anyone who uses alcohol or any other drug a bad name, makes us all out to be jerks out to hurt people.

I rarely drink alcohol. I usually feel a bit tipsy after half a glass of wine and would only drink more than that if I was at a big night out. Even then, if I felt myself getting drunk, I'd stop drinking alcohol and start drinking water or soft drinks. A little alcohol does allow me to 'loosen up' a bit and my nature stays pleasant. I don't see the benefits of getting drunk. I've never been in a condition that I was slurring or staggering or couldn't remember what happened or how I got home, etc. But, I know many people for whom this is the norm. As a young person, growing up in the West of Scotland, it did set me apart from most of my peers, especially when I was a student. since then, I've worked in the field of mental health and the service users that I found the most disturbing were those with alcohol induced dementia (Korsakoff's syndrome), which is fairly common, but not widely known about. I would think that meeting those people would be enough to put anyone off over-indulging too frequently.

I used to drink when I was much younger. I don't drink at all any more now. I won't even have one drink. I don't see the point. When I drank it was to get drunk. I no longer want to get drunk. I also always had really bad hangovers and don't want them either. I also can't have alcohol and food together or it ruins my food and makes the alcohol taste even worse. I always hated the taste of alcohol.

I don´t have a problem with drunk people as long as they can behave themselves and try not to force it on me but I could never drink it myself and anyone who has had even one drink must not get too close to me because I cannot stand the smell.

Last edited by MrBoob on 23 Apr 2012, 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I know what you mean.

People here in AUS see it as an affront to their culture if you refuse to drink - it's like you're rejecting them and their culture, so then they try every trick in the book rather than just accepting the fact that you don't drink. It also doesn't help that people here don't just have one drink and leave it at that - most of them feel the need to get completely blind drunk.

I can't handle drunk people - they just make me want to run. And if they touch me, they usually make me want to punch them.

I had a period before I was 18 that lasted for 2 years where I drank quite a lot, but I haven't really drank since then. I don't drink anymore and I'm not really sure if I plan to, probably not.

On alcohol, I either become more withdrawn and introspective or I get louder and tend to say more things that I'm thinking - and either way just freaks people out even more than usual and I get told I really am nuts. It also reacts quite badly with me unless I have a build up tolerance - I tried a double shot in September for the first time in 3 years and I threw up 30 minutes later (admittedly I was sick for a few weeks before). I just don't think it's a good idea for me generally nowadays, although I wouldn't mind being able to have the rare 1 drink per night if I'm out celebrating something someday.

I used to drink to excess trying to figure out how to be more social. Then my roommate had to drive me home from the bar and I was embarrassed. So I made myself walk across the city to get my truck back and then I dried out.

Eventually though I have resumed drinking the occasional premium beer but I really dislike being drunk. I'm happy having 1 tall Stout Pint.

Looking back though the old drinking culture I was around seems crazy. Especially people doing lots of Shots of whatever. I think that's what put me over. A round of shots going around and one lands in front of me so I had some of who-knows-what on top of my beer.

I never really got into drinking a lot, either. Being in the music business, working in nightclubs, etc., I got to see more than my share of drunks getting aggressive and loud-mouthed, as well as seeing the bad health effects it had on people. That kept me from falling into the same trap. Now with some of the medications I take, all that alcohol does is make me fall asleep - so there's not much fun in that for me.

When I was younger, I drank to fit in.
I never really acquired a taste for alcohol.
Being depressed, it never really did much for me unless I drank a lot of alcohol.
Its pretty hard for me to get drunk with just beer.
I liked going to dances and having a good time and I didn't mind drinking because when I was done I could go home and I didn't have to put up with drunks.
My neighbors are drunks.
They started drinking Big time about 20 years ago and they will not stop until they are dead.
I made the mistake of moving down here to my grandmothers old house - and the one lives in the other side of the house.
Sometimes I don't see him for a month at a time because I don't hang out with him because his whole life revolves around drinking.

The worst is when there is a holiday and they get a bunch of alcohol and they stay up all night, yelling and playing loud music and trying to compete with the other drunken neighbors.
At one point - I have to go out - usually about 2 AM and yell at them and make them go to bed and stop making noise.

They get mad at me for a couple of months for breaking up their party and their good time, but they get over it.
The worst thing about it is they do not have the money to buy the alcohol they consume so they just don't pay their bills and their family members are the ones that suffers.

Every spring the water and gas company comes and turns off the utilities. Now the sewage is also threatening to plug off the pipe if they do not pay the bill. They end up begging their friends and family members for money to pay the bill to keep it on or to get it turned back on in the fall and then they do not pay them back.

I don't give them alcohol anymore because they only come around when they are drunk and out of alcohol or broke and needs to borrow booze or money.

Its not a very healthy situation.
I can buy a case of beer and 6 months later still have 3 six packs.
They have to keep a 12 pack on reserve so they have something to drink in the morning before the beer distributor opens up.
There is daily rides to town to get beer, usually twice a day.

The worst part is - they never buy the same thing twice.
My stomach cannot drink beer - just because it is beer.
It has to be a certain brand and style of beer.
The same with alcohol - it has to be a certain brand and it has to be mixed with something else or I can't drink it.

I would rather eat ice cream or a chocolate bar or eat pistachio's then drink a beer.