Alcohol

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Does anyone else feel that alcohol gives them more freedom to be themselves? If I behave in a certain way in a coffee shop then it's not acceptable. If I were to behave the same way in a pub, not only is it acceptable but it's funny! In a pub people assume you are drunk or it's the alcohol talking so pay little attention to behaviour that goes against the norm. I find that people are much more forgiving and patient with me and actually listen to me more. Little do they actually know that I've had only one alcoholic drink and I'd have the same opinions stone cold sober.

O GOD YEA....I wanted to make this arguement for so long when it comes to aspies and alcohol but it isn't "right advice to give". Basically if you know how to use it in small or somewhat small doses (and for some reason i think due to our sensory issues we don't need as much of it as nt's) it can be your best friend. Alot of the fear we have comes form social anxieties that are built up over the years and alcohol can help relieve some of those anxieties on top of having other people around u drunk makes them more accepting of EVERYTHING in their environment including awkward moments of urs. I wish i started earlier

I have a hard time handling people when straight/sober. But if I've had a few or more, I become a lot more sociable. I find it a lot easier to talk to people. Thoughts flow more easily, and my brain seems to be able to process those thoughts into speech better.

That's why it's called a 'social lubricant'. I think I'm allergic to alcohol. When I come down from the high I feel sick. And when I'm high I act more stupid than usual, which later makes me feel ashamed.

thats normal.


or you're being sarcastic, I can't tell.

Just keep an eye on the slope. If 'needing one to interact' becomes 'needing two to interact', re-evaluate before it gets its claws into you!

Eh, one or two drinking nights per week is pretty standard for most people, nothing to get excited about there. Just make sure you're not overdrinking and never drink alone by yourself. Only alcoholics and losers do that

Yes, but I probably act like an idiot.

My finance doesn't drink, and doesn't want me to, so I don't anymore. I also pretty much don't talk to anyone but him, ever..

High?

A good brandy or wine after a filling well prepared meal, puts one in a mellow mood. There is no need to get drunk, but feeling well filled and well disposed is one of the rare pleasures of life.

As it says in the Psalm: Wine gladdens the heart of man.

http://bible.cc/psalms/104-15.htm

ruveyn

I'm a functional alcoholic. Unfortunately, nothing seems to take the edge off of another ruined and frustrating day better than a few beers and/or a few glasses of wine. Alcoholism runs in my family, and I'm headed down the same path; self-medicating the complications of Asperger's Syndrome.

*sip*

It does tend to make me more sociable, less inhibited, and more prone to relaxed and enjoyable occasions. But that's the problem. I can't be OK without alcohol. I mean, that's a crutch attempting to become an actual leg. I don't drink socially. I don't go out and I'm never around people anyways. I sit at home and drink to get drunk. It helps me smooth over the perpetually shattered nerves and inflate my battered sense of self-esteem.

In my situation, alcohol can be best seen as the sweetest and softest of vices. But it is still a vice.

I'm the exact same way.

I think I was hinting more at the thaw in peoples attitude when they think you're drunk and how quirkiness suddenly becomes acceptable because of it.

I drink too much. I get through the day ok but then I have a few glasses of wine to "settle my nerves" and relax.

Certainly. Odd behavior in a setting which is defined by alcohol (bars, sporting events, parties) is at least tolerated, if not expected. Many things can be excused because "He's drunk"... as if that totally makes it OK for him to do what he's doing. We all understand that someone who is inebriated cannot immediately be held responsible for social eccentricity. Those consequences begin to settle in the following morning, if at all.

So, if I went to a party and said some really inappropriate things because AS limits me to an immature understanding of social conventions and boundaries, I could just blame it on the number of drinks I had, and most people would be forgiving. Alcohol is a worldwide excuse for faux-pas of all sorts.

My problem is, I wouldn't go to a party and violate social conventions. I wouldn't go at all, or if I did, I would hide anxiously in a corner. Avoiding others is a repulsive behavior to most people, and one that cannot be explained away by drunkenness.

I suppose I'll quote George Thorogood: "you know when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself."

It's a mild sedative, so it'll make you feel less anxious. If it helps, anxiety is inhibiting you.

It won't make you socialize any better than you are innately wired, but it'll stop you from caring how you appear* when you do socialize.

*People with an ASD can experience social anxiety due to past failures, and these failures lead to fear of it happening again.

Some people also have social anxiety by itself or in-addition to an ASD. Anything that takes the edge off the anxiety will help this fear.

(As with all sedatives, I just stop caring that I can't interact with people, so in a way, it makes me even more aloof.)