Aspies and addiction.

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I know that Aspies are just like everyone else in a lot of ways and I also know that there is a high rate of substance and abuse and addiction witihin the ASD community, from what I've read, but I wonder if any of you feel like you have the ability to just, "get over" issues like this? I realize that this could easily sound arrogant and insensitive to people who have faced these issues, I apologize for that. I have no idea if this is an AS trait or not but when it comes to addiction and certain other issues I have what someone very close to me described as an on/off switch. She was right, I just didn't know other people could see that in me.

I come from a STRONG alcoholic background, I suppose I have genetic gun aimed directly at my skull but it's never phased me, same goes for cigarettes(people STILL can't believe I quit because I smoked more than anyone around me, it's been five years) and recreational drugs(which I dabbled into a little too hard in my younger days). People have remarked that they've never seen someone do such a 180 without even trying before, they even seem a little creeped out.

Anyway, I apologize if this does come off as sounding arrogant and I realize that I'm definitely NOT immune to anything, and that I should take these things especially seriously because of my family history.

Just curious.

I never became addicted to substances because I was impervious to peer pressure.

The few friends I had in high school were all smokers, alcoholics AND drug abusers. They kept trying to get me involved, but I never felt the urge to fit in by joining them in those activities (which eventually led to me loosing them as friends).


The thing is......they eventually cleaned themselves up and lead much fuller and happier lives than me (families + children).

I spent those years working my ass off, and I'm alone and miserable.


AS is has far worse effects on the mind than any drug.

I never gave into peer pressure to drink excessively or smoke, I was never part of a group enough to get that, but I went through a troubling period when I was about 23 and started drinking alone. It got to excessive levels, but I've found it's kind of how you describe - an on/off switch. I haven't drank for quite some time and it honestly feels like I just switched it off. I know that I can't give into that any more because of my history, and I have no desire to get back into that trap. I'm not perfect, it might creep back in sometime but right now it's as if I managed to somehow switch the addiction off, it was that sudden and complete.

ehhh, it's also like that with me.

- Smoked for 3-4 years, quit at the drop of a hat and haven't again since with no real problems or any particular urges to start again.
- Also smoked weed for a while, then stopped just as easily.

Sometimes it seems almost like addiction doesn't even phase me

Smoked cigarettes from 1982 to 1996 - at the end it was two packs of unfiltered Camels per day. Quit cold turkey and haven't smoked since.
Drank to an alcoholic level -- black-outs, alcohol poisoning. Quit cold turkey for several years. Now I drink a bottle of wine maybe four times a year.
Did lots of different drugs. Quit cold turkey and haven't done them since. The only one I miss is marijuana but more in a nostalgic way than an addict jonesing way.

I don't know if it's an AS thing or a Sparrowrose thing. I don't even know how to tell. I have no way of knowing what sort of person I would have been if I were me minus the AS, so I am never really sure what's the AS and what's my other genetics, environment, training, whatever. Either way, it's all me anyway, so I try not to get too worked up about figuring out which is which.

It depends, I've been smoking since I was 14 and haven't made any effort to quit. I don't want to quit, so I don't know if I'd be able to go cold turkey or if I'd have any withdrawal symptoms.

Appart from smoking I haven't really had any addictions that I can think of. Most of it might be too ingrained into my routine for me to identify.

I did a lot of drugs for a while, then got bored and quit - haven't missed them since. Was the same with smoking though I still smoke and get cravings at times but it's rare.

I have had a history of substance abuse during my 20's, primarily marijuana and hallucinogens. I no longer abuse any drugs. I have never liked alcohol and it actually makes me quite sick.

I still smoke cigarettes (a pack a day) and it seems to be the hardest addiction to control and (eventually) quit.

Weed, alcohol, cold medication, and cigarettes.

Wasn't peer pressured into any of it. Just self-medication. All of them bad addictions. Except for the weed, which I don't believe is addictive.

Anyways, was able to quit all of them cold turkey, just like the on-off phenomenon you describe. Except for smoking, I've been struggling with that for just about forever... It's so hard.

It's psychologically addictive just like, well, anything pleasurable. There is no evidence of it being PHYSICALLY addictive like alcohol or tobacco.

It's definitely psychologically addictive as I discovered that a man I knew was robbing his friends to get money to buy marijuana.

I am physiologically addicted to sudoku. Does that count?

I drank like that for a few years. Wasn't able to turn it off cold turkey, which is good since alcohol withdrawals can kill you. I smoked for eight years and was able to just walk away from that, though.

I'm suspicious of any aspie who hasn't turned to drugs for comfort since our shortcomings are pretty devastating.

I quit when I discovered I was pregnant. I figured homeless and a "nutcase" (I didn't know about asperger's yet) was bad enough for the kid. I wasn't going to add fetal alcohol syndrome to it. Moot, since she was stillborn. But obviously not alcohol stunted as she weighed five kilos (ten pounds twelve ounces.) That was probably due to undiagnosed gestational diabetes. I got lousy pre-natal health care due to being indigent and forced to go to a really crappy clinic.

Afterwards, I dind't go back to the alcohol because I felt like it would sully her memory. Yeah, I know, kind of silly. But I just wasn't interested in going back to being a lush any more.

Oh, ok. I didn't know that distinction existed, now I understand better.

I've been drinking energy drinks, since 2007, for three years.