Asperger Syndrome and Alcohol: Drinking to Cope?

147 Pages·2008·0.57 MB·English

by  Matthew Tinsley

ASPERGER
SYNDROME
and
ALCOHOL
by the same author
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WhatPeoplewithAspergerSyndromeReallyReallyWant
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ForewordbyStephenM.Shore
ISBN9781843106050
of related interest
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ISBN9781843104957(hardback)
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ForewordbyBillO’Connell,DirectorofTraining,FocusonSolutions
ISBN9781843105138
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ForewordbyDonnaWilliams
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Asperger Syndrome and Employment
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ASPERGER
SYNDROME
and
ALCOHOL
DRINKING TO COPE?
Matthew Tinsley and Sarah Hendrickx

Foreword byTemple Grandin
JESSICA KINGSLEY PUBLISHERS
LONDON AND PHILADELPHIA
Firstpublishedin2008
byJessicaKingsleyPublishers
116PentonvilleRoad
LondonN19JB,UK
and
400MarketStreet,Suite400
Philadelphia,PA19106,USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright©MatthewTinsleyandSarahHendrickx2008
Forewordcopyright©TempleGrandin
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedinanymaterialform(including
photocopyingorstoringitinanymediumbyelectronicmeansandwhetherornottransientlyorincidentally
tosomeotheruseofthispublication)withoutthewrittenpermissionofthecopyrightownerexceptin
accordancewiththeprovisionsoftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988orunderthetermsofa
licenceissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgencyLtd,SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS.
Applicationsforthecopyrightowner’swrittenpermissiontoreproduceanypartofthispublicationshouldbe
addressedtothepublisher.
Warning:Thedoingofanunauthorisedactinrelationtoacopyrightworkmayresultinbothacivilclaimfor
damagesandcriminalprosecution.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Tinsley,Matthew.
Aspergersyndromeandalcoholdrinkingtocope?/MatthewTinsleyandSarah
Hendrickx;forewordbyTempleGrandin.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN978-1-84310-609-8(pb:alk.paper) 1. Asperger'ssyndrome--Patients-
-Alcoholuse.2. Dualdiagnosis. I.Hendrickx,Sarah.II.Title.
RC553.A88T562008
362.29--dc22
2008002221

BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN9781843106098
ISBNpdfeBook9781846428142
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby
AthenaeumPress,Gateshead,TyneandWear
CONTENTS
Foreword 7
Introduction 9
Chapter 1 Asperger Syndrome and Alcohol
– Why Should There Be a Link? 15
Chapter 2 Childhood and Adolescence
– Where Does It Start? 35
Chapter 3 The Adult Social World
– Friendship, Relationships
and Other People 45
Chapter 4 Employment – Drinking and
the Workplace 63
Chapter 5 Beginning of the End – A Failing
Strategy 75
Chapter 6 Drying Out – Support
and Rehabilitation 86

Chapter 7 Life Beyond the Booze
– Recovering Autistic Alcoholic 108
Conclusion 123
REFERENCES 125
RESOURCES 127
APPENDIX – THOUGHTS FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY 128
INDEX 140

FOREWORD
Duringmyteensandtwenties,Ihadhorriblenon-stopanxietyandpanic
attacks.Betweentheagesof20to30,thepanicepisodesgotworse.My
nervoussystemwasinaconstantstateof hypervigilance.Mybrainwas
actingasif Iwasinajunglefilledwithdangerous predators thatwould
eatme.TogetotherpeopletounderstandhowIfelt,Ioftentoldteachers
and journalists. Remember how you felt when you took final exams in
collegeorrememberhowyoufeltwhenyouweregettingreadytointer-
view a very important person? It was like having final exam “nerves”
everyday. I was desperate for relief.
Icamefromtheerawherepsychoanalysiswasused. InmytwentiesI
thoughtthatifIcouldunderstandthedeepdarksecretsofmypsyche,the
“anxiety”wouldgoaway.NomatterhowmuchIsearchedforthesecret
source of my anxiety, it would not go away. Throughout my twenties I
usedmysqueezepressuremachinetocalmmyanxiety,alongwithlotsof
exercise. The pressure machine is described in detail in Thinking in
Pictures.Hardphys icalexercisedoneeverydaycalmedmyanxiety. My
“anxiety” attacks became increasingly debilitating throughout my
twenties, I got the sweats, sometimes I had difficulty swallowing, my
heartwouldpoundandmystomachdidflipflops.Iwouldbreakoutina
sweatonthewaytothemailboxbecauseIwasafraidImightgeta“bad”
letter. Itwasridiculous.Mybiologywasoverreactingandtreatingsome-
thingthatshouldhavebeenaminorannoyanceasif alionwasstalking
me.
Like Matthew Tinsley, I could have easily fallen into the trap of
becoming dependent on alcohol. At important work social events I
7
8 / ASPERGERSYNDROMEANDALCOHOL
always used to have a few drinks because it calmed me down. To avoid
having a problem, I never consumed alcohol in my house, but not
everyone has the willpower to do this. Many people on the autism
spectrum in fact go on to self medicate with other kinds of drugs.
Antidepressantmedicationsstartedinmyearlythirtiessavedmefrom
thesepossibilities.If I hadnotdiscoveredthecalmingeffectsof antide-
pressantsIcouldhaveeasilybecomeaddictedtoalcoholordrugs.Iknow
manycreativepeoplewhowereeitherdrugoralcoholaddictswhohave
reallybeenhelpedbyfluoxetine(Prozac).WhenIfirststartedtakingan
oldfashionedantidepressantcalledimmipramine(Tofranil),itmademea
believer in biochemistry. Within three days, the horrible panic attacks
were 90% gone. Two other friends I know who have autism have also
been helped by Prozac to control nonstop anxiety and panic.
Whenmedicationisused,thedosesoftenhavetobelowerforpeople
on the autism/Asperger spectrum. Medication works best for anxiety
whenthepersonhasfullactivationofthe“fightorflight”nervoussystem
for trivial reasons. There are calmer individuals, however, who do not
haveanervoussystemthatgetsintoafullpaniceasily.Theseindividual
donotusuallyneedmedication.Plentyofexerciseandcognitivebehav-
ioral therapy should work well for them. Research clearly shows the
benefitsof vigorousexerciseonanxiety.Ialsogotgreatinsightintomy
own condition by reading first person accounts of other people on the
spectrum. That helped me greatly in my social life.
Todealwithanxietyinmylife,Ihadtoworkonitfromthreediffer-
entangles–medication,exercise,andhavinginterestingworkthatIcan
dowithotherpeoplewithsimilarinterests. Beingwell-informedabout
thedifficultiesthatpeopleonthespectrumfaceisalsoveryimportant.By

spreading awareness of the potentially huge number of people on the
spectrum who do in some way find themselves drinking to cope, Sarah
Hendrickx and Matthew Tinsley are doing the AS community a huge
service and will hopefully help others to avoid the same problems.
TempleGrandin,
authorof Thinking in Pictures