Asperger Syndrome and Alcohol: Drinking to Cope? PDF
Preview Asperger Syndrome and Alcohol: Drinking to Cope?
ASPERGER SYNDROME and ALCOHOL by the same author Asperger Syndrome – A Love Story SarahHendrickxandKeithNewton ForewordbyTonyAttwood ISBN9781843105404 Love, Sex and Long-Term Relationships WhatPeoplewithAspergerSyndromeReallyReallyWant SarahHendrickx ForewordbyStephenM.Shore ISBN9781843106050 of related interest The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome TonyAttwood ISBN9781843104957(hardback) ISBN9781843106692(paperback) A Self-Determined Future with Asperger Syndrome SolutionFocusedApproaches E.VeronicaBlissandGenevieveEdmonds ForewordbyBillO’Connell,DirectorofTraining,FocusonSolutions ISBN9781843105138 Finding a Different Kind of Normal MisadventureswithAspergerSyndrome JeanettePurkis ForewordbyDonnaWilliams ISBN9781843104162 Survival Strategies for People on the Autism Spectrum MarcFleisher ISBN9781843102618 Asperger Syndrome and Employment AdultsSpeakOutaboutAspergerSyndrome EditedbyGenevieveEdmondsandLukeBeardon ISBN9781843106487 AdultsSpeakOutaboutAspergerSyndromeseries Asperger Syndrome and Social Relationships AdultsSpeakOutaboutAspergerSyndrome EditedbyGenevieveEdmondsandLukeBeardon ISBN9781843106470 AdultsSpeakOutaboutAspergerSyndromeseries 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
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