I've been clean for 26 years. But I've been on methadone for all those years. Some people might not consider that to be drug free but it's just like a diabetic that needs insulin to live. It's the first thing that's enabled me to stay out of prison, think clearly and have a life.
If its enabled life changes in a more positive direction then do what needs to be done. You may decide to reduce and come off the script in the future, you never know. Keep up the good work 💪🏻
I've tried to reduce my dose and come off of it many times only to get sick and go back up. I'm now at a very low dose but with my age, at 70, the doctor agrees that trying to reduce it to far after all these years could kill me. So I'm good as long as I'm clean and sober.
Methadone is a life saver. I've seen it transform long time, hard core heroin addicts into loving, productive members of society. And I've seen friends that refused to except it because they were afraid of getting "addicted" to it die in the streets. It still has a stigma around it.
So true. I have a medication-resistant depression and anxiety. Despite taking meds, going to therapy and using my tools at times it's not enough. I have used alcohol to escape for a little while but I know that this is unhealthy/ possibly dangerous. Feeling this way is overwhelmingly painful. 😔
Kept me in the game of life, before finding a way to heal from trauma, depression, anxiety etc. However its like a bar of soap, when you think you have a grip of it. It slides out of your grasps. The journey seems to be about having more good days than bad!
In a world where everyone is continually bombarded with useless information 24/7 ADHD could be a coping mechanism. In fact, people being tortured and deprived of sleep exhibit similar traits.
Almost nobody in remote rural locations with no internet has ADHD.
Exactly, just removing the chemical dependency in isolation is pointless.
I’ve seen incredible changes in people, just by hearing their story, and explaining their “addiction is not only an understandable coping strategy, but may have actually kept them alive.
Thanks for this. A month ago my beloved sister died from an overdose. She struggled for decades, countless detox, rehabs, halfway houses. Our family is shattered. God I hate addiction, despite knowing that addiction sometimes masks many other issues
"Drug addicts are often dismissed & discounted as unworthy of empathy & respect. ...my intent is to help their voices to be heard & to shed light on the origins & nature of their ill-fated struggle to overcome suffering through substance use." https://www.audible.com/pd/In-the-Realm-of-Hungry-Ghosts-Audiobook/B07FK5V9KV
This country does not believe in preemptive care. They want to treat the symptoms and not the causes after the fact. Absolutely devastating to our physical and mental health. No wonder we rank the way we do in cost versus benefit of our healthcare in the United States
My problems are complex and I chose to self medicate. It IS an addiction, but a voluntary one in my case. Thankfully, softdrugs is legal where I live. It works for me, to not find myself on traintracks, but instead at home, coloring.
Glad this information is posted here. I’ve seen it first hand in my personal life (with a close family member) & professionally (as a court appointed case worker). Drugs are often a coping mechanism & sadly the worse the mental health issues are, the less likely they will agree to treatment.
My tobacco addiction was caused by the tobacco industry making so much profit that they could bribe the politians and enough scientist and all the media; This allowed them to lie to us and continue killing us. Yay big money.
They’re both diseases. Alcoholism and addiction both. Yes, they’re used as crutches to support oneself but to say that they’re not diseases is incorrect. Speaking as a 25 year clean and sober alkie/addict
The worse addiction of them all and which causes far more damage is the modern plague - narcissistic personality disorder. Although it is an effective defense in chaotic times.
And often we dont "treat addiction" we make people addicts to exercise and calorie counting instead. Ive read WAY too many stories "but now Im done with (alcohol or other) - I run 4 hours a day instead! IM HEALTHY!!! Will loose the last 5 kg I need soon!" - being just about underweight.
The opioid crisis..it’s not all junkies looking for a fix like people believe, sometimes it’s a person in chronic intractable pain who was once prescribed medication that allowed them to function again, then suddenly it’s discontinued leaving these people desperate to regain their lives.
It’s like the pendulum has swung so far and doctors are leaving people to suffer untreated, in severe pain leading to worse addiction than supervised treatment dependence. It is a failure of the medical system to fix a problem they created by going too far and creating far worse problems.
Have a BIL in this vortex as we speak. Never dealing with childhood trauma/abuse is at the root. Now at 60, he knows no other form of coping and has exploded.
And yet mental health is a child under the stairs a dirty filthy secret that can never be confronted I've lived in this place and this country of the United States of America and Ben ignored and abused and raped and in the end my government chose to contract with me because I know
For me, it was self medicating. Because I did know how to tackle all those issues, I used Alcohol and Drugs to treat them. Been sober 28 years now, those issues are being tended too now.
Addictions come in all forms, generally one replaces another… stop smoking/ eat more. We really need to learn to replace one with 2-3 healthier choices. One can try…?
I think the point here is to get to the essence of what causes addictions to occur then deal directly with those things. You needn’t necessarily replace one thing with another. But learn what underlying issues you are dealing with and why they exist.
So true... when I finally had enough and decided I was going to try and get clean - I had to change everything about myself. And learn how to deal with life without becoming frustrated and running to the only friend I thought I knew... Drugs.
Congrats. Recovery is a long journey but well worth it. I stood by a loved one who went through addiction and many near death hospitalations. Seeing him now is such a heart warming experience.
It's easy now.
99th times the charm.
I'd just had enough
and love my sobriety more than
anything I could ever imagine.
Congratulations to
you and thank you !
This is the absolute truth. I always have used drugs and alcohol to mask my depression and anxiety. Although, I have not drunk since 2000 (maybe 5 drinks max) the numb keeps you moving, but not in the right direction.
I'm addicted to sugar. I eat 😓mainly chocolate. I'm not joking either. People can go to treatment for drugs and alcohol. Food addiction is another monster.
I never wanted to "have to take a pill every day". 2nd time through rehab, I was willing to do anything they suggested.
One of my facilitators told me "You've always been medicated. It just turns out you're a really shitty pharmacist"!😁🤣
Meds and proper therapy have been life-changing.
The substance isn't the problem - it's the solution. The problems really start when the solution stops working or creates more, worse problems of its own.
I wouldn't call the substance a solution, I would call it a crutch. It is used by the individual to be "normal" in their eyes but eventually they become dependent on the substance to function.
It's not a fucking crutch. It's a coping mechanism. We use it (whatever the substance is) to help us deal with unresolved trauma -- frequently because we lack the funds or ability to access mental health care.
We don't seek "normal." We're trying to survive.
It feels like a solution when ppl first discover that using it helps fill the empty hole inside—the one they could never seem to fill. No longer shy, introverted, or afraid, they feel a temporary relief.
It’s too bad scientists can’t just flip that switch without the devastating side effects.
.
To the person - the addict - it is the solution. Classifying it as a crutch just adds judgement into the equation, which in my experience is pretty much never helpful. To the addict, you might was well say breathing is a crutch.
Hitting home today! So little mental health support. My daughter’s anxiety is impacting our whole family. It’s a downward spiral. I’m calling everyone for help and hitting a hard wall. There is no support.
All true but critically missing real life or in sanitized words the Social Determinants of Health. Those issues come from somewhere and that's often poverty, abuse or both.
And you treat Addiction with the people who are least trained in psychology. You don't even need any license to practice drug counseling. And you can often get a fly-by-night certification. We need proper licensed people treating this and the recovery rates will go up significantly.
Yup. It's in the country's best interest to treat it properly. Less addicts, less crime. They also become better parents meaning less chance for the kids to go down that road... But no one cares about them, so they get substandard treatments and rarely recover
I have a friend who smokes, and whenever I see her, I can't help but feel that she might be trying to mask something deeper—perhaps unresolved trauma from a past relationship. I’ve tried to approach her and offer help in quitting, but she doesn’t seem open to it.
I've been sober for 11 years now, and something I heard really helped put addiction into perspective for me.. "addiction isn't the problem, it's the solution." It's having to work on different coping strategies for the issues while getting and staying sober.
I think the problem is people assume the (insert addiction here) is the issue, but you get sober, and now you are sober and still have the reason you started drinking, and no other coping strategies.
Half of addicts are just self medicating. Our mental health care system is worse than our regular health care system. To the point where the murder of a mentally ill person is seen as a good thing. I hope it's Aliens in NJ. I want the first flight off this rock.
Comments
A lot of people still have ideas from like the 70s where 'methadone' = 'heroin lite' but just try to avoid them if possible. They don't understand.
Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, you're good.
In a world where everyone is continually bombarded with useless information 24/7 ADHD could be a coping mechanism. In fact, people being tortured and deprived of sleep exhibit similar traits.
Almost nobody in remote rural locations with no internet has ADHD.
I’ve seen incredible changes in people, just by hearing their story, and explaining their “addiction is not only an understandable coping strategy, but may have actually kept them alive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGxMs
Former Registered Psychiatric Nurse
Clinical Hypnotherapist
https://www.audible.com/pd/In-the-Realm-of-Hungry-Ghosts-Audiobook/B07FK5V9KV
The old saying "a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"? Right out the window.
The mentality is "well, what if it turns out to be nothing? Then we wasted a lot of money, effort and time (in that order)."
Money is treated as our most precious resource, not people.
You can treat the symptom, you need to identify the problem.
Addiction is escapism; what is being escaped from.
Real solutions solve problems not symptoms.
It can be two things at once.
Another health habit (some claim addiction) with devastating health benefits
My alcohol addiction: being fed alcohol and then sexually abused as a child.
My drug addiction: being unable to hid the pain and shame of being abused by drinking way to much alcohol
Therapy was the solution
It can be down to the definition of the word disease.
If clinton and the courts can disagree on what "to have engaged in sex means" the english language has a lot of misgivings.
And congratulations on 25 year C&S; to obtain it means something to you; well done
No one cares.
Christian nation
Praise.
The higher the score, the higher the chances of developing the disorder.
People are medicating themselves due to a lack of mental health supports.
Pull the root cause, then the tree grows.
When actually he was the worst enemy I ever had.
Every one of those days was a challenge‼️
I still crave the taste of Bailey's Irish Cream, or a scotch over ice. Every time I resist that desire.
but regret not trying
more high end drinks because no
way in hell That monkeys ever getting on my back
again. 14yrs invested.
JOB!!
STAY
STRONG‼️💯🌹
99th times the charm.
I'd just had enough
and love my sobriety more than
anything I could ever imagine.
Congratulations to
you and thank you !
One of my facilitators told me "You've always been medicated. It just turns out you're a really shitty pharmacist"!😁🤣
Meds and proper therapy have been life-changing.
We don't seek "normal." We're trying to survive.
It’s too bad scientists can’t just flip that switch without the devastating side effects.
.
At first...