Just One Victory - Coping With Substance Abuse Problems

Not_what · Post by **Not_what** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:21 pm

Perhaps when you become to depend on it?

Like, if it affects your daily life, then I reckon it's a problem

Or you use it for a reason

So, it's not that you're going out on a friday night and getting wasted with your mates, but rather that you're actully drinking the nights away to hide/stop feeling something, if you get my drift?

Licentia Poetica · Post by **Licentia Poetica** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:56 am

Not_what wrote:So, it's not that you're going out on a friday night and getting wasted with your mates, but rather that you're actully drinking the nights away to hide/stop feeling something, if you get my drift?

Yeah I guess that's what I do..

I only ever drink alone at home.

Not_what · Post by **Not_what** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:32 pm

Which isn't that good for you really. Especially if it's linked to emotions etc.

Personally, I'd call that abuse/a problem

not to mention completely pickling your liver up

Never much fun

Have you thought about trying to stop drinking? Cause like, yeah, it's not the most healthy of things. Perhaps replace it with something slightly healthier. But the font of knowledge that I am, I've no idea what!

astepawayfromlife · Post by **astepawayfromlife** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:26 pm

Yesterday made a month since my last hit, unfortinually it doesnt feel that grand...

sockr28 · Post by **sockr28** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:31 am

well i still think that it is a good step! good luck on continuing!

astepawayfromlife · Post by **astepawayfromlife** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:19 am

thank you... i know its big, dont know why it doesnt feel it

HakunaMatata · Post by **HakunaMatata** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:10 pm

I don't know if it's ok for me to post here or not...I don't have substance abuse problems as such, just sometimes I don't know my limits...or rather, I know my limits and exceed them.
I realised on Friday (it was my Summer Ball- everyone was drinking) that I have only been drunk (as in totally, out-of-control beyond reason drunk) once since New Years, before New Years it was near enough a weekly occurence to be like that.
I think the reasoning behind it (well, this is what I've pondered over with in the last few days and coem to the conclusion over) is that I used to just drink near enough to the point where I passed out/so I was out of control because I didn't like my irl circumstances, and I used it as an escape mechanism.
Unfortunatley I now replace alcohol abuse with substance abuse- just E, when I go out- but I am unsure as to my reasoning behind it- wheterh it's subconcious, 'well I don't get drunk so I'll do this instead' or soemthing else. I can now go out and have one or two drinks and stop before I'm even remotely tipsy, but it took me a while to get to that stage. hmmm, tis a thought consuming one (anyone wanting to offer insight/tehir view/advice, welcome.)

Ps, apologies for bad sp/if this doens't belong here.

sockr28 · Post by **sockr28** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:04 pm

HM, i think that it is good that you realize where you are. although you might not know what to do, realizing it is the first step. i am in the same position. i wish that i had some advice, but since i am where you are, i dont. hang in there.

pdoc got angry with me today about the amount that i am drinking. i told her that the summer is always the worst. she didnt understand why i continued to drink and have increased lately after i had been seeing a substance abuse t (which i stopped seeing). i tried to explain that i just wasnt ready. (i only went because my other t made me). it made me realize that you have to stop for yourself, and i am just not at that point right now. i cant imagine my life without alcohol. and if not alcohol, other drugs that achieve the same effect.

i am aware that my use has gotten out of control. but part of me doesnt care. the only thing that i am worried about now is money. just spent my last cash buying alcohol. dont get paid for almost two weeks now. i know that it is bad that i would rather have alcohol than anything else. this is a big problem!! just not ready yet.

I'M SCARED!

Post by **Spidey** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:14 am

sockr28 wrote:this is a big problem!! just not ready yet.

I'M SCARED!

what, in your mind, would make you ready to stop drinking?

sockr28 · Post by **sockr28** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:13 am

i'm not really sure. i realize (by other people telling me) that it is a problem but just not ready to deal with it. i have tried in the recent past to stop and succeeded at cutting down, but never stopping. i just am not at the point to think about stopping forever. i know, one day at a time, but in the back of my mind i keep thinking about forever. i guess i just need to figure out what i get from the alcohol and what i can replace it with.

sockr28 · Post by **sockr28** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 6:12 am

cant belive what i have come to...would rather stay at home and drink by myself that hang out with friends...just dont have an interest in anything anymore.

anotherXbody · Post by **anotherXbody** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:12 am

Hi there. I'm new. This topic struck me the most so I thought that I would start with it.....hope ya'll don't mind.

I am definitely a substance abuser. At first I lied to myself and said that I could stop anytime I wanted....and I was right. BUT...what I didn't realize was that I wasn't prepared mentally to keep away from the cravings. So I would have cycles of abstinence and binging over and over. I'm currently in a new-found abstinence.

But if its not drugs I'm abusing, its food, money, or my body. Basically, it comes down to that I don't respect myself.

I'm currently seeking treatment via an outpatient program. Hopefully this will help. I've been through so many tx programs through so many years.....I am getting discouraged.

pelagic · Post by **pelagic** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:13 am

Alcohol is.. scary. I can have a beer or two to chill out, or even get a little tipsy once a year with friends (literally once a year, I'm not a drinker), but alcohol addictions frighten me. My uncle recently died due to liver failure from his alcoholic addiction, and he wasn't even an alcoholic at the time. But alcohol is so deadly, the after affects killed him, even though he was sober for months. I don't know how it is to live with an addiction like that, but I do know how it feels to watch somebody you love die in front of you every time they open a new bottle.

pelagic · Post by **pelagic** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:18 am

Perhaps switching from alcohol to another drug/activity could help, if the second drug/activity is less harmful. I can understand if you disagree, but marijuana is, in my opinion, a much safer drug -- if you can call it that. I wil admit that I smoke it once every few months to calm myself down, or to chill with friends, and find it much better than alcohol. Just remember not to over-use it, though, because you CAN get addicted, although it's a psycological (sp?) addiction, not a physical one. Since it's illegal in most countries, buying it would be difficult because it could be laced.

Really, what turns me off of alcohol is realizing that, oh for example, wine, they get a bunch of grapes, throw them in a bucket, let them rot for a while until they turn ferment (meaning, rotted so much that it's toxic to your body).

sockr28 · Post by **sockr28** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 11:56 pm

I use both alcohol and marijuana. however, i prefer alcohol. i can see you idea, but i dont think that trading one addiction for another is a good thing. i believe that both are bad for the body and can result in bad consequneces.

just my thought.

pelagic · Post by **pelagic** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:24 am

Yeah, I do agree that quitting all together is much better than switching addictions. In some cases, though, people find it best to pick the better bad choice, before they manage to quit. Addictions are so sad, and it makes me angry that kids will deliberately do drugs simply to rebel against their parents. It only leads to misery.

Post by **splitimage** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:59 pm

I just passed my four months sober mark. I still want to drink sometimes but the cravings are a lot less intense. I'd urge anyone who thinks that they might have a problem with alcohol to get help before your life gets as messed up as mine. I lost my job and my drivers licence because of drinking.

---splitimage

pelagic · Post by **pelagic** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 4:30 am

That's great that you've been sobre for four months!

Librariana · Post by **Librariana** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:24 am

Congrats, Split! Four months is super.

I'm an alcoholic; I come by it honestly.

(Long line of drunks in my family on both sides.)

I have about ten months this time around the block. AA seems to be working for me.

For those of you struggling with this sort of thing that don't want to try a 12 step program, there are a TON of books out now on addiction and recovery. Just go to the 158s and the 613s at your library and browse...that is, if they're on the dewey system. Or ask your librarian.

Or find a good therapist or shrink. There are a lot of ways to help yourself. I know it seems like the 12 step model is pervasive, but just look around. There's a lot of help out there in many forms.

I just read about a new one for crack addicts...a couple of therapists took a bunch of desperate people who wanted help kicking their addiction, leased an acre of land, and got them landscaping and gardening on it. One end is a small park and the other end is a vegetable garden and they give the produce to homeless shelters. It seems to be working, too. I loved that story. It gave me hope.

I went the other way around; getting help for my alcoholism led me here. I've been reading threads all afternoon. And crying for most of it. I didn't know anyone else understood.

pelagic · Post by **pelagic** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:09 am

That gardening story does ring with hope. Makes me smile through all the sorrow I'm feeling today, if only barely.

Just One Victory - Coping With Substance Abuse Problems

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