Substance-Related Disorders

I’m getting there 👌💪👍
#MightyTogether #Addiction #AlcoholAbuse #AlcoholDependence #Alcoholism

Tomorrow I’m attending the Inspire Centre for therapy and assistance to help with my substance abuse issues. Here’s what I have written for them. If you have any suggestions or advice on what I’ve written, please let me know in the comments section below 👍

Last time I had a drink - 9th Sept.
Last time I took Cocaine - 9th Sept.

• Use was plain and simply an escape. An escape from the noise and chatter and chaos that I have to put up with 24/7. It might only have been for a couple of hours, but I needed it.

• It’s like my prescription drugs, that were working brilliantly, became less effective and the Bipolar was more prevalent causing this gap, a void that had to be filled, and I chose to fill it with alcohol and Cocaine.

• I know that my actions aren’t the best way to deal with it but I was just desperate. I know that mixing the two together forms Cocaethylene in the Liver, and this is Cardiotoxic.

• Without the Cocaine I wouldn’t have been able to write this explanation. My Bipolar medication robs me of my ability to express myself and explain my experiences in any way. It makes me numb. It’s a different numbness than that of what the Depression brings, but it is a numbness nonetheless.

• I don’t think I’ve got a substance abuse problem, but I’ve got a Mental Illness problem that isn’t being addressed. My meds worked well for a long time from when I started this combination. Slowly, I feel like the Bipolar chipped away at them and their ability to remedy the problem that the Bipolar caused, became less productive.

• After time, they (the medication) have become less effective, less efficient if you will. There is no cure for this illness but just a remedy to keep it manageable. I feel that they need reviewing and increasing where possible to avoid the dips in my recovery from this terrible affliction that consumes me relentlessly for every single minute of every single day.

• There is an onslaught of gaps in my psyche which are voids of emptiness that are being filled by the Bipolar and not the medication. It’s as though it has been setting me up to fall in its trap. Relentless in pursuit of finding a way in which impacts on me. It’s horrible.

#Addiction #Alcoholism #AlcoholAbuse #CocaineDependence #SubstanceRelatedDisorders #MentalHealth #MightyTogether

✨ Recovery isn’t about choosing between lived experience or clinical expertise—it’s about weaving them together.

Lived wisdom grounds us in empathy and shared humanity. Clinical knowledge helps us understand patterns, symptoms, and strategies for moving forward. When both come together, recovery becomes more than surviving—it becomes building a life with tools, language, and compassion that last.

💬 💬 How has lived experience or professional insight shaped your own journey, and how do you—or how can you—bring both together in the way you heal, grow, and support others?

My experience has taught me that one balances the other, and that it’s okay not to know everything. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know,” and to admit when I’m scared of being vulnerable—because that honesty is where real connection and recovery begins. And that we have many conversations on seeking help but not enough conversations on what is best for us and what is the power to help us get that support

And here's a few things that I learned that help me to do play an active role in my journey.

✅ Ways to proactively advocate with your support team:

Be clear about your goals and needs. Share what you’re working toward—whether it’s stability, reducing symptoms, or building coping tools—so your team knows what success looks like for you.

Ask questions and request explanations. Don’t hesitate to ask why a treatment, strategy, or approach is being suggested. Understanding the reasoning helps you stay engaged and confident in your care.

Set boundaries and give feedback. Advocate for what feels helpful and speak up if something isn’t working. A good team will respect your voice, adjust, and work with you—not just on you.

⸻

🔍 How to recognize good support vs. unhelpful support:

Good support looks like:
• Listening without judgment.
• Valuing your lived experience alongside professional expertise.
• Encouraging collaboration and respecting boundaries.
• Empowering you to make informed choices.

Unhelpful support looks like:
• Dismissing your concerns or minimizing your experiences.
• Making decisions for you without your input.
• Using shame, guilt, or pressure as motivators.
• Creating dependency instead of building your confidence and skills.

#ADHDInGirls #ADHD #Neurodiversity #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #SubstanceRelatedDisorders #MightyTogether

As I recover from persistent depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and perfectionism, I’ve found that my perspective has changed numerous times—shaping how I interact with myself, recognize my limits, consistently ask for help, prioritize my health, grow my empathy for myself and others, build community, and even foster my creativity.

Even though the process has been challenging and uncomfortable, I’m learning that it’s OK to make mistakes and express emotions like frustration, anger, and annoyance—without seeing them as negative or believing they make me a bad person. I’m still figuring out where I feel at home in the world and how to explore love more freely, but I’m willing to keep going because I know I deserve it.

What about you? How has your perspective on recovery changed?

#CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #Depression #Anxiety #MentalHealth #Recovery #EatingDisorder #EatingDisorderRecovery #Addiction #AddictionRecovery #SubstanceRelatedDisorders #PTSD #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #Selfharm

#Addiction #ADHD #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Neurodiversity #Depression #SubstanceRelatedDisorders

"General population surveys have documented that approximately 75% of individuals with a substance use disorder have experienced trauma at some point in their lives."
-- PubMed Central, National Library of Medicine.

Time and time again, I see comments from people online saying things like:

* People with addictions have no-one to blame but themselves.
* Addiction is a lifestyle choice.
* Addiction only happens to certain kinds of people.
* People with addiction are all criminals.
* People with addiction need tough love. Helping them just enables drug use.
* Addiction medications are just replacing one addiction with another.
* People with addiction are hopeless.
... and on and on it goes.

Statistics show that the vast majority of people with addictions are doing it to self-medicate. Some things, such as some types of illicit drugs, have the additional side effect of feeling good while they're being taken, but my argument is that people don't take them primarily for that reason.

They take them to dull/block out emotional and/or physical pain.

[Aside: I, until 2.5 months ago, used to do the same thing with nicotine, be it smoking and/or vaping. Every time I felt stressed or anxious, I craved nicotine. My body screamed for it. And I would find myself huddled somewhere away from everyone else, puffing away, because smokers are considered pariahs these days.]

Not every form of emotional pain is linked to trauma, but every traumatic backstory leads to emotional pain. It's perfectly understandable to want to kill that pain with whatever you can get your hands on, whatever works. Let's face it; Mindfulness really doesn't help with genuine distress, it helps with mild symptoms.

Tearing into people with addictions helps no-one - *especially* not the person with the addiction. It makes them feel worse than they already do. Don't people realise that the person with the addiction already *knows* they're addicted, and likely wish they weren't?

With seeking help for addictions comes the realisation and reality that once you kick the habit, the feelings you were trying to kill will come flooding back. Often it feels like they come back with a vengeance, to make up lost time, as it were. Quitting an addiction is downright heroic, because you have to face all your inner demons.

That's why addiction centres usually have 28-day programs, full of group and 1:1 therapy sessions. It takes approximately a week for the drugs to leave a person's system (the detox process is usually brutal in and of itself), then they need time and help afterwards. They also need to be among people going through a similar process, for inspiration and support.

[Aside: For anyone interested in the topic of addiction centres, I recommend the movie '28 Days' (not to be mistaken for '28 Days Later', a *very* different genre of movie.) It's a comedy, but does go quite deep into the more serious aspects of addiction. You can rent it through the Google TV or YouTube apps; it used to be available upon Netflix, but they've since removed it.]

Have you noticed the language I have been very careful in using for identification, yet? At no point have I used the word 'addicts'; I have always used the term 'people with addictions'. That is deliberate, as people are not natural addicts. They have addictions. I'm not sure if I believe in the so-called 'addictive gene' theory. I suspect I lean more into the no camp, as I believe the main cause of addiction is trauma, not genetics. That doesn't mean, however, that the two can't be at play, simultaneously. I am open to being wrong.

So the next time you see a person with an addiction, be it out on the street, in a psych ward, or even just looking into your bathroom mirror, think about what might have brought them to that point in their lives, and seek for some compassion and sympathy within yourself. If you're walking, or have walked the addiction path before, you can also try some empathy. It costs nothing, but means everything.

No-one chooses for their life to feel out of their control. They don't choose the tragedies in their past. They don't choose addiction.

#MentalHealth #Addiction #SubstanceRelatedDisorders #SubstanceUseDisorders #PTSD #Trauma #compassion #Sympathy #Empathy #AddictionRecovery #Recovery