Quest for Sobriety 👌 #SubstanceRelatedDisorders #SubstanceUseDisorders #Addiction #MentalHealth #BipolarDisorder
I’m getting there 👌💪👍
#MightyTogether #Addiction #AlcoholAbuse #AlcoholDependence #Alcoholism
I’m getting there 👌💪👍
#MightyTogether #Addiction #AlcoholAbuse #AlcoholDependence #Alcoholism
Following on from yesterday’s post regarding my referral to a ‘Substance Abuse Therapy Centre’, here’s how it went…..
So appointment went well. They are not overly concerned about the drinking but they advised me to try and taper off the use of cocaine, if I can go cold turkey then fine, but if not then reduce my consumption bit by bit. Referring me for an ADHD assessment via my GP. Tested me for Hepatitis C and HIV so wait couple of weeks for the results. Generally speaking had a good chat with the girl, she was understanding and she listened which was refreshing. They’re going to liase with both my GP and Psychiatrist and give me the best possible support to kick these habits into touch 👌
#MentalHealth #MightyTogether #ADHD #AlcoholDependence #AlcoholAbuse #Alcoholism #Narcotics
Hi, my name is Cornflowercollie13. I'm looking for
Community and support. I’m currently living with an active addiction and in an abusive marriage. Mental, emotional, verbal and at times physical but not for a while. I work as an adult entertainer from home and live in a city where I have no close friends. The only people I talk to are my online clients and my dogs and various animals that I care for. I feel myself disappearing and it scares me. I feel like I used to be a vibrant, outspoken, artistic woman and now I’m an empty shell. I would love to find people who are either in the same industry as myself. Or people who are also actively choosing to stay in an abusive relationship. Animal lovers a plus. #MightyTogether #Depression #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #SubstanceUseDisorders #Trauma #PersonalityDisorders #MightyPets
Hi, my name is RecreatedByGravity. I'm here because I want to live this life to the best of my ability.
#MightyTogether #Dysautonomia #FunctionalMovementDisorder #SubstanceUseDisorders #ChiariMalformation
Hi, my name is Sleepyswampwitch. I'm here because being multiply disabled is making my recovery from drug addiction really hard. I live in a sober house but right now I'm LITERALLY the only disabled person I know in the recovery community in my area. I feel like I'm slipping away and I'm scared. Every time I try to reach out to someone I get told I "just need to stop glorifying drugs" when I'm not, I'm trying to explain why I'm struggling right now.
I feel like a feral cat and I don't know how to cope with it. (And no I'm not high right now, I'm 8 months sober I'm just living on the edge of a mental health crisis these days)
I'm sure it will get better but for now I need to hold on tight and I'm slipping
#MightyTogether #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Fibromyalgia #AutismSpectrumDisorder #PTSD #ADHD #Grief #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #BrainInjury #Anxiety #Depression #SubstanceUseDisorders
"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
In my mental health and recovery journeys, one of the hardest things was acknowledging that he needed help and support. Why? Because of stigma and other people's perceptions of those aspects of mental health and emotional well-being.
Why We Need to Reframe the Narrative Around Rock Bottom in Recovery #Addiction #MentalHealth #SubstanceUseDisorders #Stigma
I used to discuss with clients how to transition from letting things and people define me in my journey. For instance, I struggled with discussing my mental health and challenges, feeling as though they controlled me because I stigmatized myself. So, each day, I asked myself what small action I could take to define my journey. I sought support only from qualified individuals, eventually empowering me to avoid being defined by others’ unhelpful and problematic beliefs and opinions.
Remember, it’s not about achieving perfection immediately. It’s about taking small steps to realize your potential, and that’s empowering too. Remember you got this even on your hardest days and that reaching out for help processing and going through challenging moments is more a sign of strength.
Also, it is not about not having those moments or challenging thoughts or memories that define progress. It’s about how you relate, define, process and acknowledge them because sometimes our biggest milestones and progress are the things that are unseen in our journey that we don’t realize are progress.  #ADHD #ADHDInGirls #BipolarDisorder #AnorexiaNervosa #Anxiety #Depression #LearningDisabilities #SubstanceUseDisorders #Neurodiversity
I’ve been feeling really uneasy and confused today. That old feeling of condemnation has returned. The stigma attached to mental illness and SUD, is hard to overcome. I’ve internalized it and feel self-loathing as a result. It’s hard for me to remember to objectify the illness in myself and not objectify myself, especially when everyone else seems to be doing that to me. I need to remember I am not my illness or my past behavior. When people become emotional due to suffering they moralize, judge and condemn. And that’s okay, because all feelings are valid and just feelings not facts. What is not okay is to abuse someone with that judgement and condemnation and that’s what society does. It stigmatizes and makes it even harder for those who need help to seek it due to lack of support and resources and the belief that it’s a moral issue not a mental health issue. I have to make sure I don’t lose empathy for myself even when others have none to give me. #SubstanceUseDisorders
#MajorDepressiveDisorder
#BipolarDisorder
#CPTSD
#Anxiety
#AutismSpectrumDisorder
Don’t tell me to conquer my “demons”. That I have
“emotional baggage”. That I need to clean up my life, repent, repair my relationships and restore my place in society. That I need to change my perspective from “half empty to half full”. Just think positive, smile, lighten up, etc. All of this is dripping with misogynistic beliefs and patriarchal values. No, I won’t put a fucking smile on my face for anyone. I don’t owe anyone pretty, or perfection. I don’t have to be anything other than what I am or feel. I am not ashamed of my mental illnesses or disabilities! I am not trying to rid myself of anything. I embrace all of me. All of my humanity, all my emotions all my feelings, all my wounds, and scars. Don’t ever, ever tell me, my trauma is “darkness”, “evil” or “demons”. That is emotional abuse and is part of the problem that caused most of us to get sick in the first place. Morality causes almost all suffering in society. Not the lack of it, but the strict enforcement of it that leads to all kinds of condemnations, violations of rights and lack of emotional intelligence and empathy in the world. I support Radical Self Acceptance!
#Bipolar2
#Bipolar1
#MajorDepressiveDisorder
#Depression
#SubstanceUseDisorders
#PTSD
#CPTSD