Compulsive Gambling Addiction Help in South Africa ...
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AITA for selling a valuable family antique to pull myself out of poverty
My Grandfather died 3 months ago due to complications with his liver, he was a heavy drinker so I was counting the days until it was inevitable, I and my grandfather were best friends so I accepted that he will die a long time ago, my family has constantly criticised me for the lack of emotion I showed. My grandfather was a war veteran who served in world war II, when he died he left me a valuable knife that he used in Normandy along with a couple of photos and a diary that documented his everyday life during the war, unfortunately, I was the only family member who inherited these items as I was the closest to him. Due to current financial problems, I am broke, I have little to no money to my name due to my problems battling addiction with gambling in casinos and drinking. Unfortunately, I have fallen in bad times and need to pay back my loans, I offered to pay my debts with my grandfather's war antiques but my family is highly against this decision as they view it as a great dishonour that I would give up my grandfathers legacy to debt collectors, my sister begged me not to and even offered to pay for them, but she was not offering me enough money, only half of the market value. As a result, I sold all of it, every single antique, and I managed to have enough money to pay rent. Today I was sitting on my sister's couch drinking a beer when my sister barged into the living room screaming at me for selling valuable items for the sake of money, I tried to explain to her that I was in poverty and needed every cent otherwise I would be evicted from my rented house. I got mad at her and told her that my grandfather loved me more and trusted me with these antiques as I would honour them. My sister and brother forced me out of her house. Reddit AITA for being desperate and trying to pull myself out of poverty? EDIT 1: I would like to mention that I did not sell these antiques first, I sold my car and took on some credit card loans in order to survive. EDIT 2: I have been in a long discussion with my family and in order for me to be accepted back I would have to enter rehab, I am currently enrolled in a centre and hope to remove my demons. Thank you reddit
Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida is one of the best drug addiction counseling centres where drug addicts are not just treated, also encouraged to get back on the road to wellness and live a reputed life in the community. Nasha Mukti KendraNoida provides a serene and comfortable environment for the physical and mental speedy recovery of the patient. We have all kinds of patients coming from all over the world. Centre offers individual attention to the patient sufferings and gives the best medical, emotional help by our specialist doctors. They conduct many workshops, seminars to spread awareness among the common people and for the family members of the addicted patients on how to calm the patient. Drugs are something that is easy to get as they have so many distributors spread all around you in bars, restaurants, and in so many places. It is very easy to get addicted to it but it is a hundred times difficult to get rid of such addictions. Drug Addiction Recovery Rehab’s staff works closely with clients and take every measure to guarantee that they will only create the best treatment plan based on clients’ unique needs. Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida provides holistic healing with safe detox, intensive therapy, support groups, recreational activities, counseling sessions, medical camps, yoga, mindfulness, art/music/massage therapy to the people who are drug-addicted. There are many such treatment classes that are organized to make them physically active and strong. They have the proper rehabilitation technique that can never dissolve the intoxication in your life and go further by applying to touch these hazardous substances. At Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida have a dedicated team of highly experienced physiotherapists and psychiatrists, supported by equally highly qualified staff. This team provides some of the best rehab counseling in Noida. Everyone admitted at the Kendra is provided with 24*7 hours of uncompromised care and support. The Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre promises a 95% recovery rate. Supported by post-treatment health support, every patient receives a customized plan for their treatment, depending on the intensity of their addiction. Substance Abuse Rehab Centres provide a safe haven for anyone who seeks to improve their health and lifestyle. A rehab centre provides a much safer environment for recovering addicts as the staff is highly trained and efficient in dealing with withdrawal symptoms that tend to occur during detoxification. For better and quick recovery, these programs and therapies help them so that they will live a happy, healthy life. Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida provides treatments like outpatient consultation services, cognitive behavioral therapy, Individual therapy for anxiety, Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, yoga therapy, art therapy, holistic health, and wellness centre. Nasha Mukti Kendra indulges in various programs like the Continuing care program, Eating disorder program, adolescent addiction treatment centre, Food Addiction Treatment Program, Gambling Addiction Treatment, etc. http://www.reawakening.in/blog/nashamukti-kendra-in-noida/
Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida is one of the best drug addiction counseling centres where drug addicts are not just treated, also encouraged to get back on the road to wellness and live a reputed life in the community. Nasha Mukti KendraNoida provides a serene and comfortable environment for the physical and mental speedy recovery of the patient. We have all kinds of patients coming from all over the world. Centre offers individual attention to the patient sufferings and gives the best medical, emotional help by our specialist doctors. They conduct many workshops, seminars to spread awareness among the common people and for the family members of the addicted patients on how to calm the patient. Drugs are something that is easy to get as they have so many distributors spread all around you in bars, restaurants, and in so many places. It is very easy to get addicted to it but it is a hundred times difficult to get rid of such addictions. Drug Addiction Recovery Rehab’s staff works closely with clients and take every measure to guarantee that they will only create the best treatment plan based on clients’ unique needs. Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida provides holistic healing with safe detox, intensive therapy, support groups, recreational activities, counseling sessions, medical camps, yoga, mindfulness, art/music/massage therapy to the people who are drug-addicted. There are many such treatment classes that are organized to make them physically active and strong. They have the proper rehabilitation technique that can never dissolve the intoxication in your life and go further by applying to touch these hazardous substances. At Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida have a dedicated team of highly experienced physiotherapists and psychiatrists, supported by equally highly qualified staff. This team provides some of the best rehab counseling in Noida. Everyone admitted at the Kendra is provided with 24*7 hours of uncompromised care and support. The Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre promises a 95% recovery rate. Supported by post-treatment health support, every patient receives a customized plan for their treatment, depending on the intensity of their addiction. Substance Abuse Rehab Centres provide a safe haven for anyone who seeks to improve their health and lifestyle. A rehab centre provides a much safer environment for recovering addicts as the staff is highly trained and efficient in dealing with withdrawal symptoms that tend to occur during detoxification. For better and quick recovery, these programs and therapies help them so that they will live a happy, healthy life. Nasha Mukti Kendra in Noida provides treatments like outpatient consultation services, cognitive behavioral therapy, Individual therapy for anxiety, Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, yoga therapy, art therapy, holistic health, and wellness centre. Nasha Mukti Kendra indulges in various programs like the Continuing care program, Eating disorder program, adolescent addiction treatment centre, Food Addiction Treatment Program, Gambling Addiction Treatment, etc. http://www.reawakening.in/blog/nashamukti-kendra-in-noida/
Crossroads Recovery Centre is group of private alcohol and drug rehab centres located in Gauteng in South Africa. Our 12 Step treatment facilities based in Pretoria and Johannesburg offer personalised recovery solutions for individuals suffering under the tremendous weight of their addictions. We offer expert, professional addiction treatment for substance abuse and physical addictions to food, sex and gambling. Visit: https://crossroadsrecovery.co.za/ Address: 607 View Street, Rietvalleirand, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa Phone: (+27) (0) 82 653 3311
Hello, my name is Caravaggio, I'm a 30 year old cocaine addict and this is my story
Hello, I sit here today about to tell you my story, because I hope that even if one person reads it and wants to make a change in their life, it will have made my post worthwhile. I'm 30 years old. Born and raised on Queen Elizabeth's great island. I had a normal, nice childhood - my parents weren't rich but weren't poor. I grew up playing football (soccer) every day, played outdoors, had fun, all the usual stuff kids get up to. I'm a good looking lad and I was a very good footballer, so school was fun and I loved every day of it. But despite this, I had a real feeling inside of me that I had to please my parents and I wanted to make them proud, so I tried hard at school and got good grades. I purposely stayed away from the kids that smoked and did drugs, as I didn't want my parents smelling smoke on me and thinking I was smoking. I got older, went to university, and fell into a career where I was a counsellor for people who suffered from addiction to drugs and alcohol at a rehab centre. It was the best job ever, it was great helping people, but I never truly understood drugs or what made people get hooked on them. Residents at the rehab would tell me about all the various drugs, and to be quite honest it scared me. Heroin?! Injecting yourself, becoming physically addicted, being utterly dependent on it? I couldn't understand it, but I understand that heroin is physically addictive and your body will crave it and you will get withdrawals if you don't use it. That makes sense. When they'd tell me about cocaine, I always thought "this isn't physically addictive, so how are you hooked?!". I felt like, you're doing this drug and there's nothing to stop you, only your own will power. When they spoke about cocaine, it appealed to me. It's the only drug that I've ever heard about and thought 'yeah, sounds appealing'. There was nothing stopping me from trying it, other than my own personal pride - I felt a bit embarrassed to ask friends to hook me up for the first time. Skip forward to 2017 and its Xmas party season. I went out with friends and they said they'd be getting cocaine and asked if I wanted some. I said yes, and sure enough I tried it. It didn't really do much, I didn't buzz or feel anything other than a having blocked nose. It was £30 for a gram and I didn't really know if that was cheap or expensive. Six months later I was writing a big assignment for a work related qualification, and I needed to pull off an all-nighter to get it finished. I asked my mate if he could get me a gram of cocaine, and he asked if I wanted bash or P1. Bash was £30 a gram and P1 was £90 a gram. I tried the £90 a gram and boom, fuck me this was proper cocaine. I was buzzing, fingers darting around the keyboard, chatting to my mates on WhatsApp all night, stayed up all night and got my work complete. Fucking hell, this is what cocaine was all about. A few weeks later, I had some spare money so got another gram. My girlfriend was at work and I spent all night playing FIFA and buzzing off my tits on cocaine. I loved it. I asked my friend how often he did it, and he told me he did it once or twice a month, but he didn't pay for it upfront, he gave his dealer £600 every month and his dealer hooked him up with a huge amount and kept a tab for him. That sounded cool as fuck, like something from a gangster film, and I'll admit, I wanted a part of it. I asked my new dealer if he could hook me up and I'd pay him next week, and he said yes! I felt like a king, wow, this guy is so generous! Months down the line and it had become a once a week habit, every time I had a day free and the girlfriend was at work. It was fun, but to tell the truth, I'd developed a tolerance to it and the positive effects lasted half an hour and the anxiety, nervousness, panic and shaking had become the norm. One thing leads to another and I'm spending £400 a month on cocaine. I keep telling myself I could quit if I wanted to, feeling like shit every morning, then craving it again by 1pm. I began hiding money from my girlfriend and lying about where I was spending. Hundreds leaving my account as cash and telling my girl I had a gambling problem. It stopped being something I'd do on my free days and had become something I was doing behind her back, when she went to the toilet I'd sneak a line, when I'd go to the shops I'd do a line before I got out of the car, then again when I got back into it. Sometimes even in the supermarket. Suddenly this ultra cool thing had become a daily issue for me, 600 a month now coming out, until a few months ago, when I couldn't afford to pay my guy and he was threatening to come to mine and my girl's house to collect the money. I shit myself, didn't know where to turn and ended up confessing everything to my dad. He was livid, disappointed, devastated, but most importantly for me, he paid my guy. I swore to him and myself that this was the last time I'd used cocaine. No more. But it wasn't. Two days later I'd got another gram from my dealer and the cycle started again. A month later, my guy again wants £500 and again, I don't have it. The money is there in my bank, but I swore to my gf I wouldn't gamble it and if I took it out as cash, she'd know it was on gambling. So again, I either had to steal, beg or borrow. Asked a few friends if I could borrow £500, they said no. I didn't have the bollocks to go to my dad again. So I either had to steal, or confess to my girl. I stole. I found an advert on a website where someone was selling an iPhone. I went to their house for a 'viewing', looked at the phone, made sure it was unlocked and all legit, then when the person asked for the money, I grabbed the phone and ran. I went to a local phone store, sold it and gave the money to my dealer. Cocaine had reduced me to stealing, lying to everyone I know, begging and borrowing, and worst of all, betraying my girl - the one person who has supported me most. But as per my personality, it didn't bother me one bit. I can lie with such ease, I have no conscience, barely any morals, and can quite easily steal from someone and a minute later feel no regret or sorrow. For the last month, I haven't touched cocaine. I felt like I was starting to turn a corner, but I still owed my dealer 500. He asked me to pay 300, so I said sure, give me a week. A week later, I have nothing. So I say, give me another week, I'll get 400. A week later, nothing. Give me another week and I'll get you 500. Which takes me to today - needing 500 and no way to pay it. My guy says I've fucked him over enough and if I can't get him 500 by the end of the day he'll kick my door down and take everything he wants from my house. I had no other option but to confess to my girl what had happened. I said I owed an illegal loan-shark £500 and I needed her to bail me out. I was devastated. I'd broken my girl's heart again, she's lost £500 of our family money and the whole saga is over. I've lost her trust, my dignity, and the respect of every one of her family members. I am truly at an all time low. And it is all because of cocaine. Cocaine isn't physically addictive. It won't give you withdrawals. You can use it on a weekend and not again for a month. But what it does, is it rewires your brain and makes you believe everything will be okay and cocaine can solve your problems. It can't. Cocaine has not only created problems for me, but it has destroyed my life. It has destroyed my relationship. It has destroyed everything good that I had in life and left me with an empty shell. I am incredibly thankful that my girl has stood by me through everything, and I hope to repay her faith one day. When I gave my dealer the £500 that my girl kindly bailed me out with, I should have walked away and never touched cocaine again. But I didn't. I sit here today, with a gram in front of me, sniffing it as I write this. Regretting the day I ever tried it. Regretting every second where I thought it was cool. Regretting how I ruined my life. I regret cocaine, full stop. Please, if you're thinking of trying it - don't. No high, no buzz or no confidence is worth salvaging your life for. Every day above ground is a blessing, and the sooner we all realise that, the better. My name is Caravaggio, and I'm a cocaine addict. Thank you for listening.
South Australian State Election - Policies and Promises
South Australian State Election Date - 17 March 2018 Looks like this will be the final edit for the election. Good luck voting everyone and make sure to go out and get your Democracy Sausages!! HEALTH
My mental illness and my own solutions. [Super Long!]
By Request my TL;DR Posted in comments This is an epic post of ridiculous proportions. But I wanted to be thorough in getting across what I've been through, where it started, what I've done to try and stop and what seems to be working for me right now. Multiple rehabs, meetings and therapy.. I came to the conclusion that a physical problem within my brain (this IS a mental illness) isn't going to be cured by talking it out or hugging. Something is seriously wrong because I cannot 'choose' to stop. I have lost the ability to say no. And that was terrifying. So I researched things myself, a lot of self experimentation and some clues which led to successfully improving my cognitive functioning enough to make the choice again. While it will never go, it has gotten better! Apologies for the length. I wrote it in a stream of consciousness, so I will try and edit it down tomorrow morning. I guess I wanted to include a lot so that people could relate if they are having problems with constant, chronic relapsing, even after treatment and are feeling like there is no hope. Well.. have you tried EVERYTHING? I did.. I didn't even mention the Ibogaine treatment I did. Pretty much mentioned everything else though. Good luck getting through this.. see you on the other side. I began trying to stop using Heroin only 6 months after I started using it. That was over a decade ago. I was instantly addicted. The first day I tried it, led into the second day of using it. I had spent my life savings, at 27, I had the deposit for a home with my girlfriend. Well, my ex-girlfriend of 6 years. It ended because my weird drug interests became too much for her, and I don't blame her. This was even before heroin - I had been addicted to GBL and valium. I had primed myself for addiction and didn't even know it. I managed to quit those drugs with relative ease, but the breakup left me so empty, heroin found me one night and filled that hole. Just 6 months after starting I began an insane spiral of disgust at myself for the things I couldn't stop doing. After the money dried up, that first withdrawal hit, I still have never experienced anything like it. Virtually unlimited high quality heroin (this was over a decade ago, before Fentanyl, during the Iraq war, soldiers were bringing back virtually pure product into the UK. THAT withdrawal, it almost killed me. Anyway.. Since then, I've been to 8 rehabs and all of them were abstinence based and believed that coming to terms with an underlying trauma, or changing your personality, or dealing with shit were the way to deal with being an addict. This is the best the world of medicine has to offer. Eventually I would try some bizarre alternative therapies too, suffice to say, there is no cure for addiction. But for me, just being able to say no a day at a time would be a start. Every councillor I've had has tried to tell me that the relationship with my mother or father was a factor, or that I had a trauma I had forgotten.. all these presentations and talking sessions and endless analogies about cause and effect. I just didn't feel it applies to me. I had a great childhood, I was a happy person. But the part of my brain that made decisions, weighed up the pros and cons and did my future outcome planning - was broken or non-existant. I wanted to feel good, I pursued that feeling regardless of knowing it would be bad, knowing the outcome and doing it anyway. I decided that it was a mental health issue, but that all addicts are on a spectrum. I mean, the 8% (yes... EIGHT PERCENT) reported success rate of treatment centres says it all really. That is no better than chance. People are spending 10-30k a month on something that has less than a 1 in 10 chance of working. No matter how hard you work at it.. and Holy Shit, I wanted it.. I was fucking SICK of being SICK.. Throwing year after year away financially, socially, having no career, et. etc. So, I worked my ASS off. Every single time as soon as the withdrawal finished in treatment, I took advantage of everything I was allowed to in those places and more. I forced myself to quit smoking, to eat PERFECTLY, to go to the gym, I even got a special pass from the centre so I could wake up at 6am and go to Hot Yoga every morning and go running in the evenings. I figured, if I was going to get addicted to something, it might as well be health and exercise.. I did what they said and abandoned my pre-conceived notions of everything - after all, when they said my thinking didn't work, they were right, so I let them brainwash me and do some of my thinking for me. I chose a higher power, I decided to try and believe there was a God, despite being a lifelong atheist. And what happened.. after a few weeks out of rehab, looking and feeling awesome. I just had a craving and went with it. Immediately falling back into old habits, feeling miserable and undoing everything I had built up. I was the winner in that rehab, people looked up to my commitment. I quoted shit from the AA/NA literature. I was a spiritual guru and every evening when I was doing my diary, I kept myself in check. Not to be arrogant, not to let success go to my head (How can staying away from drugs that fuck you up be successful, most of the population does it just fine..) every person that worked there said 'you got this!'. I did 120 meetings in 90 days.. I wanted it.. I wanted it.... so, why did I throw it away every single time. At the beginning of every new rehab, where that sentence of 1-3 months stretches out in front of you and you say to yourself 'well, you've done it again. You're back.. here.. again'. My last rehab, I walked it. Everything was so easy. I didn't care at all. I had no expectations of doing well after I left. I took it a day at a time and before I knew it, I was back at the gym, eating well and got a bit more clean time under my belt. But I was scared.. I'd done this so many times before, I could run my own rehab centre I had absorbed so much of the way they speak. I've done an insane amount of meetings.. It seemed to me, there is a spectrum of addicts. Those that go to rehab, get it first time and are fine forever more. There are a few that it takes a few times to click.. and then there are the chronic relapsers, like me. I promise you, I am not half assing. I am now as equally sick of being clean and the effort required to maintain that for me as I am using the drugs and being miserable. I want to feel normal, like I have choices, not like everything is a fighting battle that I need to check with a sponsor whether I am doing the right thing. It took me months just to deprogram and de-indoctrinate myself from the cult like thinking of meetings. If thats how I have to live, I don't know if I can take that. Is that ungrateful, is that selfish.. is that evil to think that there is help and I am throwing it back in their faces because I don't think hugging and step work make a blind bit of difference. It's not professional, its not scientific, its got no statistics. Its a revolving door where people come for the therapy of people to moan to or if you're an egomaniac, to inspire by saying how wonderful things are for them.. I don't want any of it. I JUST want a regular brain that doesn't seemingly have no willpower at all. Even if I got well and had to think through everything I ever chose to do just to be sure I don't go off the rails - that defect keeps me awake at night. Existential crisis about the nature of free will and consciousness. Anyway.. I've got my PhD in addiction through living this hell on earth. I've always been an addict.. it started with collections as a young kid. Obsessive stuff.. stickers, games, my music collection (without going in to specific details about just how insane my collections are - I starved myself for months to save up enough lunch money as school to buy the first 1x CD Copier so I could buy CDs, copy them and take them back for a refund. I was encoding MP3's to the biggest hard drive money could buy at the time (7GB) each song took 45 minutes to rip and encode on my 66Mhz machine. I bought an ISDN line so I could download MP3s at twice the speed of a 56k modem and 5x the price! Blah blah.. etc etc.. It went from obsessions, to weed, making myself into the stereotypical stoner, to mushrooms (the obsession with that experience led to some extremely weird cocktails and experiences that distorted my view of reality for months at a time) to something I never thought I would do or had any interest in.. Heroin. But it grabbed me and held me and would not let go - immediately. But my obsession with science and learning never stopped either. I've always done well at school because I over-researched. over-worked.. went ahead in the book because I am an anxious and impatient person through and through. I do feel like I have a PhD in addiction. By living it and researching it. I have folders and folders of statistics, studies, drug trials, psychology results.. I came here to try and convince you of my story and my place on the scale of addicts. I definitely don't want to use, but I am a chronic relapser. It has got me into trouble so many times. Times when I thought.. finally.. everything is okay. No drug debts, a happy family, no impending court cases, nothing hanging over my head.. to 2 days later, I've got dealers living in my apartment, I owe money, I'm being threatened, I haven't paid my bills and I'm sick.. I need the drugs just to stop thinking about the mess that drugs got me into, and to stop myself asking 'why.. why did you do this to yourself AGAIN..' and having no good answer. Knowing exactly what was going to happen and doing it anyway. I've had so much experience seeing what using drugs does to me, I get a brief high and a comedown that manifests in life altering disasters and poor choices. Just believe me.. there is something wrong with me and the things that make no difference are..
therapy
praying
spirituality and meetings
Just Say No! / Think it through!
maintenance drugs
pretty much anything on offer in the pitiful excuse for a health system or places designed to help addicts.
What does work. If anyone is interested, I can link the myriad articles, studies etc. I mentioned and have cross references to find the collieries and what self experimentation I have done to determine what effects it has on me. I notice everything my brain does. I have done so much yoga, meditation and mindfulness work that I know just what sort of space my brain and thoughts are in. It is my belief that the addiction is progressive. Many people might be in that perfect 8% that get well from a trip to rehab (or quit themselves) because they haven't pruned every single neuron in their brain to point towards 'Go get drugs' as the response to virtually every thought you can have. There is some hope in reducing (but never completely rewriting - it never goes away) that cognitive outcome. The ability to think more clearly and 'think it through' is a state of mind that is on the fence between 'no chance addict' and 'able to recover'. There have been times when I get a craving and I am already ringing a dealers doorbell, no thinking inbetween. I knew what I wanted and there was no internal discussion whatsoever. I know, that there have also been times where the same thought has sat, circling in my mind for a good hour before I gave in. Meaning that it can be pondered and I can say no. One weird thing that I do, is take it out of my hands completely. Knowing that my decision if I take to long thinking will always lead to a relapse, is to make crazy deals with myself, like 'You can only cop a bag of heroin, if when you look at your watch, its an even number of minutes'. Shit like that... More often than not however, I'll play best of 3 and end up going anyway. I've tried every 'think your way out of this disease' possible and none of them work. However, I mentioned self experimentation.. I tried every herbal supplement known to man. From fringe science stuff like turmeric to neurochemical precursors to serotonin like 5-HTP. I feel like I've written far too much anyway and nobody will have made it down to this point.. but.. After MUCH and I do mean MUCH experimentation and careful mindfulness about the way my brain feels and works.. I firmly believe that addiction, once programmed in after you've gone too far for some period of time, cannot ever be unwritten, but it CAN be mitigated. For the chronic relapsers, such as myself (and please, feel free to comment if you are close to me, I would feel better. I know there are many people that just get it first time, struggle 'a bit', only been using a couple years now they're in recovery for the past 10.. I don't diminish your struggle. But I am envious that your ability to think straight about this insanity, came somewhat easier than for the people at the other end of the scale that will fuck over their own parents after watching them cry and you hug them saying you'll never do it again, pickpocketing them as you hug them goodbye.. Now, for me to get to the place where I can at least consider my actions rather than skip over that part and simply wake up in a dumpster, there must be something preventing that. Saying I tried all different chemicals.. I did. I even tried antidepressants. They DO NOT work for me at all. I'm saddened by all of this life I have wasted, but weirdly, I'm not depressed. There is a difference. Looking into what receptors are affected by SSRIs, its all about serotonin. However, there are actually 3 main neurotransmitters that work together. When one goes up, others follow to compensate. They are, Serotonin, Dopamine and Glutamate. The reason that anti-depressants work on some people, not others or take weeks to start working is because they are targeting the wrong chemical. Extra serotonin does nothing for me. But give it a few weeks and I feel a change. Which makes me believe I should be looking at other neurotransmitters. I don't believe I have a problem with dopamine either, as I don't have parkinsons symptoms (movement disorder etc.) which is a sign of low dopamine. It's part of the 'pleasure/reward' system and while heroin hijacks it completely, after the withdrawal, the system should settle down. Which leaves - glutamate. There are a few ways to affect the glutaminergic system, but one chemical that is being trialled for serious depression and doesn't mess around with the Serotonin or Dopamine systems is... Ketamine. Yes, its been in the news quite a lot in psychology and science areas because a single dose seems to reverse and undo serious depression the same day for up to 6 months at a time. Now, while I said that I don't have depression, glutamate does a hell of a lot more and is related to inflammation. Remember that, its a key point that I will come back to. So, I decided to do a controlled experiment with ketamine. Now, you may think.. an addict, doing drugs.. Sure. That's logical. The weird thing is, if I am using something as directed, as stated on the bottle, for medical purposes or any reason other than to change the way I feel / get high.. I do not abuse it. That's what always upset me about militant rehab centres or meetings that say 'ABSTINENT AS ALL COSTS' Even if you're dying in a road accident and require painkillers, you must refuse them because they'll make you relapse. I don't believe a word of it. Are you telling me women have to have babies with no aid because they'll relapse the day after if they get a taste of it again. No, for me its always been about motivation. I don't like who I am, I want to feel different. I did say earlier that I don't think working on myself in therapy made any difference - I don't. I've worked on myself, I like myself, but I'm left with a compulsive disorder after trying to mitigate those feelings for so long.. So long its lost its original motivation and is simply an out of control vice now. What was the result of Ketamine. I stopped using for a couple of months, I had thoughts of it that were easily dismissed, it made no real impact on my mood, except things obviously started to get better as soon as I stopped using, which made me happy! It didn't last however.. but that was an interesting result. For a long time I had been so lost in my own spinning mind of disjointed worry, idiotic notions and outcomes unplanned for, I had forgotten what it was like to have that calmness. Where I could make decisions again, where drugs didn't rule me. An interesting result though. I went back to the drawing board and continued researching Glutamate. Also, the word inflammation had come up a hell of a lot during much of the reading I had been doing. I didn't understand it, so I spent a few months getting into what it was all about and what it caused.. And holy shit. Here is where I feel I've come across something really important. Do not misunderstand regarding the problems this can cause. This isn't just swollen hands, no. While it can cause arthritis, this simple reaction to an environmental trigger affects all areas of the body and the knock on effect is an illness related to that part of the body. One of the most profound statements I came across looking into this was "Modern medicine often treats the symptoms of an illness until the problem abates rather than treat the underlying cause'. That seriously hit home.. Many diabetics simply take insulin in order to continue living the life they had previously. Whatever you think about 'fad diets' such as Ketogenic, it has had effects on reversing diabetes by removing the cause of the problem (sugar) rather than simply treating it. While keto may be extreme (no carbs, no sugar) it appeared that sugar was a prime source of inflammation and disease with the body. This is a short but excellent article from Harvard Med regarding inflammation being the common thread behind many, many illnesses. Okay, so, I'm not sure how well I explained that. But from research, it appears that the brain can be seriously impaired via inflammatory processes. Leading to dementia later in life if left unchecked, but more importantly, can mimic the symptoms of obsessions and addictions. I wonder, if I am on the spectrum for people that are sensitive to this effect. While genetically I may have been off to a worrying start with the way I obsessed in childhood, there was no guarantee that I would end up being addicted to drugs - however, once I was primed, my risk/reward system was hijacked and all roads lead to heroin. Then, I'm sure a terrible diet, no exercise, no sleep and just about every unhealthy decision I could make was causing all sorts of poor reactions in my body.. and every year, getting older, it was getting harder and harder to feel like there was any hope. My thoughts were looking less and less like my own and I had given up giving up. Rehabs were becoming tedious when I knew the outcome and lost hope. The only thing out there that gave me any sort of comfort, was thinking that I was smart enough to work this out by myself. I honestly felt like I had given it my all (certainly all my money to snake oil salesmen anyway) and these so-called 'solutions' that the government relied on just to be able to say 'help exists out there for addicts of all kind' (To me, food, drugs, sex, gambling.. its all the same thing. It's not the high that is the problem, its the inability to change your decision to do whatever it is you can't stop doing. Once you're locked into that, like gravity, nothing you can do will prevent falling for it. Again and again and again. I felt like it was up to me. I'd tried exercise on its own and it gave me a great boost in confidence and motivation. It wouldn't stop me from using, but in my day to day living, if I felt better, I couldn't argue that a great feeling in my body was a good thing. I'd also gotten addicted to exercise. I'd began a routine of an hour, but then slowly added more and more running, weights, machines that if I wasn't doing 2-3 hours a day I would get anxiety attacks thinking that if I took a day off, I'd relapse. As I said, I knew exercise wasn't keeping the problem away, just at bay. I'd replaced one obsession with another and it was becoming unhealthy.. I'd changed my diet to what I believed to be healthy. I was eating a lot of fruits, whole grains, the general food pyramid but with more vegetables as I was trying to lose weight too. Because I never had money for food while using, I used to pocket chocolate in most shops I would visit and live off that. It was suicide. I wasn't fat, but not having protein or adequate vitamins, I had lost definition and my skin looked bad. After some further reading, another relapse, another detox. I decided to try and reduce inflammation. (Note - inflammation is not swelling, I'm not talking about my feet hurting after a 10k run, this is an internal issue relating to cell tissue - check the link above to get more of your head round it). I was willing to try anything at this point. I decided to go Keto. Cut out absolutely all sugar and carbohydrates (I'm quite sure limited good quality carbohydrates are important occasionally, but I also read that this diet is safe - I had to make sure of that if I was going to try a long term experiment. After making sure I was getting everything I neeeded vegetable wise, I made sure my energy intake was coming from fatty products like avacado, quality fatty meats, fatty fish like salmon etc. I worked hard. Many keto people wax lyrical about the joy of eating a block of cheese a day. While that it technically keto, I don't believe it is in the spirt of healthy eating either) My parents were in tear again, watching me destroy myself and they offered to take me away from it all in order to try and get a fresh start. They booked a last minute, inexpensive cruise with all you can eat buffet on board. Which meant I could pick and choose my food and not have to annoy restaurants! Not that I ate for the first 3 days. After we set sail, withdrawal kicked in hard and I was just sick, couldn't keep anything down, shivering, sweating.. Slowly I pulled it together and had a really great time actually, despite the no energy. By the end, I managed to keep up with my 70 year old parents, but only because it felt like I was dragging small weights on every limb instead of the tractor tyres there at the start. By the end of the first week eating Keto some weird stuff happened. I wasn't fat to begin with, but I dropped almost 12lb in weight. I was peeing ALL the time. This is the infamous water weight that these fad diets think you'll believe will continue. It does not. Your weight continues to decline, but at a much more sensible weight. However, what this did show, was that due to inflammation, your body tends to hold onto large amounts of water. The cause of which being the processing of sugar and carbohydrates with insulin. I know I should be feeling worse. But a fog lifted from my brain. I felt clear. I could swear I was hearing things better, that my vision looked sharper. People I met laughed at my jokes! I had a quiet confidence - and drugs entered my mind, I won't lie. But, they also left. I chalked a lot of it up to a psychosomatic effect - the fun of being away (except, I was still sick and withdrawing. Something under all that did feel different). Upon return, I surprised myself. I didn't go and get high 3 minutes after throwing my suitcase on the bed. I sat, calmly and put some music on. Music always being such a huge passion of mine, I burst into tears having not listened to anything for SO long because my thoughts had been so desperately weird and I was never in the mood. The feeling of clarity didn't leave me either. It never got stronger, it wasn't like I had such laser like focus I could beat a chess grandmaster, but I was closer to what I would call 'normal' that ever before. Again, instead of walking out the house to 'that part of town'. I joined the gym. I didn't obsess. I got a job and things were sensible. I got complacent. I began eating the free chocolate in the break room at my job. (This was the highest paying job I have ever had. A computer company. 6 months training just to begin working with their software. I breezed through the interview with 10 other people, completed the training a month early and was top guy within 2 months, winning every work prize going - trips out to racecourses to drive supercars, free beer and chocolate endlessly) I forgot to mention. I quit drinking (I never really drank anyway, never did enough for me..) but its not really compatible with keto anyway. The incentives from this major company (I won't give it away, but suffice to say, it was among the top 40 companies to work for in the UK last year) were nearly all alcohol, chocolate and sugar related. To get people to come in early there was free sugary cereal, lunchtime free choc/cereal bars, do the most work that month, help the most customers .. winning = sugar, was the takeaway from that. Am I blaming the company for slowly caving? Yeah, I kinda am. As an addict (or possible alcoholic) I don't think that giving people without questioning their preferences wine, beer and everything sugary imaginable every month is either ethically acceptable or healthy in any way. My god, I just had a flashback. Almost everybody that worked there was horribly overweight - verging on morbidly. I was proud of looking the way I did. It was easy to resist at first because I got to observe monkey feeding time often, which put me off. The token gay guy in the office baked chocolate cakes, muffins, frosted things, glazed things, sugar overload.. constantly, and left them on the centre table. He used to Email:All [Subject: I've baked treats for everyone!] The fatties used to wheeze over to the table and take fistfuls of cookies and slices of cake to smear over their faces and drop crumbs into their keyboards. Then complain they couldn't lose weight to me on their lunch break while the tried to look dedicated eating a few rounds of toast or something their wanted people to perceive as healthy and that they were just unfortunate. Lady, I'm a heroin addict. I see through you, because you are me, you just like a different chemical in your veins. I was doing well.. I was doing so well I had actually upset people by winning most of the monthly prizes. I often gave them away though as I couldn't have anything to do with them. But as I was given more responsibility. I began coming in earlier, I wanted eggs and bacon in the morning or a meat and cheese platter at lunch, but everything either offered or given to me was completely incompatible with what I was trying to achieve. I slowly began to cave. My reasoning.. "Yeah, this diet makes me feel pretty good and I'm not using any more - but surely it's just another obsession" It didn't feel like an obsession. It felt like I was so rocksteady in my control that I could say no to things. And that was a weird feeling, it almost set me off balance thinking about it. It took less than a month before I had put on about 15-20lb. It turns out I'm so awesome I can turn my hand to any addiction. Sugar.. as it turns out, if it is all around you, at all times and free - my brain tells me that it might as well be consumed (and it promises to give me a little hit of dopamine in return). The brain fog came down like a British summer and my numbers became totally erratic. My manager called me in to see her a few times. I was making some weird mistakes too. I felt sleepier in the afternoons, actually nodding off once and a co-worker actually kicked my chair as I walked past to save me from the boss. I had clearly lost the power of choice. It took about 2 more weeks before I was back using again. I was fired a month after that for.. well, being a smacked out employee no longer giving his best, oh and leaving a bunch of drug paraphernalia and burnt foil in the bathroom didn't help. I was called in, questioned and fired on the spot. All in all it took less than 3 minutes from 'A word please...' to 'Clean out your desk and leave now'. I'm sure people knew, I'm sure people talked. Not one person said goodbye. I was crushed. I had attempted friendships, but the tolerance of drugs and addicts amongst the straight laced office workers is virtually non existent. That girl I fancied on reception was out of the picture now I guess. My dream of having a relationship for the first time in years was dashed too. I drifted further into it and burned all my savings on heroin again. I forgot what I had learned and began to believe there was no hope again. By a miracle chance, I was offered rehab again. I took the opportunity, not to listen to what they had to say (by the 8th time, there's nothing new they can teach you. I'm sure the NA literature even says that you must become 'teachable' and humble in order to accept the program. Whatever that means. I just don't want to be mentally ill anymore. You think schizophrenics need real medication or a group that says a prayer and a spiritual program is all you need. Like I said. It's a spectrum. Some people need therapy, I did not. Some people get it first time. I did not. Some people need a program and way of living because they never had the opportunity to learn to live right, either due to childhood issues or just been using so long they forgot how to live. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, don't just keep trying expecting a different result - that truly is insanity, try something different until it works. I used my time in rehab to get a professional detox, spend time in the gym and alter my eating again. Although, this time I found it extremely difficult to stop binging on junk and sugar. I seemed I had picked up an additional obsession. That was a strange realisation as it had been so easy before. Eventually, I did get a few days under my belt and then I began feeling the mental haze, the fogginess lift. My sleep improved. It became like clockwork. Something I have always struggled with (and something that also causes inflammation. Sleep cleans the brain of damaged proteins. It's thought that buildups of uncleaned brain chemical leftovers can contribute to dementia) I was falling asleep faster than ever, waking up at exactly the same time and jumping out of bed for the gym. That was in January this year. I got out in February and not wanting to feel restricted, I have introduced, very slowly, certain sensible foods into my diet. I eat no sugar at all, but complex high GI carbs, I eat sparingly. No fruit (fructose) but loads of vegetables. I wouldn't give my diet a fad name, but it works for me and I want for nothing! The thought of actually eating something sweet after this long actually makes me feel a bit sickly. I have to say, the time before when I caved, that first bite made my teeth hurt. My taste buds had become so much more sensitive, tuned to the sweetness of red pepper or tomato - going back to pure sugar I realised how accustomed to it we have all become, its in everything and its lethal (seriously). I guess there's a reason its a white powder! So, this is the story of what worked for me. How much I tried and what I came to understand what was wrong with me. There is something I am sensitive to in the foods around me that are affecting my body and my mind in a way that prevents me from thinking clearly - and at its peak effect, totally destroys my ability to make rational choices about substances that will kill me - that I don't even want, but the neural pathways laid down over years of abuse have become so streamlined that using drugs has become more of an instinct, a muscle memory, rather than a thought process. I must say, I haven't stopped working on this problem. If you want to improve your chances of success when it comes to getting and staying clean. If you have tried antidepressants and don't feel they quite fit right, but were perhaps tickling the right area. May I suggest experimenting on yourself. Ketamine for me, I actually quite enjoy. If I had access to it all the time and wasn't treating it like an important test to determine if something was affecting my brain negatively (glutamate not being processed correctly, potentially due to inflammation) then I most certainly would be addicted to that too. Now, what has the feeling of control given me back - am I cured? No. As I have tried to reiterate, those mental pathways are etched in stone and aren't going anywhere. Whether genetic (certainly my family has this problem in abundance in various forms - from shopping to gambling and drink), whatever the trigger, the problem lives within me now, so I must remain vigilant. But my day to day life I have thought about what I used to be like less and less. If I feel like thinking about it, I try and do it in the safe environment of a meeting - where you can relate to people that used to or still have serious drug issues. I'll pop in once a month or so. I know I am not cured, it's still early days (10 months or so). However, I really feel like after all this time, I'm on the right track. It's different this time, it's not just me had enough, I have clear empirical evidence that something alters the way I think and that I should avoid it - this in turn lets me stay sober through choice, not by fight. The bottom line to all of this.. and I wish I could go back and edit this outline into a more amusing, better punctuated and more streamlined saga than this barrel of monkeys I poured onto the keyboard... but I just had to get it out to see if anybody related and if it might help someone else.. is that.. SUGAR Does seriously seem to be a massive trigger in causing and maintaining certain addictions (clearly obese people have chosen the actual cause as their actual drug too). Some people I have seen make no change to their diet and do really well in recovery. This isn't a one size fits all solution as clearly different things work for different people - but I see a lot of young people (stubborn and impulsive) actually do better than the older people. Is this because they are more tolerant to sugars and have done less damage that long term users that have had bad diets? I'm not saying I have all the answers. Nor that this is even correct. But I don't suffer placebos gladly. If I don't get absolutely blasted out of my mind or feel an effect when I take something, I don't accept it as having done anything. If the box says 'take no more than 1 pill every 12 hours', or course, I'll eat 6 because I want the effect to work and be 3x stronger than those wimpy doctors suggest. Whether its a narcotic or just antibiotics.. my mind always says 'more is always better'. I absolutely feel a difference when my body is running on a different form of energy (in case you were wondering, if you take carbohydrates away, your body produces ketones and runs the bodies energy from the breakdown of fat. It feels totally different. Ever eaten a huge pizza or pasta and felt sleepy. Well, I believe there is a low level of that feeling constantly if you're running on glucose for energy. Try it for yourself, see if you feel any different. Give it a chance. For me, it was a silver bullet. Top ups and supplements: My parents read a lot about the things I was suggesting to help myself. They've been rather amazingly supportive, even in my worst times - I have some Ketamine that they look after and I have told them to administer 10mg per hour for 3 hours once every 3 months. Which is roughly the amount of time that it seems to clean everything up for. Eating badly of course makes it worse, faster. But I've kept up a strict and excellent diet which makes me feel different, sleep different, think different.. its quite dramatic in my case. And, finally... CBD I think that some people without issues as extreme as me, might get away with being able to just take a couple drops of CBD under their tongue once a day. I've been looking into CBD. I suggest you Google CBD+ your own search terms.. 'Withdrawal','addiction','inflammation'.. Its fascinating. Don't buy cheap.. it matters. I know, I tested them all. Yes, it will help with sleep and anxiety during withdrawal. Studies suggest a single dose and prevent relapse for a few months at a time (again, suggesting it is having an effect in the body that was causing an impairment in thinking and that having relieved that issues, the subject can decide correctly whether to relapse or not. After the effect is mitigated, the issue comes back) I believe it reduces inflammation. DO NOT expect to feel anything. The effect is subtle. But I noticed that I was calmer, slept somewhat better and it integrated perfectly into the diet. Whatever cutting poisonous sugar did, this continues to do also. I'd say that it is essential for addicts and that they should be prescribed it as a continued aid to their recovery. Actually, it should be prescribed while the person is still using as it may trigger the desire to quit also. Regarding CBD oil.. There is a vast range of this stuff. From cheap and useless, to $150 per small bottle. I splashed out and decided to try one of the most expensive 2000mg CBD per bottle Oh, and like I said. Drugs depend on context and intent. Smoking medical low THC high CBD weed is absolutely allowed in my opinion for people that will always 'need' something to help with their anxiety or as an outlet. Simply. Not everyone has the time to become a mindfulness, meditation guru. People don't want to give up their careers because of the mantra 'If it gets in the way of my recovery, it's gone..'. I'm sorry, but I want choice. Isn't that the point of recovery, to gain the ability to choose back. Of course, meditation I recommend (Stress, again, major cause of inflammation), yoga even more! Although every rehab I've been to has said 'abstinence is the only way'. (Incidentally, there's always been some 17 year old kid who's parents have dropped him off at rehab from smoking too much weed.) Unfortunately, weed in places that haven't legalised it, we are more likely to end up buying the super strong skunk (high THC, low CBD) does seem to be causing mental health issues because THC is almost psychotic at high doses with no CBD to balance the effect. This is why its so important to legalise it - choose the variety that works for you. I don't want to be blasted out of my head, I want to feel relaxed and I just don't know what I'm buying on the street. I guess that's it. If you made it this far - I got everything I think I ever wanted to say off my chest. I will go back and edit this down over the next day or so. Hope you related. Hope you got hope. The standard model of recovery simply does not fit me. I needed more, a more drastic change, my brain is fundamentally impaired. Will you be in the grand 8% of people that graduate rehab and succeed. Lets face it.. fucking unlikely. If you don't think its going to work for you. Find your own solution. Augment. Supplement. Build your own recovery.
Hi everyone, This might be a long one so apologies in advance. I'll leave a TL;DR below. I'll preface this by saying I'm a mental health professional so understand how different patient experiences are and this is why I'm asking for thoughts and suggestions on how to help my aunt. About two weeks ago my aunt (46F) was approached by her job. Her sister (35F), whom works in the same small company in a different department, has been stealing from the company credit card to the tune of hundreds of thousands of euros. In the following hours, we found she was in hundreds of thousands of euros worth of debt and our taxman is after her for tax fraud (where I live it is very easy to claim money through a tax rebate system). She has borrowed money from almost all her family members and stolen a very significant amount of money from my grandparents, leaving them very financially unstable as she was in control of their bank accounts. Because of my work, I was called on, provided education about what I know about addiction to my family to help moderate their reaction, and staged an intervention - at this point we thought perhaps it was drugs. We learned she has a very significant gambling addiction (online). I helped my family to understand (some more responsive to being compassionate than others....) and got her into a well renowned rehabilitation centre for a stint of inpatient rehab. During the four days between her admission and the intervention, she gambled another few thousand euros on credit cards etc. I finally felt a sense of relief when she was admitted as I had to undertake a number of protective actions (removing any risk items from her home and putting in place safety plans for which I was almost solely responsible etc). Unfortunately, two days after her admission she requested to be discharged from rehab. The centre reported she was being so disruptive to others they also felt she should leave for the sake of others but the ideal treatment would be inpatient. Her reasons for leaving rehab were "the place is full of addicts, my room is cold, and I don't like my roommate". She is now attending outpatient counselling once a week. Our compassion is now turning to frustration and anger as it appears my grandmother is being manipulated (I understand this is the addiction but understanding is wearing thin from my family). We have been encouraging her to return to inpatient rehab - even in another centre - but her and my grandmother are vehemently opposed. I am becoming compassion fatigued, but really need and want to help my aunt, and protect her mother and daughter. Has anyone had any lived experiences or professional advice that might help us in where we should go from here? I understand I may need to just seek more professional supports. TL;DR - My aunt has a serious gambling addiction and checked herself out of rehab after 2 days. How can I continue to support her to recover?
ADDICTION - which drugs do you use / abuse? Please state your mbti type (for mobile users) and feel free to post on a throw-away account.
I'm a drug addict and currently going through a treatment centre for addiction. They tried to send me to rehab and I said no, no, fuck it okay... I want to know if there is a link between addiction and personality type. Please do not forget to post your mbti type (even if you are abstinent). I also welcome comments if you are clean or have never abused substances. Alcohol counts as a recreational drug. I am interested in the following;
What is your primary drug of choice?
Do you habitually use drugs? (habitual use implies that you cannot stop)
What mbti type do you test as?
What are you experienced with addiction to other activities (gambling, sex, video games, exercise, etc ...)
Extra credit - If you have been in a drug rehabilitation centre please comment on the success or failure of your rehabilitation.
If you were to seize power and install a totalitarian regime in Ireland, what would be your policies?
Here are mine SOCIAL
I'd bring back the death penalty - if you have more than ten previous convictions for serious crimes, you would be executed. Mandatory life sentence for sexual crimes against children. For juvenile offenders, strict national services, make men out of those little bollix cunts.
I'd legalise cannabis and would ultimately seek to do the same for all other drugs, with different levels of control for the more harmful drugs. I would sell them from specialized outlets with trained staff. I would make the likes of opiates more difficult to get but they would be available, once you have been fully made aware of all the potential harms of using them. My official policy would be its your life, choose to live it wisely.
Addicts who steal to fund their habit would be forced into rehab and made to dry out with blood and urine tests required for a period of six months after release. Re-offend and its prison. Those who haunt the cities centres are generally fucking scrotes.
I'd ban alcohol advertising for all media except inside of licensed premises such as pubs, clubs or restaurants. I would allows such premises to determine themselves on issues such as opening hours though. No more 10pm off licence nonsense. I would do the same for gambling advertising as lately the amount of betting ads is just beyond a joke.
Force the long-term unemployed (those who simply choose not to work, for no other reason than they couldn't be arsed) into work. After a given period of unemployment, you have to get a job within six months, if not, you will be forced into a government work program to continue receiving you benefits. These could include helping with my new national plan to build more houses. I would fully enforce regulation into the financial industry such as leverage limits to hopefully reduce the damage when the industry inevitably fucks the country.
No more tax breaks for religious groups, I'd tax the bollix off them, the State needs to see some more of lovely Rome or Saudi money. I'd remove any special legal privileges for the religious and do my best to fully separate the State and religious entities.
Foreign Policy
For my most controversial policy...I'd relocate all pikeys and Roma to the mainland UK - When that Moggs cunt takes over and the place is falling asunder, they'll love some nice cheap labour. I believe a little, er, ethnic cleansing never hurt anyone.
Related to this last point, I'd fund a huge covert operation to make things as dire in the North as possible (sorry lads, I'll make it up, promise) to swing attitudes overwhelmingly in favor of reunification. I'd try and force a border poll through and if not...build up the Irish defence forces to stage an invasion.
I'm sure Moggs wouldn't be too bothered to lose them and when it comes to the unionists, I'd give the peaceful ones full parity of esteem in a new 32 county Ireland and for those who get violent, some cheap tickets to Scotland or the bottom of the Irish sea. More cheap labour for Moggs anyway.
Infrastructure
I'd increase a lot of funding to build up Cork and Galway, our new Island should have at least four major cities. Ideally, have a population over 500, 000 in Cork City and maybe 450, 000 in Galway. Either expand Shannon or build a new airport to serve the new expanding population of both.
I'd improve railway lines throughout the country - Letterkenny to Dublin on a single train anyone? A new provisional bus or light rail system to help further tie large towns together.
Political Stance
Of course, the outlawing of all opposition parties. I'd use my secret police, "Na Buachaillí" to destroy any possible discontent with my wonderful regime. "Hmm nice tweet you just posted there, be a shame if a black van pulled up outside your house in the middle of the night and you were never seen again, huh?"
Hey /r/entrepreneur! Do you think selling something potentially addictive is immoral?
eg. tobacco, nicotine e-cigs, pornography, weed, gambling. I don't mean trying to sell cheap heroin outside a rehab centre. I personally think it is fine to sell potentially addictive products as people will be able to access them if they really want, regardless of if you're selling or not. You may as well cash in on it. Edit: I should note that what prompted me to write this was watching the movie 'Thank you for smoking' which is a great movie for any entrepreneur.
I've been through an emotional rollercoaster in the past week and a half. I've edged to thoughts in my mind, thank goodness I stopped. I've doubted my love for my girlfriend, going as far as to think I am a sociopath and had scenarios in my head about if i broke up with her, how would I feel and such, with feelings being somewhat dull; overshadowed by anxiety and sadness. Part of all of this is because since I've admitted my problems with porn, My girlfriend has become increasingly controlling in some aspects, I use norton family blocker on my pc (she has the password) and Bitdefender for keywords and specific subreddits; though she was worried about me uninstalling the latter (cause theres no password protection to the uninstaller). I also use qustodio on my phone, which works wonders; but reddit is entirely blocked by my girlfriend on it, due to lack of keyword blocking (maybe I should find a keyword blocking app?). I could download reddit apps on my phone but sheer willpower and her knowing what I was doing stopped me in some sort of bliss and fear. She took it too far by asking me to throw out some memories from high school (pics of girls I took with an old kodak from back in the day, girls I wanted to have sex with at the time obviously.) but were really just friends and even so far as to make me throw out my 6th grade graduation book. she didn't specifically force me to, but the implication was there, quite a-lot. She also has trouble trusting me, having dreams where we go to a sex show (she wanted to bring me to one) and somehow just let loose, I made it very clear that I did not want to go to one; I quit porn for her, I didn't quit it to just jump in another visual stimulation. this is just the tip of the iceberg but it has caused me lots of distress, panic, anxiety and stress. It has made me feel locked in a cage, where I would cry every day, and panic thinking about if i really loved her or not, if i loved her but was not IN LOVE with her, imagining myself going back to my old habits if she leaves of if i leave her. In relation to her controlling issues, My father told me that I should not hold her to that same standard, as she has done nothing to hurt me; she is insecure and should deal with that herself, but that things like letting go of trivial school books and some pictures are nothing as I am slowly building my real life with her, I will start to actually live, a new life, a second life, with her where I don't have to remember the past. All of this has made me hard to get excited while she is here, I was always down or dead inside; in some ways, I guess I still am, On days I would want to make love to her and on other days I just can't even get it up, I don't know if I'm flatlining but it's a horrible experience for me as my girlfriend can be insatiable sometimes, it makes me feel horrible and the vicious cycle of doubting her begins again. Saw my shrink tuesday, broke down in front of him and cried for 30 minutes. Shrinks don't help much in ways of relationships; it's psychotherapy;I guess instead of getting a way to put me on the right path to deal with my own issues as my dad told me, I was hoping that the shrink would tell me his opinion; tell me if i was a sociopath or a narcissist, tell me if I was in love with my girlfriend according to him. I was told that that day I finally started unraveling my wall, as he noticed I am a very private person, I am not used to telling everyone about my REAL life, I hid it from everyone for years, my gaming issues, my porn habits, going as far deep into ephebophilia and other socially disgusting perversions; last week he had told me to contact a government rehab center that helps porn addictions and sexual deviancy in the form of therapy, they treat it like gambling addictions, I didn't feel like calling last week but this week out of sadness and desperation I did, I'm glad to say that I see my therapist on the 23rd, after another shrinks appointment on the 20th. I was told that I cannot be responsible for my girlfriend and my mother (whole other can of worms that I don't think I'll spill here guys). The shrinks appointment kept me relatively depressed but a bit stronger to face my demons, but I still panicked like crazy, My dad and mother tried telling me that I was letting my anxiety control me and that I did love my girlfriend and that I was crazy about her, I didn't feel that way, I didn't think I could make it for another week at that point.... Until yesterday. It started out like every single day, panicking, to the point of almost vomiting, feeling choked (In retrospect, I've been having those anxiety symptoms on and off since I was a teenager, a bit of a revelation if you ask me) I had received a promised call from the rehab's therapist I was gonna see, that was a useless call; 16 minutes just to see if i was ok, no coping methods; I guess I have to wait until I see him, he told me the evaluation was going to be 90 minutes at least, I was also told of an english only centre like the one I'm going to, that could help my girlfriend cope with what I'm going through; therapy for the spouse of a porn addict if you will, for her to deal with her own issues. I rushed out the door feeling sick gagging and almost barfing all over the street on the way to the bus, rushed in order to meet my girlfriend at a metro station, in the train however, something hit me, all the good times I had with my girlfriend; was I always faking then? Surely not, as my dad said; when I met this girl, I had a HUGE confidence boost, that boost probably came crashing down when I started being deviant online again, searching for sexual excitement and rationalizing that It was perfectly fine, thinking that the reason i couldn't finish without mo and for a very long time, PMO was because of my girlfriend perhaps not being tight enough or sexy enough. this hit me like an epiphany, why would i throw this all away? why was i questioning myself like my own prosecutor? I was going to throw away an amazingly beautiful woman, who I enjoyed doing everything with, from watching anime to cuddling to kissing and holding hands to washing dishes, shopping for groceries and even cleaning my room, things that prior to her I was too lazy to do; I contented myself in living in filth but with her; they don't seem like boring chores, they seem like fun activities! this of course was not enough to shake me out of my mentality and melancholy, but I smiled when I saw her, only half faked this time, perhaps even only a quarter faked, kissed her, talked to her and felt somewhat ok, anxious and nervous yes; but I could handle it. we journeyed to IKEA (hopefully no one I know is reading this but whatever) acting like we were a married couple shopping for our apartment ( we don't live together). I had these small feelings of depression but they weren't too strong; In fact; I felt emotional, as if my mood was swinging up and down every 2 minutes, it was tiring for me, in fact; I would always be anxious and have these mood swings for hours until I felt exhausted and didn't care anymore, that is when I would find relief. In any case, at some point; we sat on a couch and I didn't want her to leave, I looked in her eyes and told her to just stay there and let me look at her, which I guess is weird but screw it. and there they were. not strong, in fact quite subtle, but there were the butterflies I worried about so much, the slight feeling of losing breath, just the tiny high; I then knew I was going insane for nothing. It calmed me down exponentially, I wouldn't say I'm back 100% to who I wanted to be, but it is a small step; a small recovery of sorts, Maybe I'll panic about her still, I still had some depressive feelings about how I hurt her and I didn't feel right still being able to be at her side after all of this, but I'm not going to waste that chance, I'm gonna use all the professional help I have at my disposal to help me figure this out, so I can rekindle my love, So I don't have to fap to O' for her during love-making, so I never ever doubt again, that I love her. Finally, this is a post it note I have on my desktop, I thought the few of you who read this would like it. JAN 15 2015 you went to ikea 27throwaway20, remember; you stared into her eyes, and she was so beautiful that you had butterflies inside your belly; remember this feeling, you love her; don't panic anymore in the future, be strong; she does love you and when you go nuts, shes still always right there, waiting. I will try to live by those from now on, If I'm not in the mood to have sex, I'm not in the mood; I'll just stay away from visual stimulation, and slowly but surely, be who I want to be, be a man, lose weight, finish school, finish college, get a career, and all of that; with my wonderful girlfriend at my side. I'm done running away.
I have no formal education for this position. Anyone who works as a "tech" in a rehab most likely does not. We are insured for millions of dollars to take care of these guys, we even drive them around town in 15 passenger vans with no official degree or certification of any kind.
I am trained in first aid, CPR, and AED use, and I have been trained to follow state guidelines for client rights, client treatment, non-violent crisis intervention, and medication administration.
It's notable that I do not perform any clinical duties. I just watch the guys, make sure they are safe and in a therapeutic environment, document their conversation and behavior.
We oversee detox under the license of a registered nurse, but are not physically supervised most of the time.
What do they look for? People in recovery who can be on time, stay sober, and multitask for eight hours in a stressful environment.
Once a client who had just been taken off of detox had a seizure while he was talking to me. He went totally stiff and fell down on some hard tile floor. I called 911 and got a pillow under his head. He woke up a little but he wasn't really cognizant-- he tried to hit me a few times, and then he passed out, shit his pants, and acquired a boner.
Yeah, he had eleven more seizures and then stabilized. He came back to treatment and finished out his program. He wasn't very nice to me, even after the incident.
Client was predisposed to seizures before detox. The incident was likely related to detox as well, but it was not possible to verify that. An investigation showed that the taper was administered correctly.
Probably not. He thought it was funny I had to clean it up. He relapsed after discharge but I hear he got sober and is doing well, which is all that matters.
I can't diagnose you but from my personal experience you sound like a true blue alcoholic. That "autopilot" thing is what we call the mental obsession. The biggest indicator of alcoholism to me is when someone wants to stop but cannot. What steps have you taken to prevent relapse?
Absolutely, it is very common to use alcohol and other drugs to self-medicate. I know what you mean, but to be honest if a guy makes it into rehab he usually has more just than a little "drinking problem." That being said I have seen treatment teams dismiss clients for not meeting the standards of substance dependency.
Sometimes. Treatment centers usually have employees whose job it is to figure out how the family is going to pay for treatment. They have a lot of different avenues to go through.
I watched it when it first came out, so I don't remember very clearly what it was like besides it being obviously dramatized. I can tell you that many of us have a lot of respect for Dr Drew due to his high level of involvement in bringing recovery into the mainstream national conversation.
If someone wants to get paid to have themselves televised at their very worst, that's their choice I guess. The show itself seems tacky to me. It's not anywhere near as bad as Intervention however, which is an unethical, disgusting production. I have worked for a rehab that took on clients from that show so I have a lot of negative opinions I suppose.
Unfortunately it is really hard to say. Generally speaking the recovery rates for addiction are low. I know that at the facility I work for we are able to have relatively high rates IF the client follows up after treatment with sober living, meetings, sponsorship, and outpatient therapy. There are many ways to get sober-- this is just one of them, and it's one that works for many alcoholics and addicts.
The most common types are wealthy businessmen and young college students with wealthy parents. I have had clients who are famous musicians, filmmakers, and athletes, but those are not super common in my part of the country. It's not Celebrity Rehab.
It has totally changed my view of the addiction treatment industry because I see reps from other centers come through to tour and some of these places are really unethical. The state facility I used to work at was a terrible place that pretended to be reputable. Most of the staff there were not in recovery and therefore had no idea what these guys were going through.
At my current job we are run by a single benefactor who doesn't even make a profit from our facility. He is dedicated to running the most effective treatment program possible-- the fact that this guy exists gave me hope.
As for my own consumption, I have not had a drink or a drug in over three years.
Running a facility this large is expensive. I won't go into the particular expenses because it may identify our center. I can tell you we are on over 100 acres of property and employ staff 24 hours a day at wages much higher than minimum wage.
Sounds like he is in a hospital's detox center. Private centers offer a range of services and cater to every level of income. In many states they are subject to DHHS laws, in some they are not. Be wary of "recovery centers" as that term (instead of "treatment center") indicates a lack of state accreditation.
The differences between each private facility are going to value so greatly that I cannot tell you where it would be superior to a clinical detox. I can say that treatment centers are often helpful because they provide a therapeutic environment (not a purely medical or institutional one) and are usually equipped to provide aftercare services. I can also tell you that millions if addicts get clean through detox and meetings. Everyone is different! No one solution is for every addict. I hope that helps.
Alcohol is the worst withdrawal in my opinion, followed closely by benzodiazepines. It is not safe to detox from those two without trained medical staff. Heroin addicts will tell you different.
We refuse service if a client continues to break the rules. There is a large set of rules for treatment-- if a client is to remain in our care he or she must adhere to those rules. They know what they are signing up for. Disruptive clients are very common; acting out when in the early stages of sobriety is normal. We use different behavior modification techniques to redirect client behavior.
In many ways we are orderlies. The difference is that we do not ever restrain or detain clients, and we are encouraged to interface with them regularly to monitor their emotional state. We joke about it being babysitting because when the clients are all doing well and finished detoxing we pretty much just monitor and document behavior.
I agree, but it's the standard for this position for whatever reason. I'm not sure what it takes for someone to be considered a technician, since it is such a broad title.
That seems like a lot! It is. It's a lot of work and a lot of money. These stipulations allowed us to have an outside study performed to measure our rates of successful recovery. So nearly 80% of the clients who do all that stuff stay sober.
I don't know that we can get to a real success rate for 12-step programs. Here is a nice study on recovery rates with and without treatment. In the rooms of AA I only ever hear one recovery rate, and that is 5% or 1 out of 20. I have no source for that claim but it's interesting that everyone seems to say the same thing (in my area) and nobody knows where they heard it. Relapse is common. Very common. Sometimes clients come back and do it all over again but that's unusual.
Best: Genuine desire to get sober. Willing to be honest in groups, to work the program, and to follow the rules. These guys usually serve as leaders in the client population.
Worst: The other kind of leader. The mentor to shitheads, the younger guy who is older than the youngest guys and likes to make trouble. Talks to female clients, talks back to tech staff, won't follow the rules, sets a bad example for new and impressionable guys.
I don't agree with banning smoking from residential treatment because it encourages addict behavior in the clients. If they are not allowed to smoke, they will still smoke, they'll just have to go through all kinds of channels they wouldn't normally have to go through to get the cigarettes and then smoke them in secret. I've seen it firsthand.
That being said, the recovery rates for non-smokers or individuals who quit nicotine as the same time as all other mind altering substances are shown to have better rates of recovery than those who continue to smoke cigarettes.
This is a difficult question to answer, especially considering your role as an EMT. There is a general rule of thumb in the recovery community that people don't get clean until they really, really want it. It can take a lot to get to that point and most addicts just die, get locked up, or become institutionalized. What can you do to kick it up a notch? Well take a look at what kind of boundaries are appropriate for your position and consider helping refer your "regulars" to support groups. Some people have never heard of AA, NA, or any other kind of recovery related meeting. Your city has a central office for most major anonymous organizations and they can give you meeting schedules and advise you on groups and assistance in your area.
It's hard to say. From my experience individuals with trauma are more likely to get involved in behavior which can trigger the progression of addiction.
I love Breaking Bad. Weeds was okay. I don't see drugs as glamorous at all, but when they are featured in entertainment I don't have a problem with it. If anything I'm looking for authenticity when someone on screen is using.
Sometimes, sure. Weeds obviously glorified pot, but that's nothing new. Breaking Bad does an excellent job when it focuses on drug addiction and not just the creation and distribution of drugs.
Not really, since a core characteristic of alcoholism is that the use of alcohol cannot be controlled. If alcoholics could just control it and learn limits there would be a huge movement for teaching drunks how to drink more responsibly rather than a movement for abstinence. I'm sorry to hear about your mother-- alcoholism runs in my family as well.
I'm sorry to hear you had a negative experience with treatment, but I'm glad you were able to connect with some of the techs in recovery! I earn $12 an hour.
Right on. I only ask about your state because some states have no oversight of treatment centers, which allows some places to keep young people in treatment for near-indefinite amounts of time. From what you've said about your rehab it doesn't sounds like a terribly therapeutic place. The oversight organization for your state looks to be the DIA. If you have been mistreated or you suspect abuse I suggest you file a grievance asap.
I think I addressed this in another comment. I apologize if my language seemed insensitive. When you work in a field for a long time I think you become more comfortable with bringing some levity to what is a very serious and sometimes depressing job.
I feel that you may have mistaken my casual attitude for disrespect or insincerity for the clients. I am a professional. People who meet your description of me do not last long in this field. I understand where you're coming from. Believe me, I am well aware of the needs of clients in early recovery. It is in fact my job to be completely aware of these things. Please keep in mind that it is not my job to counsel, nurture, or have intimate conversations with these guys. I am actually prohibited from doing any of those things. I simply monitor, document, and modify their behavior, ensure they are in a safe, healthy, and therapeutic environment, and ensure they survive detox as comfortably as possible. They actually do sometimes require assistance bathing and getting dressed while going through withdrawals. Detox is not something I joke about-- my "babysit" comment is tongue in cheek and refers to the times when I am literally just hanging out with them between groups. You are correct about the possible efficacy of state funded treatment centers. They are not all good, they are not all bad. As someone who worked in one I can say that we did do the best with what we had. You and I are in agreement regarding the importance of treatment availability. To your final question: I don't "help people recover" at my job. That's not what I am paid to do there. In my personal life, yes, I believe I am ready and responsible enough to help others recover by sharing my experience with sick and suffering addicts, being available to talk to new guys at meetings, serving on local steering committees, and chairing a Students in Recovery program at my university.
I love my job, and I have a great deal of respect for the company I work for. I got clean in lockup so you'll understand if I believe this is a cushy place. It is. And yes, I remember what it was like very clearly.
I'm sorry you believe I sound like I am someone who is still using. I don't know how to respond to that.
Again, I commend you on your sobriety and I appreciate the critical response.
Last updated: 2013-09-26 19:12 UTC This post was generated by a robot! Send all complaints to epsy.
[Table] IAmA former basement-dwelling heroin junkie that now works as director of admissions at a rehab facility. I’ve seen some things guys. AMA. You won’t be disappointed!
Verified?(This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet) Date: 2014-04-21 Link to submission (Has self-text)
One of the biggest misconceptions with family is there is nothing they can do for the substance abuser to change. They hear people say, "They have to want to change."
This is true, but most of the time, we don't decide to stay sober until our head is clear and in treatment. That was true for me.
You can also explore intervention for your niece. An interventionist doesn't just serve to get the substance abuser in treatment. They also get the family united behind a common purpose. They help root out anything within the family that might threaten long-term recovery.
You could also call and let her know you love her. That she is still loved. And remind her that if she ever wants help, to call you.
I went to pick a guy up from the courthouse who was in there on his 3rd DUI. He had dropped out of college with a semester left. His friends thought he was a joke. He was looking at some decent incarceration time.
I started sharing my experience with him while he was in a jumpsuit and shackled in the courthouse. He started crying. This was a grown man balling his eyes out. I told him, "I want you to remember this moment, because if you forget it, you'll be here again. If your lucky."
Fast forward almost one year later. The guy is still sober. He just finished college. His life is coming together, and he walked up to me recently and said, "I still remember what you said to me in court that day." I'm tearing up thinking about it.
I got a call yesterday from a crack cocaine and alcohol abuser. We talked for a few minutes. I was surprised at how lucid he sounded. Very well-spoken. Probably a con man too.
He broke off the conversation and said that he would need to call me back. I asked why. He said he was in the middle of a store trying to steal a bunch of shit so he could pay for drugs. Funny yet sad at the same time. Gotta love the honest crackheads.
We see a lot of guys who thought they didn't have a problem with substance X, only substance Y. Then they realize the truth - that they aren't someone who can use substances successfully.
Hot showers and baths. BC Powder. Imodium and antihistamines. Avoid caffeine. That's if you want to quit everything. If you have health insurance or a well-to-do family member, you can go to detox and treatment. Which I highly recommend!
You've got to want this more than anything too. Think Rocky training for a title fight willingness. Here's something else to consider too. A good life is possible without drugs. And I mean that from my experience and the millions of others living in recovery. I'm pm'ing you my personal number. Call me.
I can assure you that if my junkie roommate in treatment hadn't had BC powder one night, I might have left treatment. Lord knows what would've happened to me then.
That a meaningful, positive contribution to this world is something I can choose to be a part of. And the only way to a fulfilling life.
Addicts tend to suffer from a very negative perspective of the world. Addiction taught me that the world has its dark corners, but I can choose to carry a flashlight.
100% for it. Prohibition is a joke. Complete failure. I am for all drugs being legal. I recently read an article that stated it costs more to incarcerate addiction than it costs to provide them housing and their drug of choice.
Consequences are the prime sign that you're moving into dangerous territory. Legal consequences, like arrests. Personal consequences, like consistent depression. Professional consequences, like lost jobs.
Consequences aren't the only signs though. In my opinion, if you flirt with the idea you have a problem, you have a problem. People without substance abuse disorders don't entertain the idea they have a problem.
Well it's kind of a unique place in that almost all of our staff got sober here. So I just kept hanging out here until the boss took a chance with me.
I love my job. It's engaging, exciting, purposeful and challenging. Being a junkie whisperer takes a lot of finesse, but when you see a guy after he has some time sober, it makes it 100% worth it.
Hallucinations on heroin are really weird. They aren't visual or auditory. My main one was thinking people were in the room when no one was there. I forget all about this until one of my junkie friends in treatment asked me if I ever thought someone was there who wasn't when I used. Of course I laughed and said no way. Then I remembered constantly thinking my friend Spencer was in the room with me. He went on to tell me that was my brain having a very minor stroke. Not sure if that's true. But I can assure you anyone who knows me wouldn't doubt my brains taken some hits! Literally.
I do not associate with anyone I used to hang out with. The only exception is when they reach out to me for help, and I take precautions to ensure my sobriety in those circumstances.
Yes, in fact, a few months ago I was about as close to relapsing as you can get without relapsing. The strongest triggers come when I'm stressed at work, not getting enough sleep and trying to do too much with too little (see brain taking some hits comment).
Mindfulness meditation has been the difference between sobriety and relapse for me. Without it, I'd be dead.
My second strongest trigger is when I'm driving in an area where I frequently scored or used. Still makes my stomach churn and I feel like the Reddit alien looks.
At 2 years clean, I really don't have triggers anymore. I think moving away from my hometown, making new friends, etc plays a big part in minimizing triggers. But my biggest is when I have trouble sleeping. My worst thought is, "I can use once and no one will know." That is, in my opinion, the most diabolical thought a person in recovery can have.
Heroin was the only thing that took me to a cave-dwelling, basement lifestyle. I afforded it like most junkies do. I had hustles. I had family members who would give me money sometimes. But mostly it was a hustle.
Sure. I sold drugs, ran gambling rackets and knocked over weak drug dealers. I also stole from my mom and dad, though that rarely happened, maybe a handful of times.
I have family, and as you might suspect, they were devastated to find out that I was addicted to heroin. My mom later told me in a letter that she felt like she was "sinking in quicksand."
My dad just looked at me in detox and said, "Just do this (recovery) or don't bother being a part of this family." That might sound harsh, but it was long overdue.
I'm pretty sure my brothers thought there was 0% chance I'd stay sober for as long as I have. I knew I would though. I made that decision. Sober, no matter what.
My relationship with them now is incredible. We have dinner together every Sunday. I catch that twinkle of pride in my mom and dad's eye. I love my two little brothers. They're hilarious, smart and both of them are the ladies' man I never was :)
Yes. I looked my mom in the eyes and said, "I am addicted to heroin." It was one of the hardest things I've ever done because I knew it would break her heart. I didn't want her paying for a funeral though. I chose to live.
Addiction thrives on the benevolence of others. But what happens when someone is consistently exposed to it is the same behaviors I see in active users. It is best to keep a healthy distance from someone in active substance abuse by communicating your love and support to them, but letting them know you do not support their decision to drink/use.
I would agree. I am comfortable with the fact that I will always have addictive tendencies. I just choose to funnel my addictive tendencies towards positive change. Most would say I'm a workaholic. What I have seen, however, is that as someone progresses in sobriety, there life tends to balance out. Mine has begun to level off too. I do feel we need to get away from the word "addict." Substance abuser / in recovery / whatever sounds much better and doesn't have the stigma associated with the word "addiction."
No problem. The thing about opiate/heroin addiction is that a tolerance develops quickly. I was kind of like Lord of the Junkies amongst my lesser addicted friends. They would do a fraction of what a normal dose was for me, and be out cold.
Also, they called me the unabomber for the first few weeks in treatment. If that gives you an idea of how impressive I looked when I showed up to get help.
Yes. Here's something they won't tell you in detox. If you are withdrawing from severe heroin addiction, you will have unexpected orgasms. Sounds awesome, but when you wake up in treatment cumming everywhere it's really weird.
Also, heroin addiction starts to kill your pain receptors. Do it long enough, and you'll lose a lot of them. So you don't feel pain like a normal person. I broke my toe last year, but thought I just lightly bumped it. Didn't notice until I was taking a shower and my toe was the color of death.
Post-acute withdrawal syndrome is also something many people don't know about. It's a period of readjustment on the biochemical level that could take 1-3 years for the body to heal. During this time, a recovering abuser might experience bouts of insomnia, heightened sensitivity to stress and uncomfortable levels of anxiety. It's not fun.
"In recent studies using a cold pressor test we could show that former opiate addicts are persistently less pain-sensitive than healthy controls, indicating a neurophysiologic dysfunction in these patients." "The relationship between abnormal pain sensitivity and opioid withdrawal is known."
Definitely not Trainspotting, because I never knew junkie gangs that spent their days shooting up together. Most junkies are loners. I was.
Requiem for a Dream might be a closer rendition except for the part where he deals drugs. But truthfully, I don't think there's a movie that captures the heroin lifestyle. Because there isn't much glamorous about being a junkie.
The government should repel prohibition on all drugs, use the taxes to fund programs with proven outcomes and start seeing real results.
The government's very involvement in the war on drugs makes substance abuse problems worse, not better.
I do not support government-operated treatment centers. I don't support any government-involved activity with regards to substance aside from complete legalization of all narcotics, taxation to fund evidence-based programs and an end to the war on drugs.
First of all, thank you for coming out of retirement, Retired_bot. With all the resources out there today, there's only one reason why someone won't get sober - they want to keep getting drunk or high. The internet definitely offers a wealth of resources, but the questions is whether those resources are credible. One of the most popular recovery websites, Spiritual River, has all kinds of red flags that most people who aren't knowledgeable won't spot. I've had to find leaving scathing comments on some of their articles.
I am convinced that someone who launches from treatment back into a demanding profession has a higher chance of relapse than someone who takes baby steps back into the real world. I think a low stress job will allow the person to continue healing and slowly develop the qualities necessary to succeed in a high stress job.
Truth be told, 12 step organizations could be more supportive of their long-term sobriety members coming out openly about their sobriety. Anonymity was only established to protect the newcomer. They never intended it to be some super secret society.
Also, the Affordable Care Act has not made treatment more affordable or accessible. It's actually quite the opposite :(
EDIT: Wanted to provide more depth to this answer.
We could also, as a people, be encouraging of substance abusers to seek treatment. We could start to shift the perspective from one of disgust to admiration. It takes a lot for someone to reach through the veil of disdain and uncertainty for help.
That recovery is going to be easy. I'll get sober, and everything will be okay. Recovery isn't for sissies. It takes work, dedication and consistent effort. Life still happens, and I'm not the best at responding to it in a positive way. That's why it's important for me to stay close to those in recovery, and stay active in a program of recovery.
Phenomenal question. Favorite sandwich is chicken breast with avocado, lettuce, purple onion and tomato on cranberry wheat. Lightly toasted with a spicy mustard/mayo mix.
Yes, that sounds about right. Really an enema is the most effective weapon against the constipation that inevitably comes from opiate-based drugs. You could try some prescription anti-constipation medication too.
Complete adrenaline rush. Especially going against interstate traffic at night at 120+ mph. It was not something I'm proud of, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that it was an incredible experience. Something like you see in a movie. I'm a guy that loves to feel good all the time + drugs = addiction. Were you asking what underlying causes got me hooked? The instant after the car accident. For some reason, I remained conscious. I knew what my cruise control was set at. My first thought was, "I've just killed someone." Worst feeling ever. The lowest I have ever seen someone was a man who came in with a history of heroin and methamphetamine abuse. You could just tell he had fried his brain. He told everyone he was certain he had a stroke. As a result, he had weird ticks and talked like someone paid him to do it. He talked, talked, talked. All I did was listen and try to show compassion for a sick person.
Ironically, I was the one who sought out shooting heroin intravenously. I was horrible at it. The first few times I tried, I missed. If you miss, you watch in horror (and pain) as a giant golf ball-sized lump comes out of your arm.
That didn't deter me though. I just asked a medically trained acquaintance for a tip.
The gambling rackets started with me playing poker in underground games. Got good at poker. But being a greedy junkie led me to get trained dealing poker. Built bankroll then started running my own games. Horrible lifestyle. Was constantly worried about VICE Squad and our state's bureau of investigation. Also there was a group of men who enjoyed robbing poker games with sawed-off shotguns and had no qualms about killing people.
Highly unlikely. There's plenty of people who experience minor consequences. This is where the term "functioning alcoholic" or "functioning drug addict" (though I've never heard that term) come from. Minor consequences would primarily be relationship troubles. It could also be legal problems that you navigated due to strong legal representation.
I think the important thing to do is support recovery through positive reinforcement. Let him know how proud you are of him when he is sober. Let him know he has talents, and with hard work, he can make a good life for himself. If he is in relapse and tries to contact you, let him know that you love and care about him, but won't be part of the problem. Tell him if he ever wants help, you'll be there to assist.
A lot of relapse starts with pot. I think it does because it's harmless for most to do, but it's a dangerous game for people with substance abuse disorders.
I know ibogaine can be a valuable asset to addiction treatment, but it is currently banned in the US. The only centers that offer this treatment tend to be sketchy. I've heard some horror stories. I think it's also important to know that it's not a miracle cure. People still get ibogaine treatment and relapse. The key, in my opinion, to sustained sobriety is a consistent, active and ongoing program of recovery. But I would like to see it offered in US addiction treatment.
I'm sure VICE found some reputable centers, which there are. The best way to research a good facility is by 1) reading all reviews and 2) asking to contact a few of the program's alumni. If a center says you can't talk to their alumni, RED FLAG!
The best way is to look for a couple physical symptoms: constricted pupils, especially at night (pupils look like a pinhead). Also, itching is a dead giveaway. Excessive itching is a sure sign the person is using. If they approach you for money or want you to buy something they own for super cheap, run.
Weird, I know, but I have never been asked for anything. At all. The only time I have was when I was in treatment. The guy wanted some of my contacts in Nashville. He didn't get them.
What made me shake the addiction is that using wasn't fun anymore. There was no enjoyment. The party was over. And I was the guy awkwardly waking up the next morning in a house full of people I didn't know, lingering about aimlessly trying to connect with people I knew didn't care about me. You know exactly the guy I'm talking about. That was me.
The main sign that I needed to change was the fact that I couldn't wear short-sleeved shirts anymore, despite how warm it was outside, because of track marks.
One of the things that stuck with me was a roommate and friend of mine, who I would later pick up from the hospital to come to treatment for acute alcoholism, saying, "Dude, you don't even crack jokes anymore. You don't laugh at all."
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The Role of Dopamine in Gambling Addiction - YouTube
Steven had a gambling addiction for 42 years. This is Steven's story.There are many different areas where we can get help, it is finding what works for YOU.S... The first step to controlling a gambling problem is first recognizing and acknowledging that you have a problem. Gain control of your gambling problem with h... An insight into gambling addiction and the truth about blackjack and slot machines. An amalgamation of video clips describing the fundamental role of dopamine in gambling addiction. NOTE: This video is for education purposes only. I do not... Frankie, a recovering gambling addict shares his stories. Check out his blog at www.livingaddictionfree.wordpress.com and check out the program www.addiction... How the TV presenter overcame his problem Are you concerned that gambling is taking over your life? Here are the 10 warning signs you need to watch out for.http://ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/scree... In this raw and honest video i talk about my 2-3 year gambling addiction where i lost many many thousands of dollars and how i managed to get myself out of t... Ross meets Alex, a 35-year-old teacher who became so heavily addicted to gambling apps he decided to take the very drastic measure of going off grid. He rev... This is a follow up to a video I released called:Life As a VIP High Roller At the Casino: What It's Like, Why I Gave It All Up and Gambling Addictionhttps://...
