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Anyone else think mental addiction is far worse than physical addiction?

J

JackiesBabyy

Bluelighter
Joined
May 16, 2011
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I've never felt SEVERE physical withdrawal from anything, just moderate opiate withdrawal. While benzo WDs are supposedly much worse, I still think mental addiction is the true killer.

I have less self-control than most, so that may be the problem, but quitting AM-2201 was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do(even worse than quitting RC stimulants, which I still do. But I've had to go a few weeks without them before). I literally couldn't imagine life without vaping some every 30 minutes, and was going through 2g of 99% pure AM-2201 powder every day. On days when my shipment arrived late, the mental aspect of not having it was unbearable, spending over 10 hours searching every corner of my house for something that resembled AM-2201 powder.

I hate hearing people say things like "oh X-drug isn't physically addictive, it's just mental addiction.". For me, there's no "just" with mental addiction, I'd rather go through moderate opiate WDs 20 more times than have to give up AM-2201 again. I can handle physical pain, but soul-crushing depression and boredom kill me.

EDIT: Cigarettes, for example, are far more of a mental addiction for me. I like the taste and it gives me something to do while I'm bored. I can go hours without a cigarette if I'm high on a stimulant or doing something fun, because I'm not bored. When I am bored, I can barely go 30 minutes without one. (And i've been a pack a day smoker for 6 years)
 
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I dunno ever gone through alcohol withdrawal? The pain /shakes/ fever/ sweating/ I mean horrible horrible pain plus the knowledge that you can die from it is quite a .... force pushing you to drink again. You don't think man I want a drink because it will make me feel good your just thinking I must end what im going through right now I must drink

its .... odd... its just a drive to drink... I mean if your locked up you won't drink but if there is anything around you with booze in it your drinking it I don't think you resist it on your own. IMO.... comparing it to other things it was the worse for me.. I still have nightmares about it still think of it all the time every time I see someone drinking I remember the WD.... sucks
 
xxsicknessxx said:
I dunno ever gone through alcohol withdrawal? The pain /shakes/ fever/ sweating/ I mean horrible horrible pain plus the knowledge that you can die from it is quite a .... force pushing you to drink again. You don't think man I want a drink because it will make me feel good your just thinking I must end what im going through right now I must drink

its .... odd... its just a drive to drink... I mean if your locked up you won't drink but if there is anything around you with booze in it your drinking it I don't think you resist it on your own. IMO.... comparing it to other things it was the worse for me.. I still have nightmares about it still think of it all the time every time I see someone drinking I remember the WD.... sucks
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Sure, alcohol withdrawal can be worse than benzo withdrawal from what I've heard, and DTs sound very unpleasant, but you can pretty easily avoid the "death is possible" part from going to a doctor, telling them you want to quit drinking, and getting Librium. (and if you can't afford going to a doctor you shouldn't be able to afford the amount of alcohol you'd need to drink to be physically addicted)

And to add, by the time a lot of people want to quit opiates, they don't even make them euphoric anymore, they continue using just to ward off the WDs. They'll be sick but at least they're glad to be ridding themselves of them. With mental withdrawal, you think your life is over and you'll never be happy again without it. A hardcore meth addict may be anhedonic and depressed for months after quitting.
 
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Yes, I think it is.... I have been tapering off a very high amount of opiates for four months now and every time I drop a level I get fairly severe physical withdrawal.....I am way more physically addicted than mentally, and I know for a fact that if I was more addicted mentally, there is no way in hell that I could have been as successful as I have, I just could not do it. It is way too hard.
 
Physical addiction is finite, therefore mortal. Mental addiction is intangible, therefore truly formidable.
 
JackiesBabyy said:
Sure, alcohol withdrawal can be worse than benzo withdrawal from what I've heard, and DTs sound very unpleasant, but you can pretty easily avoid the "death is possible" part from going to a doctor, telling them you want to quit drinking, and getting Librium. (and if you can't afford going to a doctor you shouldn't be able to afford the amount of alcohol you'd need to drink to be physically addicted)

And to add, by the time a lot of people want to quit opiates, they don't even make them euphoric anymore, they continue using just to ward off the WDs. They'll be sick but at least they're glad to be ridding themselves of them. With mental withdrawal, you think your life is over and you'll never be happy again without it. A hardcore meth addict may be anhedonic and depressed for months after quitting.
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Been through a lot just saying was worst for me, im sure it depends on the amount of said drug your doing when you come off.
 
When I was attempting to w/d from benzos (And I never realized they could be so addicting in a short period of time) I thought maybe I should go to hospital. I was feeling so ill. On top of an alcohol problem. My sister had been through it and told me I can't do it without medical help. Both addictions cannot be detoxed together. She suggested get some benedryl so I could get some sleep. But I bought beer to help take the edge off. It helped a little, but the benzo withdrawal was awful. Far worse than opiates because I had been through that many times.

They told me when I phoned the hospital that if I went in, they would moniter me to make sure I didn't have seizures. But I don't have insurance and didn't want more debt with them than I already had. I went through the shakes, hot then cold sweats, diarreah, severe leg cramps. Whenever I closed my eyes, my head was spinning and it was horrible for the first 3 days. Gradually, it subsided with the help of gatorade and multi-vitamins with toast.

It was definitely a physical withdrawal, whereas with opiates you anticipate what's coming. You expect that you will have some symptoms. To me, the opiates did more of a mindfuck because with your last dose, you go into panic mode. Like "Oh noes what will I do now!" I don't miss that shit at all.
 
`mental addiction is worse I think. weed is not physical addicting but mentally for me it is. in the beginning when i started weed i was getting ultra anxious. but i kept going on till i got used to it.<snip> I don't have problems with alcohol don't like it ( maybe because of the klonopin) I have been through benzo wd / dexedrine wd been there . I still use 1mg kpin and some dexedrine to function. I am true social phobic and those meds make my life somewhat better.
 
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I've been through both. The dirty mental compulsiveness of MDPV and Meth, and the psychical agony of opiate withdrawal. Psychical addiction is much worse.
 
ArtVandalay said:
I've been through both. The dirty mental compulsiveness of MDPV and Meth, and the psychical agony of opiate withdrawal. Psychical addiction is much worse.
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I have to agree!

Personally speaking, struggling to deal with myself was far more difficult for me on the road to recovery than was dealing with physical discomfort - from opioids, dissociatives and other drugs.

I believe that anyone who has struggled with addiction can, at least partially, relate to the topic of this thread. The key, for myself and so many others I know personally, is to change the way we think!

It's impossibly difficult to imagine the impact of changing the very paradigm by which we interpret external and internal stimuli without doing it. Without being taught, I never would have accomplished achieving a basic understanding of what this actually meant.

Please feel free to contact me, or reply in this thread, if you would like clarification and/or advice. I would be more than happy to help!

Be well,

~ Vaya
 
I think I would have 2 say mental is worse.. It's what keeps bringing us back 2 the substances.. Physical is bad also, but mental is worse.. Imo
 
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I think I went through one of the worst physical addictions, on benzos and I ended up having two seizures & in the ER when I tried to quit (and right now I'm in my first day of WD from oxys so not feeling all that great either)...but I still have to say, I think the mental part is waaaaaaay worse. You can suffer through physical pain, it sucks for a few days but you get through it, but it's the mental part that always keeps you coming back and that tortures you even once you've gotten past the physical WD.
 
I remember detoxing from heroin and benzos in rehab without any kind of medication. Worst experience I have ever been through. I felt like I was losing my mind every single day, especially on top of the sleep deprivation from withdrawals. It was so traumatic I repressed it to be honest, I just remember the worst anxiety, hallucinations, etc I could ever imagine. If I wasn't locked up in a psychiatric unit I would have surely used.
 
JackiesBabyy said:
On days when my shipment arrived late, the mental aspect of not having it was unbearable, spending over 10 hours searching every corner of my house for something that resembled AM-2201 powder.
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I know how you felt. While I was using one of the smoking blends and not the pure powder I felt the mental craving every minute waiting to get more. I would go search in my smoking spots to see if I could find any little pieces that I had dropped.
 
physical is so much worse.. trust me. With psychological addiction you can train yourself and you can train the thought away if you have a strong enough mind. Physical? there's nothing you can do.
 
Hands down psychological addiction, except for heavy benzo or alcohol habits maybe. Actually I think that the psychological part is what makes the physical withdrawal so bad. Ever gone through withdrawals with your mind dead set on kicking the shit? When you withdrawal involuntarily you are extremely focused on the symptoms you experience, while when you are done with the drug mentally then wds are a pain in the ass, but more in a bothersome way than agonizing. I speak of opiate addiction mostly.

Consider speed/cocaine/thc addiction. There may be some physical withdrawal symptoms, especially for thc, but not in the least comparable to opiates, alcohol or even benzos. And nonetheless it's equally difficult to kick those habits.
 
VanWeyden said:
Hands down psychological addiction, except for heavy benzo or alcohol habits maybe. Actually I think that the psychological part is what makes the physical withdrawal so bad. Ever gone through withdrawals with your mind dead set on kicking the shit? When you withdrawal involuntarily you are extremely focused on the symptoms you experience, while when you are done with the drug mentally then wds are a pain in the ass, but more in a bothersome way than agonizing. I speak of opiate addiction mostly.

Consider speed/cocaine/thc addiction. There may be some physical withdrawal symptoms, especially for thc, but not in the least comparable to opiates, alcohol or even benzos. And nonetheless it's equally difficult to kick those habits.
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Which is why I siad physical, because I was speaking of opiate withdrawal from experience. If you're experiencing physical withdrawal, psych withdrawal is there as well. For me, the physical withdrawal was the hardest, just getting through that week. Psychological wasn't so bad. That's just for me, and we are all different. But, from a neutral standpoint, it's not coincidence that the two most addicting substances, are both psych and physical, heroin and cocaine. I believe they're both on par with each other. I've indulged in quite a few psych substances, such as cocaine and dextro, and they weren't as hard to kick as oxy was, but that's just me.
 
In the end everyone is different. But for me to speak I detoxed from opiates more than a year ago, and never got physically dependent again, although I relapsed on them twice -> Physical addiction isn't a problem for me any more, but the psychological part still messes with my mind. And I guess it will forever.
 
I would think that heavy use of synthetic cannabinoids is physically addictive. I had a heavy habit at one point as well and when I quit I didn't stop sweating for about a month. It was profoundly unpleasant. When you smoke tons and tons of weed and have to stop, you feel kind of shitty and have trouble sleeping. Quitting synthetic cannabinoids was like that feeling exponentially magnified. It was just awful.
 
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