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'You're not an addict if you're happy with your life'

footscrazy

footscrazy

Bluelight Crew
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What does everyone think of that statement?

It's a very common perception, even amongst the drug using world.

Most 'treatment' I've had for drugs has involved long and boring investigations into the reasons why I use drugs. I don't feel like I have any major reason, just habit and preferring to be high on something than not. I don't think that being happy with your life and being an addict are necessarily mutually exclusive. I don't think addicts are necessarily hiding from pain, though some no doubt are.

What do you think, is an addict necessarily trying to escape from pain? Is being an addict mutually exclusive with a happy, satisfying life?
 
How many addicts are happy with their lives? I havnt met any. Majority of addicts iv come to know are running or hiding from various issues.

To be happy in knowing that you are hurting yourself is contradictory to me.

How do we define happiness in this day and age? What constitutes happiness?

It's always intrigued me why so many of us spend so much time altering ourselves

Good thread idea to get the thinker ticking
 
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footscrazy said:
What does everyone think of that statement?

It's a very common perception, even amongst the drug using world.

Most 'treatment' I've had for drugs has involved long and boring investigations into the reasons why I use drugs. I don't feel like I have any major reason, just habit and preferring to be high on something than not. I don't think that being happy with your life and being an addict are necessarily mutually exclusive. I don't think addicts are necessarily hiding from pain, though some no doubt are.

What do you think, is an addict necessarily trying to escape from pain? Is being an addict mutually exclusive with a happy, satisfying life?
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It's so typical for a drug addict to deny that, but I genuinely do deny that statement.

I am without a doubt dependent on marijuana. No doubt in my mind, no denying it anymore. I get mild withdrawals when I don't smoke it, and it's something I always make sure I have in my draw. When I started smoking marijuana I did it because I was in a major state of denial because of an emotionally traumatising event that happened to me and I was definitely using it to escape the pain.

NOW. That event has been totally been resolved, and then some. I like to take sober weeks here and there, but I prefer to get stoned than not. It has nothing to do with me drowning any pain, I have nothing to be upset about. I'm a Uni student, I live with my parents, I make enough money, I have a decent job that works with my Uni hours, I have amazing friends and a beautiful girlfriend of several years, I have achieved a fair amount for a relatively heavy drug using 20 year old.

The point is, I'm happy with MY life. I'm not happy with the world around me though. Why would you be happy with the bullshit that goes on in our society. Somewhere in the world some fucking poor starving person was probably assembling this macbook I'm typing on. Just thinking about that side of reality gets pretty depressing pretty quickly.

Sometimes you might use drugs because you're not happy with your life and your problems, other times you will take them because the world around you is just ridiculous, no one ever seems to notice enough for anything to change, so rather than get angry or depressed I smoke some weed and it makes this absolute circus of lunacy around me a little bit easier to digest.

And let's not forget I just like to smoke weed! It's great, it helps me sleep, it works better for my medical symptoms better than my prescribed medication and it has recreational value when I want it to as well.
 
^ Great detailed reply TangerinO :)

Maybe the statement should be, that addicts are not necessarily more unhappy with their lives.

I think most people would be able to pick a few areas where they could/would like to improve. I would say I'm generally happy with my life - and I do think that the areas I could improve, would be there regardless of whether or not I used drugs.

laugh said:
How many addicts are happy with their lives? I havnt met any. Majority of addicts iv come to know are running or hiding from various issues.
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I would've said that before I joined BL. I think the happy/productive/functional addicts are just less noticeable precisely because of those reasons. I don't think it's surprising the ones who aren't managing stand out more, especially considering the stigma against drugs - unless you have to, or have nothing to lose - who is going to advertise the fact they're an addict? Apart from BL and a few close friends, noone in my life has any idea that I am.
 
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How can you be truly happy when you are inflicting damage upon yourself? If you had a death wish I suppose getting a habit would be a happy experience

I find it difficult to be happy in myself in an unhappy environment tangerinO...fucking conscience playing guilt trips
 
i started smoking pot as an escape from some stuff i had going on at the time in early high school, weed helped a lot mdma reeeaaallly helped. but once i was all good, a happy chappy by year 10 i was madly addicted to weed, i loved it and loved getting super high on all kinds of stuff by year 11, i now at age 22 have chilled out on the part-ay drugs just once a few months now still smoke weed everyday :( . weed has been a major factor in a lot of stuff i would rather not happen, i can manage work and relationships and enjoy my self no probs. i am a happy addict! I shouldn't have starting taking drugs to escape but i may have never moved on in the first place who knows!
 
Physically or mentally addicted? Do you spin your mull?

Maybe you can be a happy addict but not your happiest as an addict?
 
I think it depends what your perception of 'damage' is. Most aspects of living are inflicting damage on yourself in some way, it just depends how you define it. IMO chronically eating junk food or not exercising can be more damaging on your body (and mind) than an opioid addiction, but I wouldn't say that everyone who does those things is hiding from pain.
 
Yeh true i agree...and same with the definition of addict. Isn't it only addiction once it the drugs start encrouching on your lifestyle in a negative sense? So you can use drugs and not hurt yourself that's cool but once your 'addicted' I thought that was with harmful negative connotations?
 
I think addict is one of those loaded terms which has no one meaning that everyone agrees on. If you define it as substance use which has a negative impact on your lifestyle, then for sure, the topic sentence would be true by definition.

If an addict is someone with a physical dependence or even just a psychological compulsion to use drugs, I don't think it's so clear.
 
TangerinO said:
The point is, I'm happy with MY life. I'm not happy with the world around me though. Why would you be happy with the bullshit that goes on in our society. Somewhere in the world some fucking poor starving person was probably assembling this macbook I'm typing on. Just thinking about that side of reality gets pretty depressing pretty quickly.
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great comment.
and excellent work again footsy on a positive, thoughtful idea for a thread.
i'm generally a pretty happy person, but i have a drug habit. i don't think it's necessarily harmful (i use various preparations of opium on a daily basis, ie pst and pod tea) but sometimes i have periods of more harmful use.
i'm not addicted to IV use or anything that is fucking me up or likely to kill me any time soon, but that's not to say i don't like a taste of something every now and then.
but i'm an addict because i don't have a choice whether i use tomorrow or not. if i don't, i go to work and spend the next 8+ hours sick.
there are some issues that i've probably spent a long time running away from, but i also just became apathetic about my use enough for it to become a daily thing.
i only feel like an 'addict' (in the straight-world derogatory sense of the word) when my stash is running low and i don't have the time, inclination or money to hunt down supplies, but i know i don't have a choice.
or i have to hide what i do from people i care about.
but whether i'm happy or sad, drugs are there. i don't have any shame about this, but i'm not burning myself out or committing robberies to stay well either. it just puts a fuzzy glow into my day. makes a good day feel amazing and a shit day more bearable.
i think a lot of generalisations are made about 'addiction', but it seems to be a pretty universal human trait - whether you're addicted to drugs or other pleasurable activities, we can become quite easily fixated.
 
I'm also addicted to water and sunshine... Couldn't live with out it, the what is addiction is a awesome question and one that I use to justity myself by saying I'm all right lalala. Seriously though. Laugh, yeah mix and smoke cones, I have been 'trying' and caving in for a very long time, can get pretty fuckin annoying . Mentally addicted. If it not weed I like beers or benzoes or all three is best, the only reason I think my happy is coz Im stoned as or not sober .. :/ going on a road trip for two months gona change everything, my mental addiction is very much more intense when I'm at home and in Melbourne I think.
 
Haha you sound like me with all three bit of a pig are we

I don't believe you can get physically dependent on ganja but that spin shit is super addictive as if we didn't know. I ended up addicted to what I thought was bongs but it was really the filthy fucking nicotine of the spin.
I think you can get mentally addicted to the whole routine and preparation though...chopping up is my meditation / yoga. when your thumb is calloused from chopping up...you may have an addiction

I'd be carefully with the benzos too!! Being able to sleep without having to pop a pill is underrated IMO
 
^ not to mention seizures and potentially fatal withdrawal with benzos.
i'm having to watch myself with them at the moment. too many lying around, too many years of sleep problems...scary shit.
 
Replace your addiction with another addiction then a healthier addiction like sun an water...sport and exercise helped me

Yeh benzos are a hazardous bunch hey...they can be fun and no doubt usefull but they have some fucked side effects and downsides! Not really worth abusing ime although it's hard not too with pipe in hand. I used to love a couple zannies while piped knocked off the edge and made me heaps floaty like my legs were marshmallows then I'd have a couple more to sleep...temaz were a better all rounder though there's a bit of a high for me with temaz different than zannies or vals

But anyway without derailing footsies threads
 
After an accident that abruptly ended a career in the RAAF which I had been working towards since I was 11, I self medicated my depression with Oxys. I could not work at all for 12 months and ended up with a prescription for 80mg Oxys and endone from 3 doctors. I was railing 5-6 Oxys on a good day and upwards of 10 on a bad one. My habit became so large that I had to purchase extras from the street.

My entire revolved around them and I was not functioning. I distanced myself from family and friends and lost interest in my hobby. I rarely left the house. I eventually begun to recognize myself as an addict, sought treatment and was clean for a couple of years.

I learnt to live life to it's fullest again and after 3 months clean, I had no desire to use. Eventually though I developed a codeine and marijuana habit and it is one that I still have. This time however I function. I work full-time and maintain a full and active life outside of drugs. Codeine however has become time consuming to source which has put pressure on my social life. Without either drug though, I become depressed and struggle to find motivation to leave the house. I am happier than I have been in a long time but unashamedly consider myself an addict.
 
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I dont have any pain I try to bury with my use, however about 5 or 6 years ago while I was happily at home alone drinking, smoking cones, and doing lines.. it was like there was this little voice in my head saying 'Im not quite fucked up enough..what else can I have?' I just wanted to be fucked up.

Ive used meth over the last say 6 years now. I dont use daily, but when I get on it the amount I use is crazy. I cant say I am happy ALL the time, I know the drug has kind of flat lined my emotions a bit. But I do live a blessed life (I do have to remind myself of that occasionally) with a beautiful family, great job and live in a really lovely tranquil spot.

What does make me sad - it the money I have wasted. A grand in the last 7 days. We certainly dont go without... nice clothes, meals out, concerts and holiday, etc etc. I am not one for heaps of materal 'shit' but we could certaily have had a lot more holidays each year I guess.

The damage I am possibly doing to myself is weighing heavily on my mind though. That is a concern. I have others to be healthy for.

Lets say I have nothing to be UNhappy about ;-)
 
Great thread Footscrazy. It's very insightful. I'll just give my 2 cents worth. I'm very happy with my life and from an outside perspective would considered to be pretty together (studying, career type shit) and use infrequent amounts of pod tea when it's available to me.
I feel that if it was anything harder then i'd might start to struggle with dependance. I have issues with anxiety so a nice cup of tea completely dissolves those feelings. I have the feeling that any addicts may have suffered from a severe psychological trauma or have underlying mental health issues that they're addressing through drug use.
I'm not an expert but addiction is one complicating mother fucker haha. Someone could be perfectly happy but become physically dependant on a substance because of "neuroadaptation" (is what I think they call it). On the other hand gambling addiction or any other addiction (adrenaline or something) where there is no substance is just as damaging.

Fucking good question and a very hard one as well lol.
 
Ive never really thought about the definition of addict before. Perhaps part of the reason the word addict is difficult to define is because addiction is complex as hell and would be hard to describe in a sentence let alone a word. As for the meaning, this is what Dictionary.com reckons:

addict[ ad-ikt, uh-dikt ]
noun
1.a person who is addicted to an activity, habit, or substance: a drug addict.
verb (used with object)
1.to cause to become physiologically or psychologically dependent on an addictive substance, as alcohol or a narcotic.
2.to habituate or abandon (oneself) to something compulsively or obsessively: a writer addicted to the use of high-flown language; children addicted to video games; teenage males addicted to fapping.

I added that last example myself, haha couldnt resist.
 
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