• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | Eligiu | deficiT | paranoid android

Do you tell your shrink about your drug usage?

arctica

arctica

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 15, 2009
Messages
174
Or the extent of your usage, e.g. tell them you do it once a month when it's really more like once a day? I'm not addicted to anything, but I'm afraid if I tell my shrink anything at all they will make it out to be a bigger thing than it is.

(It would be awesome if the mods could make a poll)
 
I don't have a psychiatrist yet or a counselor.... but when I do I'm not telling. That is just something that shouldn't be recorded I don't think. Especially if you need to be prescribed things.
 
Last edited:
I made the unfortunate mistake of telling my doctors about my past drug use.......which prevented me from receiving any benzos, stimulants, or sleeping medications even though I was diagonsed with severe ADD, social anxiety, panic attacks, and sleeping issues. The doctors told me that they wish that they could help me, but that it would jeopardize their careers by prescribing a drug addict more drugs (of course other than anti-depressants, which they were happy to shove down my throat). Keep your drug usage to yourself if you want any real help.
 
wow! sounds like all that lawsuit garbage REALLy makes it tough being a drug user going to a doctor in the US!!! your poor sad little monkeys.

ive told EVERY doctor about my opiate addiction since its started, and its only stopped one out of like 10 of them from prescribing me anything. the rest prescribe benzos and such like normal, as well as sleep aids like trazodone, remeron and seroquel. in canada its standard to help junkies and crackheads with their addiction with mild benzos and sleep aids. also i have still gotten pain killers prescribed when i needed them [for surgery; and he prescribed more than he would have normally cuz he knew about my insane tolerance.] from a doctor who i told about my problem. at least in eastern canada, being open with your doctors increases the chance of them helping you out. ive always gone by honest is the best policy all my life, so doctors know when im asking for it cuz i need it or cuz i just wanna have fun.

in the future, due to my increasing drug fiendingness, i might stop telling them, however :( but luckily for my soul ive been honest to this point.
 
I live in the US and iv been completely open and honest about my usage to them. Its always been okay to talk about and it helps them treat me and understand me better when it comes to some things. I think it really depends on the doctor, i did have one i couldnt of told, im not sure what she would have done but i could tell by certain remarks she made, it wouldnt be okay lol
 
^ yeh i knew it couldnt just be that all doctors are like that. probably more of an individual type than a US thing i guess.

a lot of people are so paranoid of what their doctor would think they actually miss out on getting drugs hehehe
 
You must tell your shrink about everything you take. Otherwise he cannot treat you effectively and the relationship ceases to be therapeutic on account of dishonesty.

There is a tendency amongst people like us - who have abused drugs, presumably - to think we know best, or can decide what a doctor needs to know. - This is bullshit. There is a reason they are put through medical school/internships/residencies/registrarships and have to be approved by a college.

So yeah, apart from the dangerousness and pointlessness that will characterise your relationship if you lie/omit, I think honesty itself is important, otherwise you're really just duping your shrink like you would dupe anyone else to get high or score.
 
I hate that doctors automatically assume that any controlled substance they prescribe to a 'drug user' will be abused....when it's not the case. Contrary to belief, just because a person has or does use drugs doesn't mean they'll abuse the shit out of any controlled substance known to man. So because of that assumption...most people who admit any past drug use don't get the help they need most of the time. That's why I don't tell anyone.

Example: I dislike opiates and have to force myself to take them when I'm in pain cause I don't like the side effects ie nausea. I wouldn't abuse opiates if you paid me to, yet if I admitted drug use to a doctor...chances are they wouldn't give me anything for the pain I was in.
 
I'm honest about my occasional marijuana use, and I'm still regularly being prescribed Ambien and Adderall. My doc has also known me since before I was born.
 
zombiesarepeaceful said:
I hate that doctors automatically assume that any controlled substance they prescribe to a 'drug user' will be abused....when it's not the case. Contrary to belief, just because a person has or does use drugs doesn't mean they'll abuse the shit out of any controlled substance known to man. So because of that assumption...most people who admit any past drug use don't get the help they need most of the time. That's why I don't tell anyone.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I had a benzo habit previously and as a result my present shrink will never give them to me. He doesn't even consider that possibly I was only using benzos to begin with because I felt like they were the only thing that worked.

And I would like to know how anyone can be using benzos without being addicted or at least dependent. By definition, to be taking benzos daily = physical addiction. But if you admit to having done this you're automatically excluded from ever getting benzos again!
 
i will never be honest with a doc again.. took years to get him to trust me again.. finally got the xanax i was wanting but it only made me dependent on them.. it's like cigarettes. at first it feels good, but then you just end up smoking them because you're used to it and need to fix the craving.
 
Yeah, in retrospect being honest with my doctor was a huge mistake...

especially with my regular GP (I told him how much I was drinking...) anyway, after that, I went in with awful pain in my tooth (had to have it taken out) as I contacted a dentist and they said go get some painkillers from your doctor and I can see you monday...

anyway, he wouldnt prescribe me any painkillers cus they 'are addictive'. I also asked about bupropion on another occasion and wouldn't consider that either, claiming it was addictive.

Big mistake, I will always lie to doctors in the future, I doubt it will make much difference cus they can see my medical records but I'm not telling them shit from this point on..
 
I told my psychologist about a traumatic 5-meo-dmt experience I had, and then had to spend 15 minutes explaining what 5-meo-dmt was :\

She took it in stride, and to her credit she didn't seem to consider it to be much of an issue, other than the fact that it might have shown up during my EMDR experience. Luckily, it didn't-- that would have caused some... problems.

Personally, and I know that many won't agree with me, but I think that if you can't tell your psych about something as central to your mental health as recreational drug use, you're not likely with the right one. Or rather, perhaps, in an ideal world that would be the case.

GPs and non-mental health docs are a whole different story. As far as I'm concerned it's none of their business.
 
I agree that honesty is much more important with psychiatrists than with GP's.

But it seems you have to balance 1) the harm to your relationship and the potential for contra-indicated drugs and physical danger (which follows upon dishonesty) with 2) the possibility that you will get a stamp in your file saying 'drug addict' and not be able to get meds you need in the future (if you tell the truth).

In my opinion, though, anyone who is really serious about getting clean will just be totally candid. It is drug addict behaviour to be thinking "shit, what if I need pain meds in the future?". Normal people don't think like that, and it's less about pain than it is about pleasure. There are shitloads of pain-meds that are not opiates, like NSAIDs or even ketamine. And shitloads of stuff for anxiety which is not benzos.

It's about trust: keeping secrets, scheming and being your own practitioner are all things which stand in the way of recovery, IMO anyway.
 
^ i agree, its a safety measure against being a wormy little junky ime, LOL

also for some reason the idea of conning doctors sickens me. honesty is one of my most prized policies :)

also in my experience doctors greatly enjoy my candid honesty and lack of shame, and that has often helped them trust me with benzos and painkillers WHEN I NEEDED THEM.
 
Yeah, I used to be so smooth at conning doctors/specialists, but now I just feel sick and ashamed when I lie, so I try not to. Honestly don't know how I doctor shopped for so long.
 
I would say no because if you ever need anything like a painkiller they won't give them to you. I had to practically beg mine to let me try xanax for my anxiety since all the other psych meds I had tried gave me undesirable side effects.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top