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Getting mental health help whilst being a drug user

L

lulz

Greenlighter
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Messages
19
I am generally depressed and mentally unwell. I go through periods of being okay but then it happens again. Sometimes I suffer with it being sober, most times I take drugs in an attempt to help. It's not one specific drug, a whole gamut. Meth, heroin, ketamine, alcohol, weed. I find myself using one to help the pain and then it eventually becomes a problem and interferes in my actual life and becomes problematic and I stop. For this reason I have finally made the decision to try to get professional help.

As I am sure some of you know, the label of being a drug user when dealing with medical professionals can sometimes be very negative. For this reason I am reluctant to go to a drug and alcohol treatment service initially. If I lie about my drug use then I will feel like I'm getting off on the wrong foot and it won't be successful.

I know all addicts aren't 'just addicts' and there is almost always an underlying physical or mental health reason but I don't feel like an addict to a particular drug, I am just trying improve my life. In the past when my drug use has outweighed the benefits of the improvement to my mental I have been able to cease use. But then I'm back at square one. And the cycle continues.

What do you think I should do?
 
In order to receive help, they'll (the mental health team) drive you towards getting and staying sober first. So your first port of call would be the Drug and Alcohol team. They'll still give you help and support but the main focus will be getting you sober first.
 
Find yourself a good psychologist first to start talking about your problems, once you have a good relationship with them. They should be able to refer you to other medical people if required. You would assume they would only refer you to people who would be happy to work with a active drug user.
Just my 2 cents
 
Wenlock said:
In order to receive help, they'll (the mental health team) drive you towards getting and staying sober first. So your first port of call would be the Drug and Alcohol team. They'll still give you help and support but the main focus will be getting you sober first.
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Pretty much this, although if you're able to convince your GP / AN other doctor that your drug use is part of a pattern which you intend to break and you're holding down a job / studies etc. while keeping drug use to a minimum, then you might be spared the drug and alcohol services. Unless you think you need them, of course.

There's no way though, even with the best will in the world, that anybody could diagnose you just now. So for a valuable diagnosis to be made, you will have to spend some time away from the drugs, and that can be frightening in itself. I took a three-month break from all but a beer or two in the evening, not knowing what I was going to be labelled with once I came out the other side. It was the loneliest period of my life, but since then - slooooowwwwllly - things are beginning to fall into place for me (I hope).

Best of luck.
 
lulz said:
I am generally depressed and mentally unwell. I go through periods of being okay but then it happens again. Sometimes I suffer with it being sober, most times I take drugs in an attempt to help. It's not one specific drug, a whole gamut. Meth, heroin, ketamine, alcohol, weed. I find myself using one to help the pain and then it eventually becomes a problem and interferes in my actual life and becomes problematic and I stop. For this reason I have finally made the decision to try to get professional help.

As I am sure some of you know, the label of being a drug user when dealing with medical professionals can sometimes be very negative. For this reason I am reluctant to go to a drug and alcohol treatment service initially. If I lie about my drug use then I will feel like I'm getting off on the wrong foot and it won't be successful.

I know all addicts aren't 'just addicts' and there is almost always an underlying physical or mental health reason but I don't feel like an addict to a particular drug, I am just trying improve my life. In the past when my drug use has outweighed the benefits of the improvement to my mental I have been able to cease use. But then I'm back at square one. And the cycle continues.

What do you think I should do?
Click to expand...

Hello!

"Generally deppressed and mentaly unwell", is that your own diagnose?

Well i have experience with therapists since an age of 15 and all i gotta say they were never negative to me, sure they wont prescript you something that you'll easily get addicted to since you got a history of a 'drug abuse' but taking less - actually no drugs would probably be needed for a success and be honest if you really want to get well. Anyway i can tell you that every doctor, theraphist, whoelse wants to help you, that's their job. Also you'll get a proper diagnose, have blood test etc.

If you want a success, you gotta commit to it :)

Good luck!
 
If they identify you as a general poly-drug user and not addicted to anything in particular, they may just smack you with a citalopram script and tell you to come back in a month. Depending on your area, and the demand, you're unlikely to be given any sort of NHS counseling services right away. When I finally bit the bullet and went to be honest, I was told the waiting list is so long. I told him I didn't want to be put on any anti-depressants but he said it was the only real option for the time being.

I thought I'd never get another script with any abuse potential but, since then, I've been given lorazepam and zolpedem.

I hope they manage to get you the help you need and that you start to feel better because, many people on this forum know exactly how shitty it is ( we don't know you precise situation, of course) <3
I had a bad experience with how they treated me (medically speaking) and just threw away my citalopram script and stopped going to them. I've haven't felt better since I was prepubescent.

I also want to make clear that I am, in now way, encouraging anyone to throw away their script or stop attending their appointments!
 
My GP just kept upping the dose of my antidepressants every time I complained. Made me much more unstable. When I finally seen the psychiatrist he agreed it wasn't working and cut the dosage and stop if I wanted to. Ive decided to stay on the sertralaine at 50mg though, I'm stable now and its helping so I feel like I'm in a "if it aint broke, don't fix it" situation now. I'd be scared of the mood swings trying to come off it completely.

I was referred to a charity offering addiction counseling. I never considered drugs or alcohol to be my problem but when the waiting lists are so long for NHS treatments (I get an update letter every 6 months as to where I am on the waiting list for my referral), the drugs and alcohol team were there to speak to me when I really needed someone to listen and they seen me right away. My experience with the counseling team was very positive on this occasion, I was very lucky. It was focused on my underlaying problems, not abstaining from drugs. Much of it was CBT driven, I was given the opportunity to direct how I wanted my treatment to go. At the start I only went really to prove drugs weren't a big issue for me but it was a bit of a wake up call as to where I could end up and it was worthwhile for me, I'm glad I did it.

I wouldn't write it off, it might be the best way you can get support right now. Or at least if you do it it means you can say to your GP I've addressed that, what next?
 
Eveleivibe said:
I was on citapopram n on 30 December I took myself off cause it made me suicidal, so yea I can relate to antidepressants having an affect of unstability.

Evey
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You should never take yourself off any medication without medical supervision.

Don Luigi said:
If they identify you as a general poly-drug user and not addicted to anything in particular, they may just smack you with a citalopram script and tell you to come back in a month. Depending on your area, and the demand, you're unlikely to be given any sort of NHS counseling services right away. When I finally bit the bullet and went to be honest, I was told the waiting list is so long. I told him I didn't want to be put on any anti-depressants but he said it was the only real option for the time being.
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I dunno; I got taken to my local surgery and saw a locum GP for an emergency appointment, and was given the option of an appointment with a psychiatrist either immediately (which I didn't want because I knew it'd lead to hospitalisation - which, to be fair, was a reasonable course of action) or to wait three months and get the drugs out of my system.

It probably helped that I'd had previous problems with depression, though I hadn't seen a doctor in nearly seven years. I also have a family history of mental illness and was able to describe some of my non-drug-related symptoms in detail and explain that I believed myself to be self-medicating.

Maybe some of it was luck, but I think my approach and rapport with the doctor went a long way, as did my sister's help.

I'd be dead were it not for that day.
 
Sammy G said:
You should never take yourself off any medication without medical supervision.
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Citalopram is a fucked one, seems they like to hand it out to anyone who's unstable, feeling down or just suffering from anxiety. For lots of people it makes them even more unstable and start dangerous mental shit like suicidal ideation. I lasted a week before throwing them in the bin, I felt if I continued to take them I'd end up killing myself or someone else.

Then they threw 100mg sertralines at me without actually really talking to me or even explaining what they were, had a bit of a breakdown after taking one, threw them in the bin.

Stopped non weed drugs for a few months and felt miles better, the doctor didn't even bother checking up when I missed the next appointment and didn't get a repeat prescription.

With polydrug use/abuse it's hard to work out other underlying issues, that's why they try to get you off them.
 
Most people get the side effects from SSRIs far before becoming dependent though, if a drug is making you seriously consider, and imagine, killing yourself, and you're taking it for depression, then surely you shouldn't be taking it.

I'm not just saying 'go sober and you'll be ok', it's important to work out the underlying problems, which is often easier when not using drugs to escape from them.
 
Then we're in agreement.

It isn't easy though. My three months were hell. Sudden clarity, but also confusion about my diagnosis. I probably would've attempted suicide then, had I not been so depressed.
 
its taken me four years to get a semblance of the help i need. drugs and alcohol abuse are extremely co-morbid with mental illness, as sufferers try to numb themselves out.
there are people out there who can help. i recommend contacting a specialist mental health team and going to your local GPs, as thy are not always linked. GPs will basically just throw anti-depressant at you which can work but only with the help of the counselling of a mental health section. asking for a psychiatrist on the NHS is a fruitless endevour, as the waiting lists literally go into the years. i mean they might be able to make a singular emergency appointment for assessment, but nothing regular, like you need. so go see your local mental health team and they should set you up.

i hope you get the help you need soon :)
 
keeping said:
asking for a psychiatrist on the NHS is a fruitless endevour
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No it isn't.

I had the choice between seeing one immediately and waiting three months. I've no doubt that waiting lists vary significantly, but 'into the years' I very much doubt, unless you're not presenting yourself as a priority.

In my area, the Mental Health Trust's services are only accessible through your GP. Which makes sense considering the lack of funding for the former. If we're talking charities such as Mind, then yes, their services are accessible and useful and don't require going through your GP. They can't diagnose you though.
 
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