If drugs make you happy, they're worth it right?

I felt exactly the same way as the OP. A few years ago I became extremely depressed and suicidal. I believed my depression was situational and if I could hang on long enough I would come out the otherside stronger for the experience. But in order to make it through the darkness I turned to drugs to self medicate.

My plan worked out to a degree. I have survived but the life I have now is a shadow of what I wanted it to be. I feel now that if I would have delt with the issue by reaching out for help instead of trying to hanlde it myself would have had a better result.
maybe you should go on Suboxone I went on it two months ago, and so far it's working very well. I was spending $1300 a month on my opiate habit, but this is only costing me $300 a month..

The initial cost was a lot, the first visit was $300, and two months of supply for the medication was $400 with coupon. So that was $700 in one day. But then initial visits comes down to $135 per visit once every two months. So on average it will cost me $300 per month, which is so much cheaper when I was buying from the street, and it works so much better. Basically when I was spending down much, it was only enough for me not to get sick, if I really wanted to get high, I would probably be would be spending easily $2600. That is the only reason why I went to see a doctor, because I was using all my willpower just to use that much..

But I'm hearing a lot of bad stuff about that medication, so I don't know yet, what will happen in four - five months, hopefully nothing will happen, because I am very happy on it. It really changed my life..
but it does have some bad side effects, but some of the side effects has gone away.
but it had gotten me severely constipated, and my sex drive so down, and it's really hard to cum on it..
 
What, why is the first suggestion SSRIs? Do you really wanna trade your addiction for another one?

You need to get into a better situation. Imagine if you had hot bitches crawling all over you and you had to quit drugs to get there. Now become that person. If you need to take drugs to get there do it, but I do not think that you should ever use the drugs as the end. Don't say hey Adderall is the end, don't say Lexapro is the end, don't end at heroin either. If you're going somewhere with your life you can't end at the drugs.

One thing I noticed is that drug users notice a problem and try to fix it, while most people don't. Even if it is an addiction at least they are doing something about it. Some other people can do it without drugs, but at least drug users have some sort of indicator to me. Most people in the world are very unhappy, but at least you are trying to fix that, and there is nothing wrong with it, unless you have to do awful things to be happy or ruin your own health or other people's lives.

Silenced's post caught my eye, and I agree completely. Now I am going to fall asleep soon and say fuck it to my homework or take a shitty fucking bunch of caffeine instead of Adderall to do it.
 
There is a documentary on Bipolar Disorder by Stephen Fry which deals with this question very well since so many people who are Bipolar self medicated before they were diagnosed. I'd advise anyone seriously interested in this question to take a look at this documentary even though it mainly deals with Bipolar people it is very relevant to anyone who self medicates. and it's hilarious if you like Stephen Fry's sense of humor.

Most of the people in the documentary self medicated very effectively until some sort of crisis happened and they were diagnosed. Many of the people chose to use psychiatric meds to help manage their life, some don't, but either way, the theme of self medication and the usefulness of drugs or lack of usefulness is constant and it changed the way I look at all mental illness and drugs in general.

If you're interested just google Stephen Fry Manic Depression, you can watch it online for free. I'm sure some of you have seen it, I personally think it's an extremely relevant documentary that most people on this board would find interesting and useful.
 
YES! I want a good quality of life. That's why I went to University, when back to University post grad, got a good job teaching, good pay with good benefits.

I no longer have a good quality of life. I lost my job, my insurance, and had to file bankruptcy.

I can't pay all my bills.

I can't see my doctor. I can't get meds. I don't qualify for free medical treatment.

My unemployment checks are 8 weeks late now, and I can't find anyone to tell me anything at the unemployment department.

Everything was going well for me. I got my kids all raised, then I started on my dream of being a teacher, spending several years at University. Then my circumstances fell into lovely and sensible order. I found a job. I loved that job. LOVED it. The kids, the pay, the insurance, the mental stimulation... all good.

However, more teachers than you might think are on these boards and/or on drugs, because with test scores being all that matters, the stress kills us. When you spend time with students you realize that THEY don't care about test scores because they have other, more pressing concerns, that our educational system ignores, and scores are never what they are supposed to be.

Now I'm stranded and love to get out of this feeling of suffocating by getting high. I have generous friends who've helped me when they could.

It's been awhile now. I don't now what to do anymore. Just the idea of floating off into a nice sleep and not waking up is appealing.

You just said it yourself. At one point, your life was good - maybe even GREAT. I know the economy really fucked things up for you, but it wont stay this way forever. If you think back to the time you loved you life... you want that kind of life again and it's definitely a possibility that you will get that kind of life back.

Outside of work, you have to have some hobbies and passions, right? Things that bring joy to your life, that make you think "it's all worth it" ? I mean, even the most trivial things could turn into reasons to keep going. For me, playing sports and making music both play a huge part in my life.

I know a job facilitates these hobbies, even the bad ones, but there is just WAY TOO MUCH to live for IMO
 
It depends. I think it is perfectly normal in some ways. Many societies use some sort of drug. Especially if it is marijuana or moderate use of not-so hard substances then why not. If you genuinely feel better on it then sometimes it's ok to eascape and take life's stresses off your shoulders for a second. On the other hand if you like to get drunk or take drugs that make you edgy and violent or act out in ways then you are in need of some help. If drugs are just a means to lose inhibitions then you are going to get burned.
Sure, the financial costs and costs to health are bad, but that is why you must moderate your use. This is why they need to legalize cannabis because it can provide many with the escape they seek without messing up their inhibitions. If it came at a reasonable price and qualty along with normalized reputable ways to purchase it, everything would be fine with its use.
 
Drugs treat symptoms of a problem, not cure them. You're only worsening things and decreasing your quality of life by using drugs.

Definitely get yourself to your doctor and tell him or her everything you're feeling. Be honest, especially because they can't say anything to anyone else (everything stays between you and your doctor so no one else will know). The doctor will give you a proper assessment and suggestions for treatment.

Good advices.

Yes, try that doctor thing. You may find find good doc who treats you right and finds the problem. If not try another...

If nothing appears, no doctor helps, you could always get back to drugs. I did that... And it helped, after many, many problems of course. Now I'm on methadone...


About that first thing: "Drugs treat symptoms of a problem, not cure them" It's most often so, but not alwasy the case... I have used opiates/opioids twenty years (on and off, of course) and I believe that they actually are not only treating the symtoms but are somewhat truly the cure.

But I must underline that I tried many antidepressants, tried doctors, but after not finding a cure, got back to my own doc, opiates. Then after several not so nice incidents I got myself to methadone... And now on my forties I'm finally somewhat happy.

Alcohol was the worst drug to me, stimulanst were somewhat indifferent as well as serotonin based drugs (antideprsessants). I know I'm probably not the most usual case, but I must say that cases like me must exist.
 
Drugs they have always made my life happier. So if you ask me "Is it worth it?" Absolutely!!!
 
You will soon realize even drugs won't work anymore. You're using the drugs as a blockaid for reality. You should see a therapist and talk your problems through and work them out so you can not only get the thought of suicide out of your mind but also get those nasty drugs out of your life as well.
 
from what ive heard SSRI's tend to do more bad than good

I've heard they are only bad if you really don't have a chemical imbalance. Its supposed to fix the imbalance but if you don't have one it then instead CREATES an imbalance!

My sub doc just put me on prozac and I was pretty skeptical because I too have heard such things. I still haven't decided if I'm actually going to commit to taking it.
 
Some people are just going to feel hopless and helpless no matter what, no matter how many counslers and meds your on. I have been battling depression my whole life and have been on man anti depressants before i started using drugs and was more miserable then than i am now. I eventually became addicted heroin for 3 years, I have since quit and dont do anything that much besides smoke weed.

I would say when i was really bad on the heroin was not any worst than how i would feel normal because even though i had to steal and sleep in my car I had something to look forward to (getting high) I quit because I got tired of being sick all the time, but now I still look for some type of high, not all the time but I do need something.

I really dont know what my point is here I guess its just some people are goin to be miserable no matter what and if being a junkie helps alleviate some problems then its better than feeling so miserable within yourself and knowing that you wont feel happpy.

Sorry for rant, obviously I am a very depressed person on the inside, but the outside world does not view me as that, because I don't like to bitch and complain to anybody about it.

Good luck my friend I really do feel for you. Drugs wont solve your problems, they may help make life bearable, but expect jail, maybe homelessness, getting robbed, but for truly depressed people the hours you can feel a little bit of false hope and happiness is Priceless.
 
I totally understand this question and have struggled with it myself. I think drugs can be worth it, but only when used in responsible amounts for the right reasons. When drugs help with problems like depression, it's easy to quit looking for other ways to grow (self-help stuff, counseling, etc.). Then when you have to quit drugs for whatever reason, you're left with no tools to cope with your condition. Not exactly productive.

There's a huge difference between using drugs to self-medicate a mental condition and using a mental condition as an excuse for addiction. In the end, addiction will make your mental problems 1000x worse, so it's not worth it in that sense. If you're able to use drugs as part of an OVERALL treatment plan for depression and do so without binging or being reckless, it might be worth it.
 
Maybe I need more or stronger drugs its like they don't even more. The benzos opiates crack
Don't. Even work. Or I could start being. sober ha. Somethings wrong with me I need a bullet to th head
 
You need to find your own happiness. Your inner peace. Once you love yourself, then you begin to love everything around you. You may even have something you are dealing with chemically within your body, which in this case it would help for you to go see a psychiatrist/doctor to diagnose you or help you at least, find the right medication for you. There is help out there. The choice is whether you want to look for it or not. Therapy may help, but for some it doesn't.
 
Plus, drugs only take the pain away for a short amount of time, then the pain comes back. That's not truly solving the problem, now is it? It's mainly avoiding it. Then you become addicted, then the tolerance builds up in your system, then you have to take more and more and that's how overdoses happen. You have to find peace within yourself. It's only if you really REALLY want it that you will find it and receive.
 
eventually the drugs stop working, your tolerance goes up, its to expensive, you steal to get your supply, and you go to jail. drugs make you happy at first but make you 10 times worse later on... this is my experience with heroin/crack/alcohol.
 
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