I am afraid research indicates that mental health and addiction are twin sisters. We only drink excessively because there is something somewhere inside us that is broken and needs repairing. Once the problem is addressed we partly solve our addiction. You mentioned AA, well some of their steps are forgiving others, contacting those you hurt. Their sessions are exactly like when you meet an addiction consultant. I actually will go as far as almost saying alcoholism is a mental illness
More so, addiction is a mental illness. It is. I wasn't denying that at all. But yes, it can readily be created by someone trying to self-medicate. And then there are two problems, not one. I understand your logic of what drives addiction, but that shouldn't be permission for one to develop an addiction. Just the same as we need to keep our body clean, we need to tend to our mind by not dirtying it up with the gunk of drugs that solicit false promises of happiness. Did I mention AA?
Hi #closeau , I think that once you got rid of the mental illness the alcoholism will fade away. What are the chances you get rid of your mental illness, how bad is it? I can sympathize, I was severely depressed some time ago and I had to go and demand help, no medical professional wanted to take the initiative, it was infuriating
I think it works the other way. Drug and alcohol abuse masks problems. In order to treat the mental disorder that is covered by the addiction, the addict must get clean. Otherwise, it's near impossible for therapy and medication to work. The people treating you won't know where you truly are because sometimes you're artificially happy, and other times artificially sad. They can't know if your various emotions are due to the effects or after-effects of drug use, or if they're genuine. One never "gets rid" of their mental illness. It's there for the long haul. But people with mental illness can live very fruitful lives if thy work hard to come to terms with it in the beginning.
Were you clean when you demanded help? If so, that's outrageous.
I have to "fight" my doctors to help me for anything, they just want to cover their backs, they don't care any more, not even a little bit. And the more you are addicted and mentally ill the less chance they help you and they will be at you. I am not saying all public doctors (GPs) are like it, but in my opinion the majority of them are like that.
I don't know, that sounds a bit extreme. But maybe it's true. In my experience, there are some "by the book" doctors who are pretty arrogant, but there are also some really empathetic doctors. I think that, in general, doctors do care, but they care less for people who for some reason or another don't have a lot of energy or commitment to make themselves as well as possible. I think that you can find a doctor who really cares, but they can only care so much. They provide the drugs, but the drugs aren't miracle pills. Taking the drugs is the easy part. Recovery is much more involved than taking drugs. I'm not trying to discount your negative experience, but the doctors aren't the people who are supposed to care that much, otherwise they wouldn't act very professioanlly. The people who should care the most are your friends and family. Next is the therapist. And then the doctor. Just my two cents. Again, not trying to to be harsh, just some thoughts.
Sadly, I would agree that many doctors are like this. Doctors no longer work on their own--they are in huge mega-practices that are run by corporate bottom lines. Like teaching, medicine has been vastly changed (and not for the better) by the large bureaucracies that dictate the professions. The good news is that you can find doctors that not only care but know how to stay responsive to patients even within these restrictive systems. I encourage everyone to keep looking for a good gp as well as exploring alternative medicine to the extent they can afford it (insurance rarely covers it in the U.S. anyway) because these medical practitioners are not under the same pressure to cover their backs while seeing as many patients as humanly possible every day.
Well, again, it's a fair conclusion. But I think that mental illness in general is being caught earlier. There's a continuous effort to create more tolerable medications. Also, if doctors cared a lot, they'd be overcome with grief. There are people who don't recover. Caring deeply for those people would lead to doctors becoming very unhappy. As I implied before, doctors aren't the demographic of people who are supposed to care (as far as recovery goes). They're the coldest part of the recovery process, but for good reason.
Yeah, i have 2 buddies who go to eastern med Dr. They swear bu him. Accupuncture and diet.,ive thought about it.
Serge, i agree with you. Alcoholism and addiction are the worst kind of mental illness. Especiallly alcohol and what it does to your brain and makes you mean and invincibale. Thats how people get hurt. And its bad enough on its own. Put it together with a major illness, problem. I survived my alcoholism without hurting anybody by locking myself in and not being around anyone when drinking. If i had a girl ida beat the shit out of her and im against hitting women bit alcohols not. So got thru the drinking and working on my mental crap but have developed another habit. This ones tough cause i need it for chronic pain. It sucks. Im going to a addictions councler Friday. One on one with another addict. Well see. Im just trying. I have prob 20 guys i could call in AA and theyd be there for me in a split second but its not about alcohol anymore and in 12 step land the substance does matter. Ive also grow very bitter at AA for some fcked up shit in there. When i was honest and willing and worked hard in there i always got results. But its hard to maintan for me cause of my mental illness. Thats why i started this thread. I have terrible social anxiety and i was told by my kick ass sponser at the time, we all do. Most of us have been isolated and drinking for years. So we come to meeting to practice socializing with people we can relate to then bring it out in world. Makes sense, huh? I miss that dude. He strained to help me for all my time i the rooms. Maybe ill call him today.Anyway, i dig what all of you are saying and thanks for posting!
A good diet is excellent, something the look into for sure! Yes, alcohol can pickle one's brain, no joke. It can bring on a lot of confusion, and yes, violence. Glad to hear you didn't hit any women. So you're using other drugs? Want to tell us? What happened with AA that made you upset? Results are good! What made you stop improving? Social anxiety is no joke. If it's too hard to function without it, please do tell your treating professionals, and it probably wouldn't hurt to bring it up with trusted loved ones. Sending good vibes!
. Love them with all my heart). Then as soon as I stopped feeding my last child, back to drugs. Recovered a year from eating disoders finally but im on a mega dose of SUBOXONE and some benzos. Last year I was earning a lot of money and wojld literally spend thousands a month on one particular brand of clothing (im happy now coming into winter I have an awesome wardrobe but I've sent us into bankruptcy.).im the same with music thoigh I don't play, my husband does, when I find a song I like i play it over and over and over and over. Internet forums etc etc. I took up smoking again, I literally am never without a smoke and or coffee in my hand. Exercise is another one. I just have NO IDEA how to live without a distraction/addiction. It's a scary and unknown prospect 
. Even now. I've taught myself how to make hair bows so instead of just going and buying a few lots of ribbon, I've spent Hundreds over a couple of days on bloody $2 ribbon. I simply do not know the wor moderation. Surely there has to be a solution but I have no idea how to just sit with myself and be normal. Whatever normal is.