Harm Reduction The fine line between self-medication and abuse

[Renz Envy]

Yeah, any one who can say yes they are only useing drugs to enhance their life and dosen't think that they live to drugs is looking at their drug use unrealalisticly. If you think drugs enhance your life then you are always looking forward to the next time you can use drugs. Its hard to walk that line and stay on one side. I can do it it for a while like not get any dope all week but when the weekend comes its on. Am I living to use drugs? I am defintintley looking forward to the next time I can.

I'm saying that you use drugs to enjoy events. You take ecstasy because you're at the club. You could have gone to the club sober, but you're doing it to have a much better time.

Addiction plays a huge part.

 

[slothosaurus]

I agree with the use to live not live to use sentiment.

of course. that's still a problem - what's really the difference? I think of it like this.

I used to bang smack every day, and would take 280-320 mg of oxy on my worst days, and i had literally no reason to besides being in pain from WD's if i didn't, and to pass the time away and let me escape. then i got in an accident, i reduced my dosage from ~240mg of oxy/day to what is now 3-4 hydro 7.5/325 a day along with 3 soma 350/day. i'm in absurd amounts of pain even with that, i have to lie down daily from the pain, can't do things i want to do, have to cancel with friends, and worst of all, sex is absurdly painful for my neck. regardless, i now use them to make my life liveable (and around 2-3 times a month i'll bumb it up to like 12 hydro/day and 9 soma/day just for kicks, and when i'm doing something active or fun, i'll take 6-8 to get a mild buzz, but mostly so i can actually go do it pain free), but the difference for me, has something to do with what a friend told me one day......

I used to know a friend who didn't do anything, and i'd always be high and one day i asked him why he didn't, he told me it was cheating your way into happiness, and just like he wouldn't morally cheat on a test, he wouldn't morally cheat happiness, not to mention that when you cheat your way into achieving something (happiness included) it's not real happiness, it just looks/feels like it.

I used to use to cheat my way into happiness (abuser)
I now use to cheat my way out of pain (self-medicate)

even on the days where i take just enough to be buzzed, it's just so i can do other things, not so i can do drugs. there's a big difference between doing drugs so you can do other things, and just doing drugs, which is why i agree with the use to live vs. live to use post.

 

[Renz Envy]

I don't mean to down-talk opiates... I love them too, but the way they effect people is very addictive.

It's hard to be a casual opiate user. Especially if they're your DOC. To each their own. I wouldn't consider it abuse if you're taking some Opana or dope after work to help you relax. Differs wildly from being an unemployed dope user- pawning everything to get another bag.

 

[Jakeperson]

The cheating way into happiness thing could be taken wrong too. Drugs for me is my main interest, passion and hobby. I also collect drugs.
Researching drugs, collecting them, looking at them, studying them all make me happy. The euphoria they provide with use is just one aspect of my drug use.

So in that sense you could say that stamp collecting (or any other hobby) is cheating your way into happiness. Doing something you enjoy and love isn't cheating

 

[TheAppleCore]

So in that sense you could say that stamp collecting (or any other hobby) is cheating your way into happiness. Doing something you enjoy and love isn't cheating

Doing what you love isn't cheating, as long as it doesn't involve getting high, the way I interpret slothosaur's post. The idea is that, metaphorically, happiness is how you keep score in the game of life. To play a fair game, you can't chemically prod the pleasure center of your brain, just like you can't hack the score monitor at a bowling alley to give yourself an extra few strikes. They're both examples of artificially inflating the score, and therefore failure to play by the rules, and so they're both ways of cheating.

 

[Jakeperson]

But for me, drugs being my hobby and passion. Also what I am studying and dedicating my life too, getting high is apart of that. If I were to chose not to do drugs and therefore not cheat I would effectively be rage quitting the game.

 

[lilmizer]

I think the vast majority of people posting to this thread have a deep naivitee regarding drug (ab)use in general. All of this 'drugs are my passion and hobby,' 'i collect drugs,' 'i dont abuse my meds, although i do chew 9x the prescribed dose once or twice a month *grin*' nonsense are obviously cases of warped perception of chemicals through the eyes of those who are addicted/dependent upon them.

@op self medicating and abuse are identical; as self medication involves taking mood/mind altering chemicals as a basis of (durr) self medication. the amount taken is determined by the user, not by a clinician and, ergo, is abuse.

an entirely different arguement could be made for people with medical conditions that are terminal in nature, cancer/degenerative disc disease/etc who must take a host of drugs to experience any quality of life--and unfortunately in our society (specifically the us) doctors are not always too happy to prescribe heaps of narcotics to those who may actually need them legitimately. this is a shame, but has nothing to do with with the original post.

I think its funny, and a little sad, the depths and lengths that users/abusers/addicts/dopefiends/chemically dependent ppl (chose whatever handle is applicable to you, from least to most pejorative =P) to legitimize use of illicit narcotics. This is OD, not the potsmokers forum (although cannabis dependency can be rough, it certainly isnt going to be as horrific as bonafide dopefiend status) and the vast majority of those posting here are chemically dependent. Recreational heroin/methamphetamine/crack users are the exception to the rule...

don't get me wrong, to each their own. the individual must assess whether their intoxicant consumption is a problem or not, however the power of the chemicals most are discussing here to warp the perception of the user's reality coupled with the unique nature of addiction to warp the afflicted's reality psycho-socially, physiologically, emotionally, spirtiually will ultimately end badly before the person engaging in the selfdestructive hedonistic act of "self medicating" realises what they are engaging in is truly pernicious and insidious.

to all out there muddling through legitimizing their 'recreational' gram a day iv heroin habit. i'm certainly past that phase =P

 

[Jakeperson]

I think the vast majority of people posting to this thread have a deep naivitee regarding drug (ab)use in general. All of this 'drugs are my passion and hobby,' 'i collect drugs,' 'i dont abuse my meds, although i do chew 9x the prescribed dose once or twice a month *grin*' nonsense are obviously cases of warped perception of chemicals through the eyes of those who are addicted/dependent upon them.

I think its funny, and a little sad, the depths and lengths that users/abusers/addicts/dopefiends/chemically dependent ppl (chose whatever handle is applicable to you, from least to most pejorative =P) to legitimize use of illicit narcotics. This is OD, not the potsmokers forum (although cannabis dependency can be rough, it certainly isnt going to be as horrific as bonafide dopefiend status) and the vast majority of those posting here are chemically dependent. Recreational heroin/methamphetamine/crack users are the exception to the rule...

don't get me wrong, to each their own. the individual must assess whether their intoxicant consumption is a problem or not, however the power of the chemicals most are discussing here to warp the perception of the user's reality coupled with the unique nature of addiction to warp the afflicted's reality psycho-socially, physiologically, emotionally, spirtiually will ultimately end badly before the person engaging in the selfdestructive hedonistic act of "self medicating" realises what they are engaging in is truly pernicious and insidious.

That may be true but my interest in drugs began with LSD as soon as I heard of it. I began researching and obsessing over drugs at around 11-12 (thank god for google), right through 'til I started using drugs when I was 16 (and I still do). So my perception was obviously warped well before I started using or abusing drugs.
Even with that weed was the only drug I used for almost 2 years until I tried MDMA.
If I was to ignore my passion I know that I would be stuck in a life direction that I would be very unhappy with, my interest in drugs (and the human brain) has lead me to a career path (no, not drug dealing) as well as a lifestyle. Something I decided long before I ever got near to a drug

I am now very dependant on drugs in general but my perceptions on it haven't changed for a long time.

"will ultimately end badly before the person engaging in the selfdestructive hedonistic act of "self medicating" realises what they are engaging in is truly pernicious and insidious."

I don't think that's true for every one. I know ex-users and older users that would disagree, sure it can be that but only if it's what you truly believe from the beginning. Responsible use can result in leading a normal life maybe even enhanced life without it getting to the stage where you decide the behaviour is pernicious and insidious. I believe it's only going to end badly because you think it is, which is drilled into us from when we are small children so it's hard to believe otherwise.

 

[Jakeperson]

Genetics may have played a big role in that. I didn't know my father up until recently and turns out I have a pretty big history of drug use and abuse that I didn't know about.

 

[xburtonchic]

I don't mean to down-talk opiates... I love them too, but the way they effect people is very addictive.

It's hard to be a casual opiate user. Especially if they're your DOC. To each their own. I wouldn't consider it abuse if you're taking some Opana or dope after work to help you relax. Differs wildly from being an unemployed dope user- pawning everything to get another bag.

Or pawning other people's possessions to get another bag. Or going through people's purses. Or even robbing people. I know someone like that, he was a good friend of mine at one point. Until he cleaned out MY purse, that is. No idea how he did it, because I knew all this about him... and even though I trusted him, I still made sure to keep my purse with me at all times around him, just in case. Which just goes to show how skillful he was in stealing from people, that he was able to do it right in front of my face without me noticing. Needless to say, we are not friends anymore. He also used to swear up and down that he wasn't addicted, that he just wanted to use for fun, and that he would stop every few days and take Suboxone before starting up again.

To me, that right there is the definition of someone who is in over their head and is abusing as opposed to self-medicating. He has a ready supply of Suboxone at his disposal, he doesn't need dope to self-medicate. But yet he still swears up and down that he's not addicted and is lying to himself and everyone else... all while he is noticeably fiending for dope and ruining friendships just to get one more fix. One fix vs. a lifetime friendship. When the first option becomes more desirable to a person, that's when the problem has gotten completely out of control. Idk, it's sad. But at the same time, I won't forgive him. Throughout all of my years using drugs, opiates (my definite DOC) never ONCE prompted me to steal or pawn anything, the thought never even crossed my mind. I just dealt with it until I had my own resources to get more. The only drug that ever made me steal was meth... part of it due to being an idiotic teenager too, I'm sure... but regardless, I stopped all of that shit once I was arrested. Finally realized what I was doing and haven't touched it since. It's been like 8 years; I just decided I wanted to stop one day and that was the end of it.

Of course, I know meth doesn't have physical withdrawals the way some other drugs do, but it can have a pretty strong mental hold on you. Some of the people I used to do it with are still doing it to this day... always saying they're going to quit, but it's only ever talking and absolutely no action. That's another thing I feel you have to take into account - the ability/desire that person has to stop.

At the end of the day, addiction and drug abuse is never black and white. It depends on the individual, that person's circumstances, their DOC, etc. etc. etc. It's one of those things that EVERYONE has an opinion about, but no one's opinion is either right or wrong. It just... is what it is. Addiction and drug abuse is pretty messy territory.

 

[Pegasus]

I think the vast majority of people posting to this thread have a deep naivitee regarding drug (ab)use in general. All of this 'drugs are my passion and hobby,' 'i collect drugs,' 'i dont abuse my meds, although i do chew 9x the prescribed dose once or twice a month *grin*' nonsense are obviously cases of warped perception of chemicals through the eyes of those who are addicted/dependent upon them.

@op self medicating and abuse are identical; as self medication involves taking mood/mind altering chemicals as a basis of (durr) self medication. the amount taken is determined by the user, not by a clinician and, ergo, is abuse.

an entirely different arguement could be made for people with medical conditions that are terminal in nature, cancer/degenerative disc disease/etc who must take a host of drugs to experience any quality of life--and unfortunately in our society (specifically the us) doctors are not always too happy to prescribe heaps of narcotics to those who may actually need them legitimately. this is a shame, but has nothing to do with with the original post.

I think its funny, and a little sad, the depths and lengths that users/abusers/addicts/dopefiends/chemically dependent ppl (chose whatever handle is applicable to you, from least to most pejorative =P) to legitimize use of illicit narcotics. This is OD, not the potsmokers forum (although cannabis dependency can be rough, it certainly isnt going to be as horrific as bonafide dopefiend status) and the vast majority of those posting here are chemically dependent. Recreational heroin/methamphetamine/crack users are the exception to the rule...

don't get me wrong, to each their own. the individual must assess whether their intoxicant consumption is a problem or not, however the power of the chemicals most are discussing here to warp the perception of the user's reality coupled with the unique nature of addiction to warp the afflicted's reality psycho-socially, physiologically, emotionally, spirtiually will ultimately end badly before the person engaging in the selfdestructive hedonistic act of "self medicating" realises what they are engaging in is truly pernicious and insidious.

to all out there muddling through legitimizing their 'recreational' gram a day iv heroin habit. i'm certainly past that phase =P

There are some posts that I won't argue come off a bit naive, but I think there are a lot of deep answers too from people who have been through the whole cycle of addiction, or at least understand it.

 

[sixpartseven]

The cheating way into happiness thing could be taken wrong too. Drugs for me is my main interest, passion and hobby. I also collect drugs.
Researching drugs, collecting them, looking at them, studying them all make me happy. The euphoria they provide with use is just one aspect of my drug use.

So in that sense you could say that stamp collecting (or any other hobby) is cheating your way into happiness. Doing something you enjoy and love isn't cheating

The comparison doesn't even come close to being fair. Sure, collecting drugs and collecting stamps could compare; you get happiness and satisfactionout of taking the time tto seek out and obtain rare pieces for your collection. The hard work and the pride that comes with working hard are the things that make you happy. The moment you cross over in to using the drugs, however, is when tthe comparison no longer applies. You're altering your state of mind to achieve that happiness. Its artificial, and it is cheating in the sense that there is no pride or long lasting meaning or satisfaction in consuming drugs. It's not real, it takes no effort, and its temporary.