• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

How do you balance drugs and life?

Dont do them that often, dont talk about them with people in real life, keep my normal schedule. Also helps that I am not longer doing heroin, cocaine, or ketamine those were just not sustainable for me.
 
Knowing what I can and can't use while doing everyday stuff and occasional dedicated binging periods for the rest. Also knowing which substances I can keep under control and staying clear of the ones I can't.
 
Great advice from other posters.

I can't balance my drug of choice w life-(IV h)-so that's not an option if I want a life let alone balance lol.

But for other things that I can use w the ability to stop easily-I plan it. Just enjoy it for a day or two after all other responsibilities are handled.

It would be great to have that ability w h--but once I get started life gets difficult quickly.
 
I think the best course of action is to simply, as much as possible, try to live your life as if drugs were not an issue (within reason obviously). Once something significant in your life changes or begins to change as a result of drugs being involved, if it is clearly a negative change then it's a pretty good indicator that you got the balance wrong and you'll need to cut back or stop doing something.
 
I think that not being controlled by anything and not doing anything jeopardize your safety is most important.
 
I suppose you could say it's a lot like a trial/error situation. Only most of time it can be like jumping out of a plane, trying different types of parachutes to see which ones work and which do not.
 
From personal experience of course...

I tried for years to juggle life and drugs, whether it was abuse or just a weekend warrior kind of deal. It never worked in the long run. Eventually you will create web of lies that you weave and you'll get disoriented and lose track of the original lie you once instilled.
I took me a very long time to realize I'm not superman or some demigod of an individual that can have your cake and eat it too. It just never worked for me. I ruined friendships, personal relationships, family, and not to mention the downtime that could have contributed to building your wealth.

The list goes on. You can convince yourself that it is capable and more props to you in a weird way. A lot of us on this board have been in the same situation you've been in and thought we could conquer the impossible. It just never works.
 
You can't, actually.

That's the catch.
Of course you can - it just takes sometimes A LOT of planning and discipline... and no doubt some luck, as all things do.

On that note, I thnk that, generally, some drugs lend themselves better to balance than others. Most of the classical psychedelics are somewhat self-limiting in how often you can or even will want to dose, so typically these would be easier to balance than, say, a healthy opiate habit.

In general habituation/addiction is the enemy of balance so in an ideal world these are the drugs to avoid in the name of balance, or avoid as much as possible (ie - as much as is necessary to avoid the aforementioned addiction/habituation - if you're already addicted, even mildly, the balance is off). That said, of course addiction goes deeper than physical dependency, so it's conceivable that if you can mange compulsive thoughts as they relate to addictive drugs, they it is possible to balance a psychological addiction and a sufficiently infrequent usage of a highly addictive/dependence-inducing substance, if the frequency of use is sparse enough.

It's different for everyone of course, but certain patterns of usage (high frequency, high dosage, "binge" type using) are far harder to balance than others, for the majority of people. Some people with the good fortune to have either an iron will or just a neurochemistry which is not easily swayed by exogenous chemicals will find it easier than others, others, for the opposite reasons, will find it much harder. Not every pattern of usage will be possible for everyone, and I guess for some people the only pattern of usage that works is NO usage at all. Or even if a different method would work, the mental effort of maintaining control is not worth it - but for most of these people they will continue to use "easier" but nonessential drugs, ie, nicotine, caffeine, I hesitate to say alcohol but it is so accessible and socially accepted that I think it is worth mentioning in this context.

I guess this is kind of in contradiction to how I opened this post - but I think for most people, it is, most definitely possible to balance drugs and life. But it depends on the drug, and the life, and the best way to achieve this balance is not often clear.
 
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probably stop browsing bluelight lol. no hate im all for harm reduction, but i cant tell you how many times ive been reading trip reports or combo/tolerance threads on psychs and ended up with a head full of acid right after. thats a super tame example since lsd isnt typically addictive or destructive, but coming from a poly drug abuser with self destructive habits...you see what i mean. just dont want to trigger yourself unnecessarily.
 
Personally I have been functional all throughout my use. I have maintained a good job, own my own home, couple vehicles, and several toys.

The thing for me has always been prioritizing my life, I pay my bills on time, do not discuss my use with anyone, I have awesome credit
I would say I resemble what appears as a regular middle class person.

The key for me has always been understanding that I am in control and the drugs are not. I am making the choice to use, it is not leading me around. I keep a low profile, buy in quantity that fits into my budget and make it last. I rarely share anything except weed or alcohol.

I don't feel like I'm the only one in the world that can achieve success and still use substances, and honestly would be interested in seeing how many are like me out there.

I read over and over about addicts. and drugs stealing lives, & homelessness, but I am here to tell ya it can be accomplished if you can manage correctly.
 
No no would ever know to look at me that once the kids go to bed, I smoke meth and get drunk. I am a suburban mom, and keep my meth use a huge dirty secret. My husband works out of town so he doesnt know either. I still do everything a "normal mom" would do and have the energy to do more. I organize and clean things, and only use 2-3 nights a month. The rest of the time, I am going to the park, grocery shopping, visiting friends and family. I feel like a bad person/wife for it though. When my husband comes home, we will drink and do coke occasionally but he would be livid if he knew about smoking crystal.
It definitely does not help that the dealer is 2 doors down
 
Personally I have been functional all throughout my use. I have maintained a good job, own my own home, couple vehicles, and several toys.

The thing for me has always been prioritizing my life, I pay my bills on time, do not discuss my use with anyone, I have awesome credit
I would say I resemble what appears as a regular middle class person.

The key for me has always been understanding that I am in control and the drugs are not. I am making the choice to use, it is not leading me around. I keep a low profile, buy in quantity that fits into my budget and make it last. I rarely share anything except weed or alcohol.

I don't feel like I'm the only one in the world that can achieve success and still use substances, and honestly would be interested in seeing how many are like me out there.

I read over and over about addicts. and drugs stealing lives, & homelessness, but I am here to tell ya it can be accomplished if you can manage correctly.
JustMeMississippi - I would be very interested to hear what kind of drugs you use on a semi-regular basis, what kind of frequency of use we are talking about, and also if there are any substances in particular that you've used in the past but made a conscious decision not to continue using (for reasons relating specifically to difficulty controlling use, rather than just because of personal preference).
 
At least two questions came up. regarding balance drugs and life. Great title.

Was what I perceived as balance actually balance or was I unknowingly allready unbalanced.

And the same for when I began using drugs, 17 years and on. Was what I knew about being balanced and my own perception of it of any concern. As there probably never been estabelished a defenition about what is balanced like with normality.

Going from a balanced feeling individual using drugs. Through the depths of imbalance to come out seemingly balanced enough to take serotonin releasers without any crashes I had when I was young. Aging actually seemed to have strenghtened my view on life. And along balancing the 'I', the perception of ones self/ inner narator. Making his nagging comments more humoristic then something I would have taken more seriously when I was younger.

Some food for thoughts.
 
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I suppose you could say it's a lot like a trial/error situation. Only most of time it can be like jumping out of a plane, trying different types of parachutes to see which ones work and which do not.

This is a brilliant analogy. I completely agree
 
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