addiction
The realities of addition; the truth about living under, above and beyond the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Stages of Alcoholism that Affects your Relationship With Loved Ones
The stages of alcoholism that affect your relationship with loved ones can be tough to swallow but you need to be aware of it. If you don't recognize it and have a little bit of awareness, you will be able to stop it before it causes a serious problem in your marriage.
By Seth Norton5 years ago in Psyche
The Circle
The Circle I find myself in a familiar room. There’s the smell of incense and tobacco with hand rolled cigarettes all over the living room coffee table. I stare at the same Starry Night that hangs on the back wall. So often I find myself here and never am I excited to come. I’m here to get what I need and get out. That’s all. Some time passes. Finally, I’m greeted by my “doctor,” the man responsible for my weekly fix. He smiles at me, and I feigned a smile back. “What’ll it be this time?” he asks. “Just my usual. Enough to keep me going for the week.” I subconsciously scratch my head. It’s as if I know it’s wrong for me to be here. I ignore the thought and wait while my “doctor” gets my prescribed dose. He weighs it out, bags it up and sticks out his hand for payment. I cough up 80 dollars out of my 240 dollar weekly paycheck. I immediately head towards the door, meds in hand. “See you next week!” the “doctor” calls out. “See you next week,” I mutter with contempt in my voice.
By Kristopher Michael Cafaldo5 years ago in Psyche
Addictions
I have personal experience with addictions especially with narcotics. I was addicted to narcotics from the age of 10-31 yrs of age. The key to overcoming addictions is to find a passion that you have for example I had my son and stopped the narcotics for him. I am not saying that it will be easy or that there wont be withdrawl symptoms but afterwards the benefits will for sure out way the drug use. It is hard at first but as the days go by it gets easier. What I have found is that there is always an underlying reason for the drug use. For me it was trying to cover up feelings that I needed to deal with. Never hide feelings because they always come out one way or another. Sometimes the things we need to deal with are the most painful and hurtful. These things could be anywhere from abuse to lose of a loved one. For me it was watching abuse then getting abused then losing a spouse to cancer. My son being born was a life saver and a big eye opener. He opened my eyes to the damage I was doing to my body and relationships. Believe it or not anytime I want to go back to narcotics all I have to do is look at my son. It has been almost 3 years clean and some days are still hard. I was spending $300 a month on pain pills and ended up losing my home, relationships, got kicked out of clinics and labeled a drug seeker for the rest of my life. I realize that drugs and alcohol can help deal with emotional pain but if you don't fully deal with the problem then those buried feelings will always be there. Some people can deal with the problems without help but others need the help. Most of my family has some form of addiction so I do understand why people do drugs or alcohol. There are also times it is better to cut people out of our lives for the sake of our sanity and staying sober. This is called getting rid of toxic relationships. It can be very hard at times but it is well worth it. I just ended a 2 year relationship for my sanity because I wanted to go back to the narcotics. I choose to leave my husband instead. There are more people that are going to be getting kicked out of my life for the sake of my sanity. Remember we all have to do what is best for each of us to stay sober. Sometimes we need to go into treatment and find different friends. We all have inner demons we have to stand up and face and it can be difficult at times. I will use myself as an example, I have bipolar, depression, and seizures, PTSD, and confronting my inner demons at times is very difficult without drugs or alcohol but even though my son doesn't realize it he is my angel and the reason I stay clean. I have kicked many people out of my life because they were toxic and I started realizing that it was the best choice. I have lost people because they don't like who I have become. Sometimes even family can be toxic. My key advice is to take an inventory of the people in your life and see who is supporting you getting clean and who is supporting your habit. By answering the following questions you can tell if the person is toxic or not:
By amanda jensen5 years ago in Psyche
Loving the Addict; Not the Addiction.
Drugs makes me angry. I find myself personifying them like some anti-drug cartoon they show you in elementary school. I see needles hopping into peoples veins, digging themselves between peoples toes as they unknowingly fall into a high. I see cocaine pretending to be pixie sticks luring our children in for a lick. I see pills mistaken for candy. But in reality, I am angry at the addict. I am angry at the addict because I love the addict, just not their addiction.
By Belle Denka5 years ago in Psyche
Dead Man
24/7 Diner When I roll through the back door into the kitchen, I know that everybody knows. I can feel myself reeling as I shrug off my backpack and throw it on the rack where all the line cooks and dishwashers keep their street clothes. I kick off my sneakers, wrestle on my nonslip shoes and head for the dish area. I need to see Carlito before I clock in, before I do anything at all.
By Tom Spittel5 years ago in Psyche
The Marble
When discussing habit and addiction in the human mind, it can be helpful to think of one’s entire brain as a marble course. Your mind is the marble, rolling down an endless expanse of possibility. Where will the object go? The object will always go where it is easiest to go. Sometimes this changes when new variables are added into the equation, and sometimes it remains the same. Think of a marble rolling down a course; if there is a downward slope, eventually gravity will draw the marble in that direction. But the added variable of a plastic blockade, or a finger exerting force in the opposite direction; well these are liable to change things, most importantly the decision at the end of the day that all of these calculations attempt to count toward: where is it easiest to go?
By Miles Rafael Bairley-Ujueta5 years ago in Psyche
Being Homeless
There was a sense of mystery for me in terms of what was that final straw that broke the camel's back when speaking of my homelessness. Leading up to the issue was without doubt- directly in relation to my years long drinking problem. I am indeed an alcoholic, now in recovery some 6+ years this was tantamount to how I became homeless.
By Joseph Willson5 years ago in Psyche
