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18-05-2015 05:31 PM
18-05-2015 05:31 PM
Major drug abuse
Hi everyone,
I was wanting to write something about my past that had a major affect on me.
I started using drugs around 17 and up until 24 when I completly stopped.
I used to take ecstacy, speed, marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes etc. Everything was taken orally.
I majorly abused myself and it really destroyed my life from about 17 up until now. I only started doing it recreationally at partys but before I knew it I was selling it and doing anything I could to get my hands on these substances.
I completely stopped when I was 24 because I felt it was the right time to turn around.
I went through around 4.5 years in and out of psychiatric hospitals up until now and have not been back for around 2.5 years.
I am on the right medication and feel I have the right doctors treating me.
I feel that there may be damage to my brain from the drugs but I can not see any real damage that affects my functioning. I was diagnosed with organic brain injury when I first went in to the hospitals but I am not sure I would be now.
I thought I would share this incase there is anyone out there with a similar story.
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18-05-2015 07:47 PM
18-05-2015 07:47 PM
Re: Major drug abuse
Hey Lee,
Thanks for being so open and honest in sharing this. I think @kato can probably relate to some of the usage self-abuse.
Take care of you. SO glad this is behind you now. Did you know that "self-medicating" pain is one of the most common reasons for addiction/d&a abuse?
Kind regards,
Kristin
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18-05-2015 07:54 PM
18-05-2015 07:54 PM
Re: Major drug abuse
Hey @kristin I have thought this that there is probably a reason why I done it and hiding the real problem is probably exactly what I was doing.
I just wish my family could see this.
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18-05-2015 08:43 PM
18-05-2015 08:43 PM
Re: Major drug abuse
Hey Lee, maybe they might be able to in time. Maybe too confronting now. Much easier to blame the "user", as society generally does.
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19-05-2015 08:52 AM
19-05-2015 08:52 AM
Re: Major drug abuse
Yeah I think you are right, over time they will understand its not like a instant fix. Thanks for your help.
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20-05-2015 10:18 AM
20-05-2015 10:18 AM
Re: Major drug abuse
I'm a bit late on this topic but I can totally relate to your situation. I abused drugs and alcohol from the ages of 22-28 (up until my diagnosis) as a coping mechanism.
Ecstacy, speed, fantasy, ice and other wide powder, weed, cigarettes and alcohol - pretty much anything available. And like you it was only oral.
At the time, I was working in a senior management position earning great money and I lived alone so I was able to hide my addictions. I was very much a high functioning Bipolar patient.
Unfortunately with manic episodes, the excessive spending and promiscuity took it's toll and everything fell apart.
I often wondered if the abuse let me to my diagnosis, but having stopped everything now I know it was very much a coping mechanism. To block out my reality and to numb the pain.
My desire to be well and live a functioning life was just too strong.
Eventually my family found out and I was lucky, they were incredibly supportive and helped me get through it.
I'm not the same person I was all those years ago, and through strong willed determination I have been able to stabilise my life and am no longer on medication.
This is all part of our journey and experiences living with mental illness. You are not alone
Missy x
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20-05-2015 11:19 AM
20-05-2015 11:19 AM
Re: Major drug abuse
Thanks for sharing your story missy.
It makes me realise my story is somewhat similar and helps me relate to my life as well. Knowing I am not alone really helps.
I think this is what my parents are confused about, that for some reason beyond thier control I went down this path and that mental health is possibly not related and it has nothing to do with them also.
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25-07-2016 12:16 AM
25-07-2016 12:16 AM