Hi everyone,

I'm a new member, living here in Baltimore, and undergrad at JHU living in an apartment with my (former) best friend. During the course of our time here both of us have become addicted to pot, have become moderate to severe alcoholics (me moderate, him severe), and done a plethora of other drugs. Recently, I have resolved to quit. I am now a proud member of NA, and since stopping with the marijuana, I have not had any urges to drink alcohol either (my routine was always to do them in conjunction, alcohol makes me kind of nauseas when I do it alone, and I never felt "addicted" to it as a whole, just to pot). I'm still getting urges to smoke, but I have successfully fought them off every time.

My roommate, however, has no interest in changing. And you know what, I'd normally say that's his business, if I weren't so worried that he destroyed his brain.. Let me explain..

First of all, he knows I am trying to quit, and I told him to stop smoking in the room because not only will the smell itself make me want to smoke more, but I'm still inhaling the smoke, so I'm still not "clean". He said sure, but now all he does it wait until I am asleep, or at class, and every time I come back from anywhere I get treated to a smoky, smelly room. So, I'm moving out. Good for me. But I don't think he can survive in the real world by himself..

When I was getting messed up all the time, I never noticed quite how "strange" he was becoming. He is no longer the same person I knew freshman year. He is a broken record, and typically speaks by just spitting out loops of (what I'm assuming he thinks are) "jokes". He cannot hold regular conversation because all he does is ramble on about these things, whether I am listening or showing any sign of interest or not. I have even been in bed, just waking up, and I have heard him actually talking to himself about these things.

And so, that's all that he ever says. To me, or to anyone. Even to people he just met, that he knows nothing about, he will neglect to ask them basic information about themselves (what year are you? whats your major?) just to ramble on about this stuff. As a result, I feel like I am his only friend, which makes me feel bad about leaving him, but he is not good for trying to break my habit, and honestly he is driving me up the wall. I even am starting to worry about my own safety. He plays so many violent videogames, and is even in an online gaming Clan for one of them, that I fear he may even just randomly "snap".. The talking to himself is the most unsettling, because I have heard him do it for over 30 seconds straight..

He does see a shrink, and though I do not know for what reason, I suspect it is because of his break-up with his girlfriend a few months ago (she probably got tired of his brain-deadness as well). I know he doesn't take any medicine, but I am almost certain he does not tell his shrink everything (especially his daily alcohol and marijuana habits), and to be honest I don't even think my roommate realizes that there is anything wrong with himself! He doesn't take my hints (or my overt comments, or anyone else's hints for that matter) that he just isn't funny or interesting to talk to any more. He doesn't remain in contact with any of his old friends or roommates any more, and the only people he does spend time with other than me are his drug dealers, or his 21+ friends who buy him alcohol (we are both 20 as of now). I am wondering if I should just call his psychiatrist up and explain it all? Or would this just complicate things further...