[seventyeight]

my therapist made an interesting comment today when we were talking about the fact that i've quit drinking (for the past month), but might drink again around the holidays. she is supportive of whatever i want to do, and said that only i know how to best deal with myself and my issues. the interesting comment was this: "maybe you'll find that you're not really addicted to alcohol, that it is/was more of a way to self-medicate.."

i thought that was a really interesting thing to say, and i was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on it. do you think there's a difference between the two? if so, what is the difference? and can you define the terms addiction and self-medication?

any feedback would be really great, thank you.

[madisgram]

well i "self medicated" (on alcohol) my bipolar when not on meds. it led me to alcoholism so then i had two things/dx's to deal with simultaneously. what a struggle. but i succeeded with both, 20 yrs.sober and 20 yrs. with stabalized bipolar for the most part.
i use the analogy for ppl - if you drink to gain a feeling or drink to get rid of one, you're a problem drinker if not alcoholic/addicted. addiction occurs when no matter your good intentions when u drink u don't know when to stop, or drink til you're drunk, or have consequences as a result of drinking, etc. many of us also have had a compulsion to drink...like it's not a choice. other ppl addicted to alcohol can leave it alone for weeks at a time but when they pick it up the circus begins all over again.
so for me they can go hand in hand- self medication and problem drinking/addiction. also on meds it's not recommended a person drink...the alcohol counteracts the positive effects of meds.
so, imho, self medicating is gaining or losing a feeling by drinking and addiction has the component of gaining or losing a feeling. but a person doesn't need to be addicted. it is first a choice and later all bets are off if alcohol is abused.
i hope i haven't totally confused you. it's a good question. bear in mind i am basing some of my opinion on my own life experiences.

[Satu]

You're lucky (I think) to have such an insightful therapist. I'm in a country where any substance abuse immediately disqualifies you from therapy - you need to go to a substance abuse clinic instead. I think it's absolutely ridiculous, I've been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder with anxiety symptoms, and I KNOW I drink and/or smoke pot to self medicate. But because I was honest about my occassional habit, I can't get help. I can quit whenever I want (which I have now done when it comes to smoking) without any symptoms. Drinking (because it's legal) is supposedly not a problem, but it's much worse for me mentally than smoking. How do they think I can ever get better if they don't treat the cause of my habit rather than just tell me to quit the better but illegal habit without any help for my actual illness??? I miss the States sometimes, my therapist there was fantastic.

[trixielou]

im an alcoholic so i cant drink a drop i know i started drinkin to begin with to self med & it led to full blown alcoholism. i know cuz before booze when i was a kid i would self medicate with food & then i found alcohol. what a nightmare it became & what a nightmare getting off the stuff. now my soon to be exhusband is a binge drinker who self med i dont care what he says. like madisgram said he can go for weeks at a time but when he picks it up its ugly. like he drinks cuz hes unhappy & miserable & hes then unhappy & even more miserable bacuz hes back on the booze not to mention it always leads to cocaine. i told him its not a matter of i cant be around all that anymore i Wont be around it! i dunno maybe theres the rare cases for people who never drink & they get soused one night for some reason or maybe for no reason but like only cuz its new years & they wanna party. satu thats crazy with the therapy thats why a lot of people go to therapy to deal with issues they drowned with booze or pills or whatever.

[Skully]

I do the same thing but only with pain killers instead of alcohol. When I take Vicodin or Ultram it elevates my mood and I am better able to deal with issues I have in my life. But I can go days without taking anything so I do not feel I am addicted to them. I have gone months in the past without taking any. So I definitely understand what your therapist means.

[sandy4029]

I have been straddling this issue for 32 years. At one point i stopped using painkillers for 4 years. Other times would go months at a time and maybe only 2 week binge. Bottom line is at age 11, I read somewhere in some associated assigned reading for school that "a truly self-actualized being will use drugs to improve the quality of their life, only for positive reasons, not to escape or denigrate their humanity."...something to that effect anyway...
Soooo here we are thirty-something years later after experimenting with everything available on this earth as a child, (and maybe some things that are no longer available)...and I find myself arguing a no-win argument with my detox Dr. that i really need counseling for the depression and anxiety and have only been "self-medicating" to get through the all-nighters required by life when you have multiple life/death situations hit you all at once for a period of 9 years...I think the meds for depression are worse than a couple vic's in the morning and a couple 8 hrs. later...if I got on ok like this for YEARS at a time and only recently needed more to stay productive and stable emotionally am I really addicted? Yeah, says the doc...you've got a 32 year history. None of my so called "friends" can cop and keep it for weeks at a time...None of them can believe that I do...
I guess I'm writing on here now because NOTHING is helping get my life back on track after death, bankrupcy, abuse, alzheimers', raising a child alone, becoming a caretaker, losing my home, losing my business, losing my dreams, losing my retirement fund....i mean, c'mon - do you guys ever watch "House?" Somedays are just beyond functioning when you've a history of producing a productive life....and it's all gone, and you hafta start from scratch again.



omg

[cherrygash321]

I think self-medicating definately can and will lead to alcoholism. I think there is a difference though, between the two. If you stop the drug/drink and can handle it without withdrawals... physical/emotional....ive been told, you're probably not an alcholic. One can lead to the other, staying clean and not using substances to alter your reality is the best thing to do for yourself. But if you've had history of abuse and mental illness, trying not to self-med. can be one rough road. Now i can have a glass of wine (which ive done once in the last year) but a few years ago I couldn't have just one. I was self-medicating down a ugly path. been clean for a year except the wine. moderation is key on this arguement.

[madisgram]

Originally Posted by sandy4029

I have been straddling this issue for 32 years. At one point i stopped using painkillers for 4 years. Other times would go months at a time and maybe only 2 week binge. Bottom line is at age 11, I read somewhere in some associated assigned reading for school that "a truly self-actualized being will use drugs to improve the quality of their life, only for positive reasons, not to escape or denigrate their humanity."...something to that effect anyway...imho that quote is scary~~
Soooo here we are thirty-something years later after experimenting with everything available on this earth as a child, (and maybe some things that are no longer available)...and I find myself arguing a no-win argument with my detox Dr. that i really need counseling for the depression and anxiety and have only been "self-medicating" to get through the all-nighters required by life when you have multiple life/death situations hit you all at once for a period of 9 years...i agree with your detox doc, if we have any MI one has to address it too. i'm bipolar and until we treated the alcoholism as well as the bipolar i was caught up in a vicious cycle. treating both has allowed me 20 years sobriety and a fairly stable bipolar. I think the meds for depression are worse than a couple vic's in the morning and a couple 8 hrs. later.vics cause depression as a side effect. puts you on a roller coaster. if you use them in place of your meds you're "shooting yourself in your own foot".if I got on ok like this for YEARS at a time and only recently needed more to stay productive and stable emotionally am I really addicted? Yeah, says the doc...you've got a 32 year history. None of my so called "friends" can cop and keep it for weeks at a time...None of them can believe that I do...there are many patterns of addiction. just because you don't use all the time, doesn't mean you're not addicted, imho. those drugs have a half life in your body meaning the drug is still in your body even if you don't use for a period of a time.
I guess I'm writing on here now because NOTHING is helping get my life back on track after death, bankrupcy, abuse, alzheimers', raising a child alone, becoming a caretaker, losing my home, losing my business, losing my dreams, losing my retirement fund....i mean, c'mon - do you guys ever watch "House?" Somedays are just beyond functioning when you've a history of producing a productive life....and it's all gone, and you hafta start from scratch again.getting off the drugs like vic will enable a clear head to deal with your life as it stands now. old saying-we used when the dog lived, we used when the dog died. ppl addicted can always find an excuse to use.



omg

i'm not busting you but speaking from experience. your post reminded me of myself before i surrendered and admitted i was hopeless and helpless. i had tried many avenues to keep alcohol and prescription drugs in my life. i used controlled useage etc towards the end. none of my tricks helped me until i abstained and took my dx meds.
hope this helps.