[mel4]

so, while this probably isnt one of the more important posts in this forum, i thought id just take a few mintues and share a brief, yet somewhat moving experiance i had the other day.

me and some friends were hanging out yesterday, at the mall actually, and one of my friends suggested we head downtown to the local movie theater. quicky, another friend replied "noooo!! thats where all the druggies hang out. oh wait(turning to me), you are one..." this was the first time ive ever been reffered to as a "druggie". i have to say, while it is simply a widely used term, it really affected me. its just amazing how much a single term can shock a person. the particular term was something id never of thought id become. a druggie.

[Raynaadi]

This post is just as important as any other post here Mel!!

Sometimes its someone suddenly speaking a truth about us that makes us look at our lives. Its like a virtual slap in the face, and sometimes its what we need. It helps us make that final admission...."I'm an alcoholic" or "I'm a druggie". Its the first step towards change.

Luv you hun,
Rayna

[LMo]

well wait - was your friend referring to illegal drugs, or your prescription drugs?

[mel4]

to the illegal ones

[LMo]

oops

Do you agree with your friend?

[mel4]

only in some of my moods.

[cajun]

Good for your friend. I'm glad she said it. I think this post is very important. It makes you realize how you are viewed by others when you do drugs. Wish a friend would have told me that.

i think it took some courage to post what your friend said. kudos to you. means you are thinking about it.........love, pat

Oh don't keep yourself down by devaluing your self..taking drugs and declaring I am a druggie are 2 different things...a lot of recovery methods revolve around keeping the person down..stuck in their hopelessness...I use to drink alcohol...I don't now..simple...it was a behaviour I engaged in...its not who I AM, k?

[Perna]

I'm curious what you replied to your "friend." To me, the interchange mostly shows your friend's ignorance more than anything else, followed by thoughtlessness.

I don't feel a person is any one thing, we're more complex than that (at least I feel I am :-) but I do like startling juxtapositions (you are like the down-and-out "druggie" people who "live" downtown) that make me see and think about myself, friends, and my actions differently than I have before.

[drunksunflower]

I can sort of relate, mel.

When I was much younger (23ish) my boyfriend at the time gave me the shock of my life when he called me exactly the same thing.

I was doing my thesis in substance abuse at the time (the sweet irony of saying THAT to someone while you're wasted is not lost). I was once interviewing someone at the prison who was in for dealing a few things when I realised he was the old roommate of someone who i was very close to (ex f***buddy), and well, obviously used to get us a lot of shyt. I have played around with much more than my fair share.

But yea we used to get chopped and go to dj gigs most weekends and it wouldn't stop at 6am when the party finished either.

I know a lot of it for me was trying to distract myself from feeling down / blah and it truly was a great escape and stress release from feeling like cat vomit - at the time.

What my bf said basically forced me to take a good look at my party habits and consumption of drugs. I won't lie and say I never touched anything again but i did make a lot of changes. And my roommate at the time was (and still is) heavily involved in it and there was plenty of experimental stuff going around as well. I shudder to think what I might have been taking. But hey, it made me less depressed, i forgot all about being blah, until the comedown

Anyway good luck to you