[Buddhaonatricycle]

I'm a 42 year old divorced man, struggling with depression and alcohol abuse. I've lost all interest in life and my anxiety and self shame has become so deep, I have difficulty in social settings. I've pushed all my friends away, I feel little for my family, and I feel so stuck and alone. I don't know what to do anymore, so many medications and therapy but I can't seem to motivate myself to climb out of this personal hell.

[mote.of.soul]

Welcome to PC, Buddhaonatricycle. My goodness, yes, I think a lot of people have resorted to alcohol to try to cover up feelings of shame and anxiety, because it's painful. I know you haven't stated that you believe you might be an alcoholic, but have you approached Alcoholics Anonymous for help? Addressing the alcohol abuse this way could lead to finding solutions to the other problems as well, one thing at a time.

[MickeyCheeky]

Start working on one problem at the time. For example, you could start with the alcohol addiction.

[Fuzzybear]

[hprodf]

Sorry to hear about your situation, but you posting here at least means you've taken the first step and want to change your circumstances.

I think others are on point, try to tackle the alcohol abuse first and drastically. Addictions are so dangerous and could make things so much worse. Please go to a support group and take action.

From there, I think give yourself targets on what you want to achieve. Set goals and create a plan to strive for. It's not easy, but if you acknowledge and know what you need to do, and you're prepared to push yourself to achieving those targets even in the moments you don't want to, you can work towards a better direction.

I'm going to post a video about things I've done in my own life to try and turn things around on Youtube on Thursday, so if you're interested then I'll be happy to share a link. They're drastic changes in my life, but it's helped me cope significantly better.