Help Please

[jgm]

i'm 9 months sober, and i'm still insane.......i got depression and anxiety very intense some days, i wonder if anyones felt like this after a number of months.

[TheSunAlsoRises]

Hey man... ditto everything that has been has said above. It does get better. I didn't get suicidal thoughts until I stopped drinking. it was between days 30 and 60 for me. I thought man, I didn't get sober for this. My sponsor says suicidal thoughts are like the RAM crashing on your computer. There is just too much stuff running in our minds at one time. Please recognize it for what it is, a temporary symptom. (Might wanna see a psych about it, or really open up to someone else in recovery... nothing to play around with) The brain fog lifts after about 2.5 or 3 months but its different for everyone. Step work like everyone has said has helped me immensely. Yeah I started drinking when I was 16 and in some ways I still feel that age. We gotta try to be positive though right--at least we are adressing this when we are young. (i'm 21 your 23) I know people 40+ in AA who say they still feel like a teenager in maturity. It does get better... humbly on day 118.

[Pelican]

Hi jgm and welcome to Sober Recovery!

Congratulations on your 9 months of sobriety! That is awesome.

I'm sorry you are feeling depressed. What steps have you taken in your sobriety to improve your life? Are you in a support group? Have you tried counseling with an addiction counselor?

You will find lots of support and wisdom here at SR. I suggest you start a new thread. This thread has been inactive for two years, some of the members have moved on.

Pull out your keyboard and make yourself at home!

[FightingIrish]

Yes I still felt insane at times at 9 months. That's why continued work with the steps and getting help through counseling/medical treatment were in order. I needed to do whatever it took to get the help I needed to stay sober.

[CarolD]

Welcome to our SR Alcoholism Forum....

Have you checked with your doctor recently?

Well done on your sober time....

[tricky164]

i went through excactly what you are going through, every time i got sober a couple of months. at first i was happy to be sober and i felt better "concequences had stopped" the shakes had stopped, my girlfriend and family came back, got a good job, bought a nice car, had money in the bank. so i should of been on my way to a great life, then this voice in my head started to talk to me "your depressed, maybe you are suffering with bi-polar, maybe its manic depression, maybe its o,c,d. what you need to do is go to the doctors and get pills". over the last 12 years this kept happening and eventually i would always drink because that seemed to cure it. i know today that i suffer with alcoholism, (the drink is not the problem i am) when i put the drink down i am left with the illness, this illness will attach its self to depression and tell me thats whats wrong with me, it never says to me " tricky you are suffering with untreated alcoholism" you need to get a sponcer, work the 12 steps, do lots of meetings and service, then help others. it wants me drinking so it lies to me. after 12 years of being in and out of AA i did all the things suggested and i have not had that voice in my head anymore, today i treat my alcoholism (me). people used to tell me in AA " keep coming back it gets better" i kept coming and it would only ever (after the initial period) get worse. thank god for good sponcership as i got a sponcer who for the first time told me the truth, "it will never get better until you treat this illness". i dont know if your like me and suffer from alcoholism, but if you do identify with this i suggest you strongly look into working a vigorous program of action. not thinking !!. peace and fellowship to you. god bless

[Ralph99]

You may still have PAWS (there is a lot of information on this board about PAWS). Have you tried any types of anti-anxiety exercises, such as deep breathing, meditation, exercise, yoga, better nutrition, muscle tension/relaxation, etc? These all have to be done regularly over a period of time to be effective. There are a lot of good books on this, such as "The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook" and "The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook." Both are available on Amazon and get great reviews. They have helped me reduce my stress and anxiety without any medication. I think there is an anxiety and depression board on here as well.

[Charmie]

hello and welcome to sr,,i am ditto to everything what tricky has just said,,i am an alcoholic,i suffer from alcoholism,if i take the drink away then that solves the physical side,it stops the cravings.but what about the mental side? i have heard so many times in the rooms of AA about folk that are suffering more than when they were drinking.if you are like me then putting the plug in the jug will not be enough.i wish you well.

[trucker]

Can i suggest you read the book...alcoholics anonymous..

See if you find yourself in there and what they suggest as a solution..

i thought i was different from others drunks cos they seem to "light up" after a few meetings...maybe some do ....i didnt.
id get to a month or 2 and want to blow my head off...

My first light bulb moment was reading the "doctors opinion".....
i read the rest...engaged with a sponsor..... and rigorous step work..

then i stopped feeling like you feel.......and that was just the beginning.

[tommyk]

"i'm 9 months sober, and i'm still insane.......i got depression and anxiety very intense some days, i wonder if anyones felt like this after a number of months."

I'm 15+ years sober and I wiil always be insane. I'm powerless over that affliction.

The good news - through doctors & medication I have my depression under control, and through constant continual application of the 12 steps my anxiety is totally undercontrol without the use of any meds!!! Yay!

Once I got the alcohol out of my brain and out of my system I could focus on my depression and anxiety issues, both of which were extreme enough to put me in the hospital and threaten my life.

Believe me, there were times when I was wandering blindly through the depression & anxiety jungle.

I just thank God I found the 12 steps to freedom!

Keep coming back.

[thewall]

Originally Posted by jgm

i'm 9 months sober, and i'm still insane.......i got depression and anxiety very intense some days, i wonder if anyones felt like this after a number of months.

I'm past 15 years sober and I still have times I feel anxious or slightly depressed. Both of these things are normal parts of life but of course if they are persistent and you find yourself with consistent thought of doing harm to yourself then please seek professional help. Sometimes it's a clinical thing and is nothing to fool around about.

With that said it takes continuous work on ourselves to improve our mental outlook and we also need to look at what we eat and drink. If we are drinking umpteen cups of caffeine laden coffee with lots of sugar then it's not surprising we would be anxious and jittery. If we are following the same kind of diet most of us followed when we drank then that can be another area that needs to be reexamined and perhaps slowly modified.

Easy does it...little bit at the time and monitor how we feel as we make these changes. Don't try to do a bunch at one time because it makes it hard to isolate what could be a contributing factor.

Good news is if we push forward in all phases of our sobriety which include medical checkups and if need be visits with mental health professionals then it will continuously improve over a period of times in almost all cases.

[ElegantlyWasted]

Find a "program" that works for you and work it. AA is everywhere, Smart is in most major metro areas (google it... great online worksheets), not to mention CBT based sessions; individual and group. Welcome and best of luck. This is a great place to hang out, learn and contribute as well. Congrats on nine months and welcome. Keep posting. Get out of that "stinking thinking" and do.

[RMM897]

When I first decided to stop drinking, I felt like every one of my senses was striped bare and operating in overdrive. The sound of phone ringing would cause a panic attack, and not because I had any social aversion. Sounds were the worst, but light, and touch were pretty awful as well.

After six weeks, I felt like I physically could not handle the sensations anymore, so I went to seek health care with a doctor and mental health specialist. I did a run of about 6 months on a low dose of medication commonly used for depression, and it really leveled the playing field so I could work on getting a solid program in place. Weaned off pretty quickly and haven't had trouble since, even after I slipped and returned to drinking and then returned to sobriety.

Hope and strength

[AlwaysGrowing]

For me I had to pray on my knees every morning and every night. I had to put everything 'on my mind' into my hands and give it to God. I was sure getting tired of dragging that crap around..
The 'crazy time' became less and less, also sleeping became a non-issue.

[jgm]

wow....i am actually shocked at how many people responded. thank you, it means alot. i was sober for 18 months didn't do the work and felt prety good. This time i'm going to 2 meetings a day, doing the steps, step groups, big book studies, service, sponser and i feel worse. i think its because i'm getting into alot of the underlining stuff. i suffer from post tramatic stress so i guess its different for everyone. maybe it'll take a couple yrs to come around. who knows. But thanks again everyone for taking the time to write, thats really cool. make me feels good just knowing i don't gotta do this on my own.