Addiction myths

[dotcom]

The smell that crystal meth users have (smells like glue)... is NOT from the drug seeping through the pores. When the user gets fatigued the body lets out excess ammonia and that is what is smelled! thought that was interesting.

Another, is that addiction, depression and porn go hand in hand. before you say anything... yes, people do think this! i am not clinically depressed, although while using i may have shown signs of being depressed. others are clinically depressed and i think would agree that they do not go hand in hand (meaning that a person could be depressed and still choose not to use/drink).

any insight on this? help! my mom is clinically depressed and is on meds for it. but i have always been a pretty... level person... unless of course i am under the influence of drugs. i get sad, but never for just no reason, and i never just sit and cry (as i have been told my mom and assistant who is also depressed do).

and i think the whole porn thing is just a big generalization. porn is not a phase of addiction for petes sake. for some it is an addiction. for me it was. but by saying they all three go hand in hand? thats like saying every addict is going to steal cars, shoot people, and be homeless. am i making any sense???

any other addiction myths out there? and any info on that stuff is much appreciated! rock on!

[Paulie]

This is very interesting Dot. I only have my opinons. I agree with you that alot of it is generalization. I know alot of addicts in recovery that are not depressed, not in recovery anyway LOL. And I know alot of addicts that I used with that were not into porn at all, some it took their sex drive away, some it intensified it. So no, I do not thing that porn is a phase of addiction.

I am not clinically depessed either but that does not mean that I dont get down sometimes. When I first got clean, out of rehab, I went to a dr and he wanted to give me anti-depressents, I took the prescription and filled it. Went and talk to my first sponsor the head of the rehab about it and flushed them, never took them and never went to the dr again. That was not the answer for me. The answer for me was a relationship with my HP, the answer for me is working on myself and ridding myself of the past guilt that I carried and learning how not to carry unnecessary quilt today.

Everyone is different, the answer for some is medication and that is fine, the important thing is sobriety. We are all different, out paths here are different.

Dot - you researching this stuff is great, just remember that statisitcs and all that stuff don't mean anything really, what matters is you are sober today.

It was mentioned in a post recently here on SR that the majority of people that get and stay sober don't do through a 12 step program. Well I went and asked some people that I respect in the program about this and there is no real answer to that question. I mean I have been sober a while now with a 12 step program and no one has ever asked me to be in a study...see what I mean.

I don't know how I got off on that subject, sorry Dot. LOL

Anyway there is my 4 cents worth for the day.

[2stop]

Alot of 'myths' IMO about addiction comes down to personal experience and perception. Just as I would not determine for someone else what recovery is, I would hope no one determined that for me. If they did, it is on them, not me. When first looking into recovery I came away with a strong impression that I would fail miseraly if I did not use A 12 STEP program. For me it just isn't true. Another myth....that I am an addict for life. I choose to believe I am not forever chained to that identity. It doesn't make someone who does wrong. Not at all. Another myth that my will is a negative force in my life. My will, my choices and ability to make them for myself, without outside influence is one of the greatest gifts my HP has given me.....total personal responsible for me. I have found my answers within. The biggest myth busting I have ever done has been centered around my religious upbringing. There is tremendous growth and opportunity to be had when we challenge all we've ever been told, which is many times well-intentioned. I am happer now than I have ever been, and I owe it in part to challenging belief systems that offended my soul and kept me more of a prisoner than free. It is different for everyone. We are all free to choose what we will believe, and what we won't believe. It doesn't make us right or wrong..it makes us...US!!

[Paulie]

Tammy -

I am so happy that you found what works for you. Sobriety is the goal, how we get there does not matter.

Look what you started Dot - where are you???? LOL

[dotcom]

OKKKKKKKKKK... mostly the people who mentioned depression, addiction, and porn went hand in hand were not in fact addicts. i heard a very good thing last night, "don't tell me about something you don't know". we all know drugs very well, and are "qualified" to share our experiences. it does seem though that non addicts start a lot of insane rumors and make a lot of presumptions about their A's that really just are generalizations. perhaps to make themselves feel better? that did **** me off though. trying to explain one addicts behavior is okay dokay.. but generalizing that all addicts are like that, therefore A can not help himself? im ready to start swinging! LOL

about the research study... isnt it safe to say that NA or anyother program would not allow such a study? all that matters is recovery, and i have known many many people who stop and find a better life/recovery without the help of NA/AA. therapy, group counseling, church, religion, interventions, family support. in reality, not many people know about NA! i talk about it with class members and no one has heard of it, AA as well. some of my friends just up and quit, knowing about NA but now they are different changed people. productive members of society.

i do think that a lot of people get the idea that without the 12 steps, no one can make it. personally, i find them helpful. but, there are many people out there who do not use the steps and are working on their recovery. to say that NA/AA is the only way is just being insecure! it is the way an individual has chosen, and people do get to feeling like they are being pushed/pressured/etc when people say that they have not found recovery simply because they do not use 12 steps.

also, whether a member of NA or not, i think it is inappropriate (fuster) when someone asks a question that they reply, "when was the last time you went to a 12 step, dot?". try replying like a real man and answer the d*** question. a meeting is not the answer for me, the answer reveals itself when i make the right choices whether i believe that to mean meetings, prayer, spirituality, etc. the fact of the matter is, staying clean is what counts for today. and how i do that is not fuster's or anyone else's "project" but my own.


with my religious upbringing, it got too intense for me. so i keep it way simple now and let people know that. some think you cannot be an addict and a christian... becuz of some new creation thing. but, i have decided if thats what they believe, rock on. i however, do not believe that and am adamant that once an addict always an addict. however, i have less and less cravings and am working towards rocking on every day.

OKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK...

[Paulie]

People can speculate, do studies and estimate numbers and things, it really does not matter to me. People can call me what they want to call me. I know what I am today, and addict blessed to be in recovery.

I agreee with you dot, generalizations that are made are made by people who are not addicted.

[dotcom]

paulie,

my english teacher was the one who "turned me on" to generalizations... i realized just how much i do that! i would say that, every man... or, every addict... or, every mom... geez louise! i was living in the dark! but i really believed my generalizations were right, thats the scary thing! it took someone to point out that in actuality, no one group of people does the same thing! weird at first, but then it all made sense. thanks to my english teacher, my reality is a little clearer haha.k

dot

[Chy]

As Paulie say's: "It's none of my business what you think of me".. I just love that!

[Paulie]

I love that too Chy!!!!

Dot - that was a good teacher. You should thank you for that!! that was an important thing to learn, some people never learn that.

[dotcom]

hey, i think ill use that quote!

any other myths out there? i think i found one about "red meth". people thought it was super duper good, but in actuality it was just that the red dye from the ephedra pills (sudafed) had not been removed!

ok, enough vicariously romancing my doc. haha.

[Paulie]

Originally Posted by dotcom

ok, enough vicariously romancing my doc. haha.

Ummm, I was going to say that LOL!!

It is interesting though, I hear things on the news or new people in meetings talk about certain drugs and I look at my SO and we dont' know what they are talking about. Things have changed over the years, new stuff hits the streets all the time. We always say "well, I guess us quitting didn't stop anything, it just goes on with out us" It is a joke, we understand today how unimportant we were in the big picture of it all.

You can use that quote, I heard it at a meeting years ago!!!

[dotcom]

yeah, lol. it goes on with or without me! lol. geez, those sites about drugs are just as addictive as this one! lol. rock on.