Originally Posted by
gneiss 
I absolutely hate the oh-go-on-Oprah-already way this sounds but basically I'm almost 10 months along and I'm just realizing how much my drugging and drinking affected my confidence and self-esteem. I only met druggies and they thought of me as a dope...erm... prostitute (SR won't accept the other word for it). Welcome to the underworld. If you're female you're probably a dope *****. And even if don't sleep around for it, everyone assumes you do.
So now I'm fighting myself. It's hard not to think of myself as a loser because for so long I was one.
It really helps me to separate my behavior from my sense of self. So "I was a drug-ho" becomes "My addiction was so strong I traded sex for drugs." You weren't a loser, you made some poor decisions and you are learning from your mistakes.