MrPoutine

I just typed a long reply and lost it all, so I will keep it briefer this time.

One thing that helped was going to group meetings for people with addiction problems that were run by by an organization in town, lead by a social worker. The group was specifically for people over 55, and I had a lot in common with the other group members. The social worker who ran the group was very good.

The main thing that helped was reorganizing my life. In addition to the business, there was another major source of stress in my life - my wife had always been something of a hoarder, but she had got more obsessive as time went on. About 6 years ago my wife's parents went into a nursing home, and my wife inherited 1/2 of her mother's considerable pile of stuff. We put some in storage, but most ended up in our small house, while my wife tried to decide what to keep. We ended up living for some years in squalor, surrounded by junk that I didn't want - it was impossible to keep the house even remotely livable, and I spent as much time as possible outside the house. Eventually the 2 of us had counselling sessions together, and my wife went to a weekly self-help group for hoarders. About 1.5 years ago we sold our house, moved to a nice clean condo, and got rid of stacks of furniture and junk.

I also go to weekly after-care meetings that are held in the evening at the detox establishment that I spent quite a lot of time in during my drinking days. The meeting are for people who have been thru detox, and for people who are currently in detox, but are due to go back out into the outside. The main point of the meetings is for the guys there to plan how they will stay away from drugs. I find the meeting interesting and useful.

Another long post.