Justfor1

I just had an appointment with my psych Dr. & she said that she was proud of my sobriety time. I never had a Dr. say something like this & took it as a compliment. I did tell her that had she seen me a few years ago she would be very frustrated with me. When I pick up a drink, therapy & medication are completely useless. Family, friends, AA members, professionals would talk to me & it was like talking to a brick wall. My mind was so clouded with booze & cocaine that I couldn't even distinguish the true from the false. So grateful that my life isn't like that anymore. Of course, it still has a lot of wreckage from the past. But it is better & I must remember that.

least

I see an addiction counselor weekly and it's a lot of help, not just for staying sober but for all aspects of my life. She's a treasure and I'm grateful to have her help and insight.

DayTrader

Isn't it amazing, Just.........

How you can look back now, at what you were like then, and see an absolute disaster-case. "Shut off, defiant, full of hate, didn't trust anyone, hated men/women, hated myself, delusional, convinced I was managing well...." Those are some of the more common things I've heard. Yet, at the time.....to a man/woman, EVERY single one of us would have said, "Oh, I'm good.....things are ok" or maybe "Well, it's a challenge, but I'm doing ok" if we'd been asked how were felt emotionally. The kicker is......we believed that we WERE OK.

Through the clarity of hindsight though, it's never, "Oh, I was ok.....not that bad......pretty good." Nope, it's almost always pretty depressing/nasty stuff.

It truly IS insane what I was willing to consider "normal" back then.

Justfor1

Day, yeah my normal was pretty screwed up. I'm amazed at how much time I wasted. Years of serious addiction went by in an instant.

TheEnd

Awesome, I've been going to my therapist for 2 yrs now, and it only gets better.

DaveVelasco

It's a good thing that even other people really admire how we recover. It way more fun when people give you compliments that would help you in becoming a better and improved individual.

onlythetruth

I personally did find it difficult if not impossible to derive any benefit from therapy until I quit drinking. Afterwards, therapy did me a world of good.

I have a good friend who is a therapist, though, who tells me that he often can make progress with people who are still drinking, as long as they are in the Contemplation Stage: thinking about quitting, but not ready to do it yet.

I guess experiences vary.

zanzibar

Even when I don't think much of myself, I still care about what my Psych thinks of me. That and my dogs keep me pushing.

NewStep

Hi, it shows you can really turn things around. Not long ago I was always drinking too and felt completely hopeless. I feel like I've started to slip again though as I stayed off alcohol for a while before drinking again. I'm really hoping I can stay off alcohol again and keep it that way.