zorah

my friends make me crazy. one says i'm alcoholic because i keep going back to it to keep my depression and anxiety at bay, i hide what i'm doing, i think about it all the time, etc. the other, who's been in aa for 20 years, says i'm absolutely not cuz she went through a really severe rehab thing and almost died and i'm not anything like that. one says i need to get the right meds for my mental problems--bipolar, anxiety disorder, adhd--and then i'll be stable. the other says i gotta go to aa even if i don't have a physical addiction and i'll feel much better inside. cuz i'm so obsessive and my brain never stops spinning, i try to figure out if the mental illness is causing the alcohol fixation or is the alcohol causing the other or are they both causing both. i could chill out over this, but right now i'm crawling on my hands and knees and can't talk to anyone.

so its nice to at least be able to send this text. no need to respond.

sugarbear1

vent any time


hugs,

artsoul

I had a gazillion questions like that too, and have had multiple opinions given to me from doctors to counselors to friends ... some were helpful and some weren't. It feels to me like it's all intertwined (addiction feeding the mental/emotional stuff and vice versa). I tried to figure it out while drinking, which didn't work..... but I've had some good insight after getting sober and seeing my drinking from a distance.

I couldn't really tell from your post (per being on your "hands and knees?"), but I'm really sorry if you're struggling right now. No matter what the "right answers" are, they don't matter nearly as much as finding a way for you to be healthy and happy again. You deserve that much.....:ghug3

JohnnyDetox

Chicken or the egg. Does it really matter?

Dee74

I know you didn't want a response Zorah but I had a dozen different opinions thrown at me by a dozen different friends...

Noone else can tell you whether you're an alcoholic or not - it doesn't work like that.

When it gets down to it it's what you think and what you feel that counts.

Sometimes I found it best just to cut it back to basics - 'yes, I do have a problem - it may not match other people's experiences or definitions - but it's definitely a problem for me...now - what am I doing to do about it?'

D