How it is
 

This is a public service announcement brought to you by Bam. Take it or leave it.


I am not a happy person. I'm not sure I can be--depression gets in the way. But so what? I can still laugh and smile. There's hope.

Sober time isn't always a cure for life's problems. Some get worse when they stop drinking. I did. And I got professional help. I need meds and therapy to survive. Without those things I get destructive and suicidal thoughts that plague my mind.

Any doubts get to your doctor ASAP and be 100% honest about everything. It could save your life. Talk to the professionals and get more than one opinion if you have to.

Don't get discouraged if everything isn't bunnies, kittens and flowers when you sober up. You can get help. And you can get plenty of support here.

Amen! (I'll take it;)) You make a good point. Not all problems go away after getting sober. But at least if I'm sober I'm not adding to my problems or creating new ones. :)

Kudos, and rockin' message, Bam. :)

I'm not sure that depression gets in the way of happiness, either. I don't think it does, unless happiness is only a place of feelings, which I believe it is not. Depression is an illness, in my experience. I hope that your happiness is realized more and more day after day in every way which benefits you. You got alot of spunk and heart, ((Bam)) :hug:


Robby

I agree. I know sobriety wouldn't be as happy for me if I wasn't treating my depression medically. But that's just me. Turns out booze didn't cure my depression no matter how much I tried lol.

Booze makes depression worse doesn't it?

For me, yes and no. Booze did a lot of good things to me too. Fearless, couragess, it's that instant effect produced that I loved. THEN, when I hit a spiritual and emotional bottom, I woke up to your statement. ;)

It took away any restlessness, irritability and discontent that I was feeling BEFORE I EVEN POURED IT!!!

Alcohol is a depressant, it depresses the central nervous system. It always made me depressed, physically and mentally. Took away my energy and ambition. And left me with anxiety when the depressant wore off. And altho I still have anxiety and depression, it would be MUCH worse if I were still drinking. Not to mention, meds for depression don't work like they're supposed to if you're drinking a depressant while taking them...:(

what Least said is absolutely true...I have to say that alcohol is a catlyst(sp) for my depression....in the past year, the combination made it difficult for me to even function, my depression feeds off of my drinking and vice-versa.

life is far from perfect since i've gotten sober, but i have a lot more good days now than bad....i can function, concentrate and sleep better.

jsut a thought, if life is about learning something for whatever reason, wouldn't taking booze and shutting our brains off actually interfering with whatever reason our hp gave us to be in our place? And would we just suffer longer one arht then it would be necessary by drinking?

I can so relate to this:

It was a painful but necessary experience to find out that I needed more help than self-help groups can offer. Sure laypeople in such groups can be very helpful and their novel programs are good, but there came at time when I needed highly skilled professional assistance in order to recover further.

I think that many have an unrealistic attitude when they get sober, it doesn't solve all of life's problems. Many of us still have that 'quick fix' mentality of when we used to drink/use, it's an ingrained impulse.

I suffer from some mental health diagnoses too. There can be good moments sober, but they are of a different quality from the experience of being high or intoxicated. However, they are also way more meaningful. And they don't wear off overnight and turn into nightmares the following day either.

If we didn't have our struggles or bad times, it would be harder perhaps to appreciate rewards and good things when they come to us. When I was addicted, every single thing that unpleasantly marred my experience had to be blocked or removed, but ultimately I realized that I had become entirely bankrupt inwardly from doing that.

Thanks for this. The longer I'm sober the more I'm realizing there are good days, and there are bad days. Without the bad days you wouldn't truly feel the good days. It's all a balancing thing. You need sadness to feel happiness, and you need pain to feel the pleasurable things.

I don't think I really knew what life was before I was sober. When I was using it was almost the same day over and over and over...use, find more, use, find more. The only feelings I felt were bad feelings like being ashamed and feeling worthless - or the numb that I was searching for. There's so much more to life than that. :)