Poll Substance Abuse - Did Illegal Drugs Help You?

[Surviving]

Going to a doctor isn't so bad. It's confidential and no one in the waiting room knows why you're there. Plus, there are less addictive drugs to help you with anxiety which is usually the cause of rage with PTSD, like a defense mechanism. I hope you go the safe route and get qualified medical attention.

Also, I know it's hard for some guys to open up to a therapist but remember that you aren't there first case and they've likely seen many other men with PTSD. Find one that is experienced and educated with PTSD and after a few sessions, you'll find that opening up is a HUGE release. You can talk about your fears and anger without being judged and it's all in private.

God Bless!

 

[ltm6302]

marijuana stopped my anxiety attacks and allowed me to sleep and eat regularly

 

[Deleted member 541]

I did pot for years, but the longer I smoked, the more my anxiety rose. I eventually had to quit in my mid 30's. I tried again about 10 years ago. NOT a good Idea......

 

[fin]

I did not vote on the poll either because I do not see it as a relevant question to me anymore. I understand the need ofr people to take whatever theytake and do also.

I feel I am able to understand quite a lot from different points of view and prespectives, I did when I painted and also maybe it would help me to again, although I painted nothing when I did at that time, I had no energy to create and it slowed me too much also.

I would rather not be out of control and yet I understand the need it gives and we can take and think we are in control of our needs a nd desires. I was druuged once (more than once) and so because of this I am aand have sworn off of drug taking, I think maybe thought though that id canabis had none of the crap that is put in it nowadays to help it grow etc that I would maybe think on it too. (an old college friend put her sons mental illness down to the cannibis and she smokes/d it too)

I have a friend he had a spinal injury over 20 years ago now (motorcycle accident) and it helps him to sleep, with pain, eating and also to forget. Forgetting is something that would possibly help me also but I still have to be me at some time s and so because of that I am not sure.

To relax myself too much can find things softening more sometimes also. I soften but I am already soft and warm this is part of me in my sensual feminity, others can do the same get softer and they maybe become violent and angry.

I do not know I can only speak of what I am able to be or do today this moment in time is all I am allowed to feel or accept, I have been told time is needed and heals but in illegal drug taking I think that time becomes much more fluid also, and maybe tomorrow never comes or feels like it will not com anyhow it can roll on coming when it does.

If I could trust again maybe- I dont know though about the trust I had in the past was abused the same way through drugs and so it is difficult to understand me I guess. I am maybe harder to know because of my past

I get the feeling though sometimes I should perhaps be taking illegal drugs, that they just might help me to see some also claritynis such fun with me to be in live with

So I am sorry I didnt answer but I have I tihnk answered here it would be no for me but I understand it helps others with me

 

[jefferylee]

I've found that just about the ONLY drug that can help me try to get to sleep is weed.I've tried every sleeping pill on the market,but none work for me as well as smokin' a bowl just before trying to nod off for the 2-3 hours of sleep I get by on nightly.Living in northern california certainly makes access to "da kine" much easier,I must say :) I used to smoke a lot,but now limit myself to only using at bedtime.

Here in CA you can get a medical marijuana card,but there's no way in hell I would ever let my name be put on some government list as a pot user...I'm WAY to paranoid of who might have access to the list for that!

 

[Insane in York]

I definitely still do self medicate with Pot. Out of anything I've taken for anxiety it seems to help the most. It also helps me more than sleeping pills. I basically smoke myself to sleep whenever possible.

 

[miahowl]

Wow. The results of the poll speak volumes. That's all I'll say. Been there, done that, trying to cut it out (with relative success but been in some dark tunnels).

 

[This Ends Now]

I only voted "yes" b/c pot is currently illegal where I live and pot helps a lot! MDMA might have helped if I had been able to get it from a doctor and use it in a clinical setting along with talk therapy/memory recovery work, but off the streets it is a more or less worthless drug. All the others were complete garbage.

 

[tah]

I smoked pot everyday from when I woke up till bedtime from jr high till I was 22. Dropped acid about 1-5 times a month through high school, while in school too. Shrooms became a weekly thing after high school until I got to heavier drugs. I stopped acid after a really bad trip and I still feel like I have after effects of it.

There isn't much I can tell you about that time period except I didn't care much about anything. I was reckless with my life. Challenging dangerous people at parties with guns, etc.

I have been drug free for 10+ years. When I found out I was pregnant, I quit. No question about it. I had to do it for someone else now. It wasn't just about me anymore. Then after my daughter I drank a lot. So from drugs to alcohol. Now I have a beer a day to relax myself and it seems to be just right. There are times I think about smoking a bowl just to chill, but I can't. I know what will happen. I think being off the drugs has made me have to deal with some memories I would rather not, but it was only a matter of time.

So for me, no it wasn't good. It was an escape mechanism. Maybe now if I just found pot it would be good as a relaxant, but with my history it would do more harm for me than good. A lot of people tell me its just pot. But to me it is more than that. That is how my drug road started and I am scared to go back there. As much as I don't want to, I need to address this crap I have in my head so I can hopefully learn to cope and make it better for my kids.

This is why I have such a hard time getting on prescription for anything. I am scared to death of any kind of medication and my addiction history.

I do see the medical benefits of pot for others, it just isn't for me.

 

[tryintobreathe]

I didn't vote because they helped but also harmed me. I started smoking pot when I was 12 years old which was after my abuser stopped molesting/raping me. I smoked pot every day for about 10 years. I really DO think that helped me cope. But my idea of coping was to also pretend nothing had happened. I didn't do any drugs for a long time after that and I had a LOT of anger and rage with other problems. I was prescribed pain medication (opiates) in 2000 and they quickly became my best friend. It was the first time in my life that I could almost relax and be more social. I was able to do things with my kids, I THOUGHT I was happier. But, then the addiction got so bad that it started destroying my life. When I didn't have my drugs, I was a raging lunatic. I was doctor shopping, ordering meds online, I even would raid people's medicine cabinets. I am not proud of the things I had to do to get my drugs. I finally quit after I almost killed myself and the thought of my kids not having their mom (as screwed up as she was), was more than I could handle. I was taking about 30 10/325 Vicodins a day just to function. I quit cold turkey at home...I refused to leave my kids and get help. I started going to NA meetings and I've been clean for 5 1/2 years now. Ironically, when I stopped doing drugs is when I realized I couldn't go on pretending my abuse had never happened. It had been stuffed down-burried deep inside me for so long and it was SCREAMING to get out! So, yes...in some ways they helped me cope but as much as they helped, they also harmed me. Sorry that go so long!!

Jen

 

[suzie q]

From the time I first smoked a joint, I fell in love. I felt relaxed, happy and my mind suddenly seemed clear. I was still a teenager at the time, so getting to use was up to whoever had it. I looked constantly for a chance to get high. Since I left home at 16, I started to do all the other things that made you numb. At the time, I didn't know that's what I was searching for, I just felt so together when I was out of my mind. I did everything I could get my hands on at the time (1970's) I didn't stop until it no longer worked anymore. I kept looking for the old good feelings and relief and it never came no matter how much I used or what I used.

I was stuck with an addiction to alcohol and drugs with no way to stop on my own. My life was meaningless. I didn't care. The addiction ruled me and my life. I found help 13 years ago at the age of 36! It had stopped working so why continue? Because I felt like I would be nothing without that relief. It was the hardest thing I've had to do physically, but the rewards have been huge. I understand the need to numb, but eventually it will probably stop working. Why waste those years of life? Easy to say in hindsight. I still wish I could smoke one. Woohoo!! Once an addict always an addict. I could never stop with just one or two of anything mind altering. I consumed until I either ran out or I passed out. I didn't want to live like that anymore.

 

[onebravegirl]

My captor wouldn't let me. He said it would make me harder to control.
At some points in my recovery I almost wished I would have. I would have remembered less that way.
O