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Addictions

Metalhead

Metalhead

Metal health will drive you mad!
V.I.P Member
I am finding that I have a real talent for replacing one addiction with another one. Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life?
 
To a different substance or a "process addiction"?

Not necessarily. While I was a drunk and addict, I have no desire for it at all anymore and haven't since the detox process was finished 7 years ago.

I have wondered before if it actually was addiction to the substances themselves or if it was an addiction to the habit of ingesting them because I haven't had the desire to relapse at all which is not all that common.

Could be the "Black and white" thinking too. It shuts things off like a toggle switch in me.
 
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Curse of being us. It's a stimming aspect of doing something over and over maybe?

I have been a workaholic in my lifetime. I have over done other things which l won't get into. But age has lessen the need to do redo to some extent. But l do like repetition. How weird is that?

I refuse to beat myself up. Acceptance of you means a better you.
 
Metalhead said:
I am finding that I have a real talent for replacing one addiction with another one. Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life?
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It truly depends on how you try to condition yourself. If you pay extreme attention to your addiction you could keep it for a long time
 
Metalhead said:
I am finding that I have a real talent for replacing one addiction with another one. Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life?
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This might not work for everybody, but have you tried replacing them with exercise or eating healthy? One of the things that pulled me out of my alcoholism was being able to work out and not feel sick and shaky afterward, it kind of turned off the desire to ever touch it again.
 
SL!ME said:
This might not work for everybody, but have you tried replacing them with exercise or eating healthy? One of the things that pulled me out of my alcoholism was being able to work out and not feel sick and shaky afterward, it kind of turned off the desire to ever touch it again.
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But these could also turn into harmfull addictions themselfs from what i have heard.
 
It sounds to me lIke you are experiencing Dry Drunk Syndrome. It is a fancy bunch of words. It basically means that you have abstained from drinking, but have not dealt with the issues that drove you to drink. I have known that about myself. I thought that as long as I stopped getting high, everything would be OK. I have learned recently that I am still very depressed, and I have essentially substituted one addiction for another. I take a lot of meds for depression and anxiety, but I am still suffering. I recently responded to a topic here, and, from everyone’s reaction, I have realized that I have not dealt with the issues that are affecting my life. So, now I am in therapy, and I am taking it seriously.

I don’t feel qualified to make suggestions at this early point of my recovery. However, I would recommend seeking therapy or engage in some means to deal with the underlying issues that have caused you to drink. I believe having autism exaggerates the matter since we are prone to being obsessive. I am hoping to bring down my “degree of obsessiveness” to a healthy level. And not just substituting one addiction for another. - Just my perspective.
 
Weirdly life seems somewhat boring without an obsession or passion of what we love doing. My obsession makes me exel in what l like to do in good obsessions however, this also applies to not so great things. Sometimes l wish the NT's would wake up and obsess or have passions themselves.
 
Through nature or years of drug abuse, or likely both, my brain seems to permanently operate as that of an addict. But this doesn’t have to be a life sentence – that is just information to think about how to go about things once you quit drugs/alcohol.

I think this brings up the idea of harm reduction – I’m currently in a phase of recovery (again) where I am replacing the most dangerous drugs with safer ones. From there, my drug addictions may turn into an art addiction, and then walking and hiking. For the past two weeks I’ve had great success with replacing my current drug of choice with AutismForums. So for me, the label “addictive” is much less important than the label destructive.
 
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FlowerFlo said:
But these could also turn into harmfull addictions themselfs from what i have heard.
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When you’re talking about serious addictions, my opinion is that it is very useful to consider the idea of harm reduction.

In the throes of an addiction, the drug of choice (whatever it is from heroin to exercise) is usually a coping skill. So trying to solve your addiction, so to speak, while taking away the most powerful and reliable coping skill you have at the same time can be a recipe for failure

Harm reduction buys time in a way to get your body and mind in a better state to tackle those underlying issues that @Leo Zed brought up.
 
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