Anyone else struggle with mental health/addiction?

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rae_liz916

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2014
Messages
114
Location
Sacramento, CA
I've been shy forever. It turned into social anxiety after I started using drugs. Then came the depression. Then came harder drugs.
I got really bad. Like rock bottom bad. But I have 5 months clean on the 18th!!!! Longest EVER!! :bliss:
I'm also doing much better with the anxiety/depression. Having ratties helps :)

Just curious if anyone else here struggles with anything like this? It's always nice to be able to relate to others on things with so much stigma.
 
Congrats on being clean! That's quite an accomplishment, keep it up!!! :thumbsup:

I have a much more simple issue... chronic depression, that was diagnosed and treated 10 years ago. I'm down A LOT on antidepressant, I think in 2 or 3 years, I'll finally be med free! (Going down really slow so I can make sure I am reacting well to the lower dosage...)
 
Thanks so much :D
Congrats to you too!!! It must've been tough to make the decision to taper.
And I wouldn't say it's simple, cuz I've been there too. I don't think it's taken seriously enough just because so many people seem to have it. It's definitely not an easy thing to go through, even when the symptoms are just not being motivated or not being able to sleep. Sucks :/
 
Congrats on being sober!
I have generalized social anxiety but nothing too serious and nothing requiring meds. But I've seen people around me struggle with addiction in one form or another. You should be very proud of yourself!
 
Thanks :) I am pretty proud, especially choosing to get clean at 20. It's tough and I don't know what I'll do for my 21st b-day, but I just remind myself that no matter how hard today is, it'll never be as bad as when I was using.
And that's great you're not taking meds (if you don't need em), cuz I'm sure you could get them if you wanted.
 
I feel compelled to add to this thread, as someone with depression, anxiety, mild autism, and ADHD (all diagnosed). I've done some substance abuse in the past but never got addicted (thankfully) so I can't speak much about that.

Rats have been a wonderful responsibility for me, helping me learn to take care of something else has helped me take care of myself. They just give me that reason to get up in the morning to feed them, give fresh water, give antibiotics, let them out, clean cages... I just *can't* let them suffer. And by getting out of bed and keeping myself occupied, I just feel so much better. Granted I can't let rats take all the credit for my better moods, I'd also have to thank years of therapy and psychiatry.

For this reason and others, my college has allowed me to keep rats in my dorm room. It's AMAZING and I encourage anyone with rats who is going to college to just ask disability services about "assistance animals". You will thank me later.
 
I feel compelled to add to this thread, as someone with depression, anxiety, mild autism, and ADHD (all diagnosed). I've done some substance abuse in the past but never got addicted (thankfully) so I can't speak much about that.

Rats have been a wonderful responsibility for me, helping me learn to take care of something else has helped me take care of myself. They just give me that reason to get up in the morning to feed them, give fresh water, give antibiotics, let them out, clean cages... I just *can't* let them suffer. And by getting out of bed and keeping myself occupied, I just feel so much better. Granted I can't let rats take all the credit for my better moods, I'd also have to thank years of therapy and psychiatry.

For this reason and others, my college has allowed me to keep rats in my dorm room. It's AMAZING and I encourage anyone with rats who is going to college to just ask disability services about "assistance animals". You will thank me later.

Wow, congratulations on your recovery!! I can't imagine all that. And that's incredible they let you keep your rats, very very cool!
I agree totally. My dogs were therapeutic before and my rats have been just as great for me. Like you said, it's like forced motivation. I love animals too much to abandon them.
I have to add, I got a paycheck mailed from my old work a month or so ago. Before it would've absolutely been in my veins in less than an hour (sorry if that's too much info), but I can proudly say I spent the entire thing on my ratties :hurray: Super good feeling.
 
So many comments here (all good :)) sorry if I get a bit ranty!! In advance!
1) CONGRATS on recovery!
2) it's not too much info if you wanna share here its your freedom to do so as long as language is clean (i'm sure)
3) I understand each of your struggles in some way. I have diagnosed manic depression, General anxiety, and PTSD with an addictive personality.
A bit of what I've gone through:
I never went harder then MJ smoking because of my anxiety toward being caught but I did end up in two situations where I was given worse things due to hanging out with the wrong people including dating 2 girls (which was highly confusing for me and I hid it from my parents) because I was lonely and down and wanting to just not feel alone...which I still did (feel alone) and then was used and abused.
My PTSD was due to some of these relationships. My last 3 semi-long term relationships...nothing ever lasted long with me because he/she would get freaked out when he/she became my addiction and leave...were highly abusive. I ended up with guys that used my want and need to be needed and took whatever they could get and it made my depression much worse but I couldn't take control because I felt if I lost them I wasn't needed and therefore the roller coaster continued. Or I ended up with a girl who was experimenting with sexuality and I was just there as a guinea pig and then it was "nope I definitely like boys, bye!"

I had 2 dogs since I was 16 but was away from them through my first three years of college, which were 3 of my most self-deprecating years! But they were always my reason for getting up and going out into the sun to walk them.

After some years of counseling at a women's shelter (I strongly recommended group counseling in an abuse situation, it was so rewarding). I came out as a true bi-sexual finally and felt much better about opening up to family when I need help. I met my now future husband (online) while going through counseling and was able to have a healthy 2-way relationship like nothing I've ever had, was a rough first year as he would dote on me and I didn't understand.
He's been a rock for me. And then my Sterling *my 1st heart rat* came along and gave me another man in my life I could trust and love and we had a great 2-way relationship!! Sterling gave me more purpose to be a good person and to know that I can care about him, other people, and most of all I could care about myself. I was loveable!
Since then I finally was able to do what I've always wanted and open a rescue. Rats was the perfect one, my fiance also fell in love with his girl Peach and was more then willing to allow my door to open to these in need critters.
Since joining here I feel I have an even bigger family and my fiance is starting to even recognize users I mention often just like they're an old friend :)
 
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Thanks for the congrats :)
I said "awwww" out loud reading your post so many times lol. Great story of recovery. I've had a lot of bipolar friends and my sister has borderline personality disorder (part of it for her is switching from guys to girls to guys) so I can sympathize.
I think there's something about a lot of addicts/people with mental health problems that's so cool. They seem to be more compassionate, less judgmental, just more real overall .
Well I guess that does kinda make sense though considering the judgments made on us...
 
Absolutely! I feel like I have a family through this community and anything I can do to make someone else feel that I wanna do!

Anytime you're going through a tough time private message me ut comes straight through my phone so feel free. ..any of you
 
Thanks! And yep, only way to do it. Especially in the beginning.
And sorta. More a friend of Jimmy K lol. Equally good, the other is just where I'm more comfortable. I take it you are? How much time if you don't mind me asking?
 
I too want to add my congratulations on being clean! So many lives have been messed up or completely destroyed by substance abuse. You have demonstrated how strong you are by kicking this thing to the curb - good for you!
There really are so many people out there with mental illness. There have been great strides taken in breaking down the barriers and removing the stigma that goes with the label. We've got a long way to go, but we really have come a long way too!
It's gotta be tough being unsure of your sexuality too. I just know it was bad enough being a straight teenager. I couldn't imagine being gay or being unsure - the social pressures and once again, stigma, would be so intense. I'm SO glad there was no internet or texting or cell phones when I was younger. At least when you went home from school you were away from everyone except your friends and family. A real break that people don't seem to get any more.
I found that once I hit about 30, things started to change in the way I felt about how other people perceived me. I guess I just stopped caring as much about what they thought. Aside from certain people like friends and family, I just don't give a rat's a$$ what others think. It's really very freeing and, I think, something to look forward to. :D
 
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You saying that Joanne made me think of this...
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Thanks Joanne!! It is getting easier already. I don't know that I have the social anxiety anymore, but I am still shy. I'm also just naturally introverted so it's hard to tell.
And I'm always sooooo happy when I see a commercial about addiction or mental illness. You're right, at least there's progress being made.
Lol Sterlingrats. I'm slightly confused, but it's still funny.
 
Congratulations on being clean. A huge accomplishment, and you should be proud of yourself.

I hit my rock bottom some years ago with drug abuse and jail time and losing a lot of priveleges I once took for granted. A few years ago I was finally diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and everything clicked. I used to struggle with alcohol and prescription drug abuse, but my struggles with those things have gotten better as I've worked in therapy to cope with bpd and, essentially, improve the way I function in life. I still have the occasional drink, but I don't drink to get drunk or handle anxiety anymore. It's just a social thing, and it doesn't get out of hand anymore.

Since other people have touched on the topic of how owning rats has helped - dealing with the emotional exhaustion that sometimes accompanies our rats (sick, bad rescue situations, etc.) has really helped me to learn to cope with other emotional stress in my life. With the rats, if I don't reign in my emotions, I can't make the best decisions for them and care for them. Once you learn to regulate your emotions in these situations, some of the normal everyday emotional triggers are suddenly much less significant and a lot easier to handle. Having rats also gives me a sense of direction and purpose in life, which is big for someone who struggles with constant feelings of emptiness or having no purpose or goal in life. Which is somewhat funny to me, because most people in my life tell me I need to stop having them because of the stress and upset. Pffffft.
 
I had to blurr out the bad words but a common idiom I've seen is " I have 0 (zero) more f***s to give" not giving a cr@p, and another common saying is "I don't give a rats a$$" it just combines the two and that I do have a rats bum to give so here...
 
Congrats to you too!! Yes, the things we do for drugs are just insane. I would never do those things for anything other than drugs...Horrible.
And congrats on recovery with BPD. I think I mentioned on this thread my sister has it, so I have an idea what it's like. It's really difficult to see someone going through it and I'm glad you're doing better!

Oh and sterling rats, derpppp. Gotcha now lmao.
 
I'd also like to add my congratulations to you for getting through these difficulties that life has thrown at you! :D

It's gotta be tough being unsure of your sexuality too. I just know it was bad enough being a straight teenager. I couldn't imagine being gay or being unsure - the social pressures and once again, stigma, would be so intense. I'm SO glad there was no internet or texting or cell phones when I was younger. At least when you went home from school you were away from everyone except your friends and family. A real break that people don't seem to get any more.

To be honest, I think it's a real blessing to have the Internet as a support tool, in this instance anyway.

As you said, it's tough growing up at the best of times, but when you're also faced with questions and concerns about your sexuality, it can be hard to know where to turn or who to trust - and that's if you're even comfortable discussing it in the first place. The feelings of loneliness and despair can be overwhelming and thoughts of, "I don't know anyone else who feels the way I do - what if I'm the only person who feels like this?", can drive you crazy.

The Internet can open up a whole new world. The relative anonymity it offers and the access to people and resources from around the world are priceless. People struggling with their sexuality will see that they are not alone and that life does, in fact, get better. :D
 
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