Topic : Addiction Support

Hmm....this place has kind of ground to a halt.  I've been doing some long-weekend type travelling and it amazes me when I check in and see nothing new!! 

I'm glad to hear your Dad is doing well.  I think I mentioned that my Dad, too, had colon cancer.  For us, it turned out quite well -- they simply removed the tumor and sewed him up.  No chemo, no radiation....what was significant about it was that his colon cancer was what finally convinced my stepmom that my Dad was an alcoholic!! They were having problems pulling him out from under the anesthesia and couldn't figure out why, until the severe twitchiness and sweaty palms finally gave it away.  They literally had to bring up some vodka from the hospital pharmacy to pull him out of it (I'm not sure why they didn't just use librium or something, unless this particular hospital was a bit archaic in treating alcoholism). 

Just like you, my relationship with my father is/was complex, to say the least.  But, of course, I was happy the cancer had been caught very early and proved to be minimally challenging. 

Well i am not sure if you want to hear from me but I know quite a few teens who have stopped cutting themselves.  I myself can understand to some degree, I am an addict and I abused myself for many years.  I believe that you are getting a rush from the cutting, and you need to get some help.  I pray you have told someone who can get you the help you need.   

 Please don't take over where someone else left off: in hurting you.  You can stop the pain without causing yourself more physical damage.  And I do feel on some degree that I get the rush cutters get, I am a tattooed person, and I always felt a rush with every tattoo, and when I get very upset and my sponsor in no where to be found I must admit the first thing that comes to my mind is "Boy I would like to just go and get another tattoo", but I don't.  I have been in a 12 step program for a long time and I thank my Higher Power for saving me from myself.  Please get Help! Find a way to LOVE yourself and please don't mutilate your body any more.  And as far as the teens I know some of them have gone through their church, some have been in rehabs like a drug rehab facility, and some have gone to counseling, but I do know ONE THING FOR CERTAIN THEY ALL GOT HELP!!!!!!  

I guess all the addicts/alcoholics that used to come here went and got themselves cured. No really, I don't mean to sound tongue in cheek - I know only to well the seriousness of this disease. I battled it for 30 years before finding a way to put it into a remission. Want to know my secret - please write. It's a deceptively simple method that works for any addiction, alcohol, drugs, cutting, eating disorders - you name it. Also talking to people here is one of the ways I stay sober. If you love an addict write to I think I can give some insight into the mind of an addict/alcoholic. 

Good Bless you all 

Mischif 

Hi, 

My husband and myself are addicted to weed. I've been smoking for about 7 years now. We both want to quit but when it comes down to it never do. So, let me in on your secret. I am ready for a life change. It wasn't supposed to be like this and I was stupid to think I wouldn't get addicted. My husband is a bit more of a harder case but he definitly will try with me. Any help you can offer would be great. Thanks and God bless you as well.  

OK here goes. First a little history - I am an alcoholic and addict. Over the past 30 years I have been a daily drinker of hard booze (my primary addiction) plus I have had flirting affairs with Sleeping pills, pain meds and Benzo's. Up until September of last year I never really considered quitting. The longest I had been dry (not sober) was 9 mos when I was pregnant with my son. I say I was dry because sobriety entails so much more than just stopping the use of alcohol and/or drugs. It requires a change in the way you think about and react to life. For me this change came after a thankfully failed suicide attempt. I went into a rehab program and a 12-step recovery program. I admitted that I was powerless over alcohol and drugs and that my life had become unmanageable. I came to believe that a power greater than myself could restore me to sanity and I became willing to turn my life and my will over to the care of God as I understood Him. Of course there are 9 more steps and I am currently in the later steps 9-12. My life has changed in ways I could never have possibly imagined. Mostly I am free of the worry and fear that ruled my life before sobriety. I talk to a lot of people these days to offer experience, strength and hope. When I decided to get sober I was a medical professional with a family and a six figure income. I almost lost my license to practice, and nearly lost my family to divorce. Today I am sober, living a life of service to others, working in my field (though not for 6 figures) and am slowly rebuilding my family. If I can do it so can you. The first step is admitting you are powerless - quitting comes next in conjunction with steps 2 and 3. It is hard to quit when someone else in the house is using - my husband still drinks alcoholically and I maintain sobriety. I will be sober 1 year on September 28 2005. Start each day by saying a prayer - I like this one written by Reinhold Neibuhr in 1926.  

God grant me the serenity    

to accept the things I cannot change.   

The courage the change the things I can   

And the wisdom to know the difference.   

Living one day at a time   

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.   

Taking as He did this world as it is,   

not as I would have it.   

Trusting that He will make all things right   

If I surrender to his will.   

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,    

And extremely happy with Him forever in the next.   

Peace and God bless  

Mischif  

OK, so I wrote this extremely long message explaining alittle more about my situation and me and what's going on and somehow lost it all. Really aggs me right about now. So, instead of cussing out the Dr. Phil online people reading this right now, I have decided to write a poem, which I love to do. Maybe it will chill me out. Thanks for listening and thank you for your advice. You are so much of an inspiration and I admire your strength and will to keep going. May God bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you is my prayer for you!  

Muffled, jumbled, scattered brain  

Everything’s fuzzy  

And such a strain  

I am so blessed  

And so aware  

Yet look at me  

Without a care  

Why do I dwell  

Why not just live  

Why not just give   

What I have to give  

Holding me back  

There’s the strain   

There’s the pain   

There’s the rain  

There’s where I have lost myself  

And found some dirt instead  

There is where everything changed  

And we all wished we were dead  

I can’t blame that  

My choice came next  

Before me stood  

The ultimate test   

Time has aged  

More blurred I become  

Further I drift  

Loose sight of the Son  

Seems like dark  

Has come to take  

My soul wants out  

Can’t be a fake  

Relief, relax, restoration, repent  

I need some warmth   

In my life of sin  

My God, my healer, my king, my fortress  

My warmth, my peace, my life  

Show me the path, your will I want  

Take away this pain and strife   

(copyright Leasa Pettit)  

Hey ya'll...Just want to say SORRY! I was very huffy earlier and I need to chill. It's just they have changed this site so much and I get frustrated when it doesn't do what it is designed to do. I'm not apologizing for my disapproval of the site, however I am apologizing for my reaction. Thanks for listening.  

I too have a lot of issues with this new site. I feel the design and functionality are really awful. The old board was much better. you could string replies to a message and follow the thoughts of several on the same topic. I've also lost several longer posts that I put a lot of thought into only to have them disappear into the ether. I have however just chocked this up to one of those things that I have no power to change. It is best if you do not let these things fester within you as anger, disappointment and resent are the defining characteristics which set alcoholics and addicts apart from normal people. 

Bill W tells us in the big book: 

"It is clear that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose only hope is the maintenance of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is finitely grave. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the spirit. If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for us these things are poison." 

God wants us to join with his vision of the world - but the only way to do this is to let go of fear, anger, resentment and grab hold of faith love and hope. 

Peace and God Bless 

Mischif 

Hi, 

I'm looking for someone who wants to talk about releasing your eating disorder. I'm at that point now and it gives me so much fear! i'm so afraid of the world, the adult world! 

I hope there's someone who's at the same point or farter and wants too have email contact with me! 

good luck you all! 

(as you can probably see my english isn't perfect. I'm from Holland) 

xxx loes  

loesvandeloop@hotmail.com