5 ms·

Not sure how to feel about this article. I'm about turn 28 and at various times in my past I have been addicted to cigarettes, methamphetamine, ketamine, heroin

Not sure how to feel about this article. I'm about turn 28 and at various times in my past I have been addicted to cigarettes, methamphetamine, ketamine, heroin and tramadol. I'm currently clean, however I feel like I am always just one small slip away from sinking into the abyss, it takes a concentrated effort almost every day to avoid this abyss, I certainly don't feel like I'm growing out of it. I am happily married and have a high paying job that I love, I'm generally really quite happy about life but still feel the darkness calling.

fpoling 8y ago
The study does not say that all recovers, only 75%. And with alcohol and heroin the recovery is longer, until the age of 35 or so.
- ChuckMeOut 8y ago
  I'd be interested to know a bit more about the method they used. Obviously anecdotal but when I started getting heavily involved in drugs my group of friends consisted of 7 people including myself, today only 4 of us are still alive, 75% recovery is not what I've experienced.
  - tixocloud 8y ago
    Not sure if it’s too personal or private so I’m sorry if it is but what made you get involved?
    - engineeringwoke 8y ago
      Yes OP there's an underlying reason to explain it. Without dealing with it, you never solve the problem
  - k_bx 8y ago
    And to add to the question on "what made you get involved", I would be interested in knowing which drugs were they (opioids and heroin?) Thank you, and sorry if it's too personal to ask
AllegedAlec 8y ago
Same here. 28, and I've been trying to get rid of my cigarette habit for 5 of the 10 years that I've been smoking. I've quite often made it to the 2 month mark, but whenever something bad happens in my life, it's becomes way too tempting to fall back in to old patterns and just have one cigarette. And then another one, and then I might as well buy a pack...
- ChuckMeOut 8y ago
  Honestly cigarettes were probably the hardest for me to quit, the only way I finally managed to get beyond that initial climb was a close family member was diagnosed with lung cancer and died shortly after, this was enough of a shock to carry me through the hardest stage.
  - AllegedAlec 8y ago
    Yeah, it was the same for my dad; he quit smoking after smoking for 35 years (since his 12th!) after his doctor told him his lung function was dangerously low and he wouldn't last more then 15 years unless he quit.
- scotty79 8y ago
  Nicotine is one of the most physically addictive substances.
- Thlom 8y ago
  I quit smoking several times, even went a year without smoking, but eventually relapsed into it every time. What helped me quit for good was snus. It's still nicotine and I'm addicted, but as far as we know it's _a lot_ less dangerous than cigarettes. I guess vaping might do the same but that didn't work for me.
- 0db532a0 8y ago
  I am 28 and managed to give up a few months ago during one of the worst periods of my life after reading Alan Carr’s, The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permentantly. Read it.
scotty79 8y ago
The point of the article is that you, as the lucky most, now at 28, can keep yourself from making this one small slip when before you couldn't.
0db532a0 8y ago
For smoking at least, look into Alan Carr’s, The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently. I’m not into self-help books, but this one really made sense and worked for me. I’m 28 by the way, and funnily enough, I started smoking and getting into drugs at 23. I have been around smoking friends a lot since reading the book, and have not had the desire for even a single puff. You can apply the same ideas to drugs and alcohol, and he actually goes over that near the end of the book. I have still found myself snorting the odd line of coke when it has been laid out, but I haven’t bought any drugs since reading the book. I can’t really handle them now anyway. Last weekend I actually refused, which is a first in ages. The book will help you to build the massive mental fortifications needed to realise that the abyss tobacco and other drugs create are shit and do you no good. Give it a go even if you’re not smoking currently.
- golergka 8y ago
  I tried reading it, but stopped around the first pages when he boldly states something along the lines of "you don't smoke because it tastes good" (it was more than 10 years ago, my memory can be a little fuzzy). That was my main reason for smoking my whole life, I couldn't take the man seriously. I stopped smoking a year ago without any effort: I just started to forget to do it, day after day, and one day realized that I no longer smoked on a regular basis. Guess it wasn't a real addiction after all.
  - krolley 8y ago
    I find it hard to believe that the smell and taste of smoking was actually pleasant to begin with, and more likely that you now have a positive association of the smell with the pleasant effects ("high") that you got from nicotine. Although I've stopped smoking marijuana now, I still really love the smell, very herby and fresh. My wife, on the other hand, absolutely hates it and can't stand it.
    - y4mi 8y ago
      Why do you find it hard to believe that other people like it, considering your shared anecdote to the same effect? I enjoyed the taste of some tabaccos as well, though the after taste was always unpleasant. Thankfully, smoking never became an addiction for me
Ice_cream_suit 8y ago
I found Narcotics Anonymous immensely useful. It saved my life, my marriage, my sanity and my family.
dbtqgoat 8y ago
that’s kind of how I felt reading this. “Congrats on growing out of it”, was all I really thought, while reading the whole thing.

fpoling 8y ago

The study does not say that all recovers, only 75%. And with alcohol and heroin the recovery is longer, until the age of 35 or so.

ChuckMeOut 8y ago
I'd be interested to know a bit more about the method they used. Obviously anecdotal but when I started getting heavily involved in drugs my group of friends consisted of 7 people including myself, today only 4 of us are still alive, 75% recovery is not what I've experienced.
- tixocloud 8y ago
  Not sure if it’s too personal or private so I’m sorry if it is but what made you get involved?
  - engineeringwoke 8y ago
    Yes OP there's an underlying reason to explain it. Without dealing with it, you never solve the problem
- k_bx 8y ago
  And to add to the question on "what made you get involved", I would be interested in knowing which drugs were they (opioids and heroin?) Thank you, and sorry if it's too personal to ask

AllegedAlec 8y ago

Same here. 28, and I've been trying to get rid of my cigarette habit for 5 of the 10 years that I've been smoking. I've quite often made it to the 2 month mark, but whenever something bad happens in my life, it's becomes way too tempting to fall back in to old patterns and just have one cigarette. And then another one, and then I might as well buy a pack...

ChuckMeOut 8y ago
Honestly cigarettes were probably the hardest for me to quit, the only way I finally managed to get beyond that initial climb was a close family member was diagnosed with lung cancer and died shortly after, this was enough of a shock to carry me through the hardest stage.
- AllegedAlec 8y ago
  Yeah, it was the same for my dad; he quit smoking after smoking for 35 years (since his 12th!) after his doctor told him his lung function was dangerously low and he wouldn't last more then 15 years unless he quit.
scotty79 8y ago
Nicotine is one of the most physically addictive substances.
Thlom 8y ago
I quit smoking several times, even went a year without smoking, but eventually relapsed into it every time. What helped me quit for good was snus. It's still nicotine and I'm addicted, but as far as we know it's _a lot_ less dangerous than cigarettes. I guess vaping might do the same but that didn't work for me.
0db532a0 8y ago
I am 28 and managed to give up a few months ago during one of the worst periods of my life after reading Alan Carr’s, The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permentantly. Read it.

scotty79 8y ago

The point of the article is that you, as the lucky most, now at 28, can keep yourself from making this one small slip when before you couldn't.

0db532a0 8y ago

For smoking at least, look into Alan Carr’s, The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently. I’m not into self-help books, but this one really made sense and worked for me. I’m 28 by the way, and funnily enough, I started smoking and getting into drugs at 23. I have been around smoking friends a lot since reading the book, and have not had the desire for even a single puff. You can apply the same ideas to drugs and alcohol, and he actually goes over that near the end of the book. I have still found myself snorting the odd line of coke when it has been laid out, but I haven’t bought any drugs since reading the book. I can’t really handle them now anyway. Last weekend I actually refused, which is a first in ages. The book will help you to build the massive mental fortifications needed to realise that the abyss tobacco and other drugs create are shit and do you no good. Give it a go even if you’re not smoking currently.

golergka 8y ago
I tried reading it, but stopped around the first pages when he boldly states something along the lines of "you don't smoke because it tastes good" (it was more than 10 years ago, my memory can be a little fuzzy). That was my main reason for smoking my whole life, I couldn't take the man seriously. I stopped smoking a year ago without any effort: I just started to forget to do it, day after day, and one day realized that I no longer smoked on a regular basis. Guess it wasn't a real addiction after all.
- krolley 8y ago
  I find it hard to believe that the smell and taste of smoking was actually pleasant to begin with, and more likely that you now have a positive association of the smell with the pleasant effects ("high") that you got from nicotine. Although I've stopped smoking marijuana now, I still really love the smell, very herby and fresh. My wife, on the other hand, absolutely hates it and can't stand it.
  - y4mi 8y ago
    Why do you find it hard to believe that other people like it, considering your shared anecdote to the same effect? I enjoyed the taste of some tabaccos as well, though the after taste was always unpleasant. Thankfully, smoking never became an addiction for me

Ice_cream_suit 8y ago

I found Narcotics Anonymous immensely useful. It saved my life, my marriage, my sanity and my family.

dbtqgoat 8y ago

that’s kind of how I felt reading this. “Congrats on growing out of it”, was all I really thought, while reading the whole thing.