I won't judge, everyone is different, but the real test will be your quality of life at the end. Based on your description, I'm not sure I'd call you an addic

I won't judge, everyone is different, but the real test will be your quality of life at the end. Based on your description, I'm not sure I'd call you an addict at this point, not in the classical sense, you seem to be choosing to use, not using because you need it to stave off withdrawal symptoms, above all else. And while you may be one of those exceptions, those edge cases that can choose and walk away, it's important for people to understand that everyone can't do that, and you can't know in advance whether or not you'll end up an addict, in some way or another, for the rest of your life tangling with that stuff. Yes, there should be focus on harm reduction rather than jail time. Yes, the stigma should go away... booze is as bad or worse than other things that are far more stigmatized. But let's not pretend drugs are all great happy awesome things. Addicts do end up completely screwed up and dead on clean pharma drugs.... every day. Let's not pretend it's safe and happy. Yes, it's true, most of the damage from opiate addiction is due to it's legal status... there's always the risk of overdose with higher doses. Opiates work for your case, that's great - but statistically unlikely as a remedy for the general public. Most people with depression who end up using opiates and/or other drugs end up more screwed up in the long run. Whether a drug is related or not doesn't matter... weak opiates are useful wheras strong ones can be srongly addictive, or lethal. Weak short-acting benzodiazepines, like what's in Ambien are far less likely to cause you addiction requiring hospitalized withdrawal so you don't die compared to say, long term use of longer and stronger drugs that are almost identical (thinking xanax, valium) Street meth his horrid shit, and while closely related to the amphetamine salts used for adhd kids, is horrificly addictive and extremely bad for your health - that's comparing playing with matches to playing with hand grenades. Sure, if you take enough adderall or related, that's prone to abuse and addiction, but it's nothing compared to what crystal meth does to your body and mind. Just because drug companies made mistakes in the past is no reason to toss caution to the wind. You were diagnosed Bipolar, that's something you have to deal with; I can't claim to understand it, so if what you are doing makes your life truly better for you, then I see no problem, but for the vast majority of people, that's not the usual outcome.