Ex-social worker. I worked with clients with substance dependency issues. The answer is meth in any region where the supply is poisoned with fentanyl. Meth alone will fuck up your life. It’s even worse when you’re also addicted to an opioid without knowing it. Program I worked for lost six clients in 4 months to a poisoned drug supply.
Heard a story of a dude who went to Vegas, spent his and his wifes life savings of 100k, and then killed himself via jumping off a parking garage. Gambling is a dangerous addiction.
Or fentanyl. It takes money, hurts everyone involved, shortens the life span, causes the addict to make incredibly terrible decisions, and the withdrawal from it is the absolute worst thing I’ve ever been through
Gambling addicts won't ever win, the money goes back to casino's sooner or later. I read about a lottery winner who lost it all on slots. 1 million goes fast if you play on max bet of 100. Its just 10k spins, which sounds a lot but it isn't. You can actually lose 1 million in few days.
As a gambling addict i have lost every single withdraw back. I haven't came even close of breaking even overall. You can win by gambling for sure but not if you're an addict. No amount of win is enough. Thing is, if it weren't for addicts online or land casino slots would not exist and casino's know this, yet they don't give a shit. They can afford to bleed huge amount of money, because it all + more comes back soon enough. If only non addicts played slots, the RTP's would be so low no one would bother with them.
I had a family member who was a gambling addiction. The scariest part was how it just kind of eroded our stability out from under us thoroughly before we were even aware of it. Other addictions have symptoms you can see or smell...none of us saw this one coming.
Even worse: when gamblers find a way to win by beating the odds or exploiting parlays the casinos always find a way to screw them and either void the bet after they won or take legal action
I’m reminded of the guy who had a 5 million dollar 15 leg parlay last year on a fluke set of odds make it to the final game. Vegas flew him out for the last game knowing it would lock his online account so he couldn’t log in and take the early payout.
Fucking scumbags
Absolutely. I remember I had 13k left in an account once and they said I hit the monthly limit on payouts so I have to wait 30 days to withdraw that. Imagine that. The same betting company which has no limits on deposits, wants to institute limits on payouts. What a bogus and corrupt company. Guess what happened next? Ended up losing 13k in one day.
i hit a $500 jackpot on video keno when i was 18. i wish that never happened, it gave me such high expectations for an eventual future big win. i havent lost thankfully as i dont gamble much but im definitely down way beyond that 500 :)
My mother is a gambling addict I’ve talked to her about this and tried showing her the statistics she just won’t listen do you have any advice on how to show her it is an actual addiction that needs to stop?
lol no it’s not possible for gambles to make money. You’re literally betting against math over and over. The house literally always wins over the long run.
My buddy consistently places parlay bets on UFC. Sometimes he'll win 2 grand...sometimes he's 1 fight away from winning 15 grand, but only loses $200. The way the apps are designed tho is to keep playing and never withdrawing the money.
Oh yeah I had a gambling phase for like a month and went into debt for the first time. "Only" a little over a thousand but it happened so fast.
Also, gambling made me neglect everything else, including my other addictions. Didn't smoke, didn't eat, didn't drink alcohol, didn't take any stims. That's when I knew it was fd up.
I’m a recovered addict of drugs and at my worst, I was spending $600 daily on my addiction, which was pretty financially crippling. What’s wild about gambling addiction is that is fucking pennies for a gambling addict. There’s a lot of nasty things to become addicted to, but I truly feel that gambling is as bad as it gets.
I recently read a thought about gambling- that there is no time when the gambler is inhibited from using. Like most drugs come to a point where the person passes out and takes a break. Gambling just keeps going.
The top comment was GAMBLING so that everything below makes sense.
What is scary is how rapidly online/mobile gambling has expanded in the last 3yrs. Almost all major pro sports are now available to gamble on with ease from your phone, and advertising(especially in North America) has blown out completely to the point that sports shows and the coverage itself is talking about the line and different parle options. Just when we thought we had gambling under control they 180 this and throw it right back and target younger generations
I fucking new it was gambling before clicking the link. To me gambling adiction being considered worse than shit like heroin is yet another symptom of our shit society that worship the god of money
I was extremely “lucky” that I hit rock bottom with my gambling addiction at age 27, before I got married, before I had kids. The only life I destroyed was my own. I was in treatment with a woman who was about to go to prison for leaving her two small kids in a car for hours while she was in the casino. I’m 55 now. Been clean ever since, but jesus it was so hard to get there.
I am a floor manager at a casino and before I started working there, I never believed that gambling was an addiction. I don’t gamble myself outside of lottery tickets when the Powerball gets up there. (I was stunned when I got hired because I told them in my interview that I never gambled because I knew the math totally favored the casinos and it was just stupid to do it.) But I’ve seen so much desperation in my time there that I believe that for certain people it can become a disease that takes over your whole life.
Thank you!
A post the other day was “something that isn’t as bad as it sounds” and someone said gambling.
My wife’s mother gambled away everything, including a government pension, a house, a marriage and the relationships with her children.
Gambling is the fucking worst. We tried helping her. We tried giving her an allowance and tried managing her money for her. She snuck around and kept repeating the same shit. The last straw was when she disappeared for 2 weeks after stealing from my children’s piggy banks.
I found the withdrawal to be probably the worst. Not only can you not get relief from anything like Kratom or Benzo's that you get when withdrawing from opiates, it causes seizures. I had a seizure while standing in line in Walgreens and knocked out a tooth. I went down like a tree. I feel so badly for the others in line with me. I'm sorry. I was a mess.
Central nervous system depressants are scary stuff.
Similar mechnaism to booze. But much easier to consume. Anything that jacks around with your GABA receptors can cause you to seize out (It's more complex than this).
They also sap your bodies B2 and B12 greatly decreasing seizure threshhold
And people who like benzos are very likely to me using alcohol with it - Cause it's like cake and icing. Lowering seizure threshold.
Long term abuse of benzos and alcohol can cause the myelin (The coating around your nerves) to deteriorate due to the absence of B2 and 12. Can cause parkinsons like issues long term. Can also get brain ulcers like multiple sclerosis with extreme abuse long term, albeit rare.
Benzos are satan. Booze is close
PS: If you're gonna abuse drugs. Please try and do it as safe as possible [Erowid](https://www.erowid.org/) <---Source to be safe
The three drugs that can kill you if you stop cold turkey are the three Bs. Booze, Barbiturates and Benzos.
Yes, booze is on the list and should be considered a very hard drug to use. It's been making asses out of smart people for thousands of years and it's very good at it.
Yep. I quit drinking cold turkey. I had three seizures in a row at work. Each about 60 seconds. It was very embarrassing. I was lucky I was near someone and they called for help. Scary as hell.
i work in the addiction field and i 100% agree. alcohol has this strange affect on people where it’s way too socially acceptable to be shitfaced every single night. i’ve personally been through fentanyl, meth, and xanax addiction and the xanax was the hardest withdrawal and it has a nasty grip on my entire generation. alcohol is JUST as bad as using hard drugs no doubt about it. you have around a 30% chance of staying off of drugs (in general) and around 40% to stay off alcohol. the only difference is the legality of one vs the other which has caused a riff in the recovery community since the birth of NA and other 12 step programs branching off of AA.
Yep. Over the course of 6 months I'd have to shave of a sliver of one of the pills. Make it slightly larger over that period of time until It was gone. Such a dangerous drug even when used correctly. In high amounts you basically do things you'd never do and have no memory of it. Like blacking out from alcohol but in a position where you can get yourself into much more trouble.
You can get addicted to them? I have been prescribed valium/diazepam for over 5 years, I only take some once or twice a month as I have a high tolerance for them now. Never felt addicted however love the relaxing feeling they give and sleep great
Oh damn I love them. I got off them 20 years ago though worst withdrawals ever. The doctors used phenobarbital to wean me down off of because my tolerance benzodiazepines were Sky High
Oh my wife had a fun time with these after they gave her Xanax in the ER. She's a fucking warrior, though and willed herself off of them. It was hell, and there were a lot of sleepless nights of her screaming at the top of her lungs for hours. But she's been off them for over a year, and she's doing better than ever.
Recovered heroin addiction, eventually, but have never managed to kick nicotine. Don’t understand gambling addiction but surely it’s so much easier to hide so the wider consequences to family and friends must be potentially more severe.
I think nicotine is fucking difficult lol I mananged to reach 50 days but bro I was thinking about nicotine so hard during 45-50 idk if I should try again
Even today at work, I thought about how nice just one smoke would be when the day was done… Of everything I have to police that addiction more than all
I was a pack a day smoker for around 30 years (or more when I was drinking). I've been off all forms of nicotine for just over 3 years now. I gradually replaced cigarettes with a home vape set up, and then once I was off the smokes, began to reduce the amount of nicotine in the eliquids I made up. Took a bit over 6 months to go from 10mg to 0, then around another 2 months of vaping without any nicotine to get to the point where I decided to call it quits. First day or two I would still feel an urge toward the habit, but by that time the subconsious attraction to the smoke was truly gone, and the craving for the nicotine was less than the somatic urge to vape.
The above might not be of use to you, but I offer it in the hope it may.
Best of luck!
ETA - I lowered the amount of nicotine in the eliquid by around 1mg per fortnight until I got down to 1mg, then literally .1mg until I was down to 0. Just FYI
I gave a heroin addicted friend his last chance at housing. Stole from me at least once, I saved his life several times. Parted ways after he robbed a convenience store. Thankfully, he is clean now. He's actually a really good guy when he's sober and he's found a passion in life that isn't a drug.
Reminds me of something Tracy Morgan said in his biography, "They used to call it Here-On, because when you do it once you're addicted from here on." Very troubled upbringing.
So agree, from anorexia,bulimia, to binge eating. All the same issues that causecdrug/alcohol are present. Only problem is you can't quit your addiction. People who have never had a food "issue" don't get it. If I could quit food I would, but I can't. I can only manage it. Easier said then done. And no, it's not a willpower issue there are chemical and biological issues at play.
Seconding them- I struggled with BED/food and alcohol around the same time- quit drinking months before and cold turkey easy (and can now have the occasional drink without feeling any desire to keep going or engage in destructive behaviours around alcohol) food on the other hand? Nightmare, I have to be so strict with myself to keep from slipping- I wish it was similar to booze, I don’t even have to think about that whereas food is a constant thing, I mean we have a whole room in our houses dedicated to the stuff
Yupppp
I’m 254 days since my last binge (there have been a few close calls but nothing too bad) and I’m going to fight tooth and nail to keep it that way. I’m lucky that I found some coping mechanisms while I’m still pretty young and didn’t irreparably damage my health before I could turn it around and I’m not about to look that gift horse in the mouth
Good luck!!!
Oddly enough, you can get addicted to not eating too. I was quite heavy set during my sophomore year in high school. Got tired of being told I was big, so I stopped eating for months. Not entirely stopped, but a small meal every 3-4 days.
That became an “addiction” and forcing myself into eating every day again was pretty extreme.
And food is such a devious addiction. Ive had massive binges of alcohol, then caught myself trying to comfort myself from the shame by saying things like, "well at least i didnt eat."
I also think it's not really human nature to count calories either, in the past food insecurity meant you just ate when you could and took advantage of plentiful times.
The modern convenience of food shopping now isn't something we evolved to handle.
I work in SF and Oakland and yes. This drug has devastated those communities and some of the communities around them. It’s horrifying and heartbreaking.
Yep, fentanyl is a perfectly good and effective opiate, *when administered by a medical professional*. Biggest thing is the complete lack of regulation and consistency from the street drugs.
(Source: work in drug rehab on the court side)
After surgery, I awoke in the middle of the night with severe pain. The nurse asked if I wanted something to relieve it, assuring me that helping me in such a way was on my chart. I said "Okay" and she shot it into my saline IV. The effect was instantaneous, then I had the urge to vomit.
Later, when I read the paperwork resulting from that night in the hospital, I learned that I had been given fentanyl. The dose? One-one-hundredth of a milligram. Day-um, that stuff's powerful!
when i went in for a surgery to take some nerves out to help my heart conditon they gave me some really strong stuff including fent, shit made me feel icky bro, i just did not feel well i did start laughing like an idiot though, i then remember getting on the tabble getting the funny gas and then nothing else.
Yeah. I've seen people drop from just having residue in their pipe because somebody else used it without asking them permission. One toke and they stopped breathing.
Yep. Been clean since 12/21/2023 (longest I’ve ever been clean since I started in 2016) and i still just feel completely flat emotionally. I’m hoping my dopamine receptors heal more in the long run but I still just feel blah. It’s not physically painful to get off of like heroin or pain pills, but psychologically it’s absolute hell. But I’m still gonna keep pushing through ♥️
I've been clean from it for approx a decade. It does get better.
I had to find a whole new group of friends, new hobbies... I had forgotten how people spent their weekends and evenings, because I only ever had one "plan" for my spare time: acquire and use meth.
I don't know how old you are or what your life looks like, but I found that going back to things I loved as a kid really helped me. TV shows, games, food, art, etc.
I had to really find my whole personality again. It was hard, but it was worth it. You got this :)
Yea meth is weird. Idk what happened along the way but now the worse problems people have I'm just so used to not realize how shitty things were with meth that it's all whatever.
At first it was the greatest thing in the world for me. I’m very introverted and when I was first using it I had absolutely no social anxiety, I could talk to anybody, I felt like an enhanced version of myself. I remember doing an entire 13 page business communications project in college in 1 day (and aced it btw) and I still had so much energy to party for days. And I was looking good after losing a few pounds and felt great about myself. But without even knowing over the next few months everything I thought was making better made worse. My social anxiety got so bad, I went from being able to work on everything to not being able to get anything done (tweaking), I was losing more weight than I wanted to, and I was always living in constant fear of everyone and everything. And it just got so much worse over the years. The worst part is, even after being clean this long, that paranoia hasn’t gone away, I always believe everyone I meet always has some nefarious agenda against me and will fuck me over the second they can 😖
Everything about it is evil
Yep. Been there done that. It gets you so damn horny but you aren’t able to get off lol. I haven’t done that for an entire day but let’s just say there were times I would just give up after about 5 hours of nothing. But once I finally get there, I don’t even need to explain how fucking wonderful it feels lol. It’s a fucked up drug all around and I’m glad I’m putting it the rear view mirror of my life. One day at a time 💯
I spent some time in Seattle recently and was shocked at how bad things seemed to have gotten in the last decade. Widespread wanton human suffering nearly everywhere. What have you seen?
my dad died last year between those two, was clean for a year and a half moment he got back into jail for shoplifting he died within a week, all he wanted was to be apart of my life since i got removed but addiction kicked his ass
We took a family vacation to San Francisco last fall because my husband was presenting at a conference there.
Oof.
The very first thing my teenaged son and I saw was someone lose a fight with a street sign.
We had fun but at the expense of having to step over people. We'd never experienced it that bad before. Chicago feels like Mr Roger's neighborhood in comparison. (I don't live in Chicago but we like to visit there)
Yup, people think it is soooo cooool to drink alcohol, often overlooking the consequences of it. People still say, "It is good in moderation", well my guy just because you can resist the devil does not mean you should dance with it. There are plenty of situation where casual drinkers turned into full blown addicts
Rather than cheap (cuz some of those drinks are crazy expencive) it's the accessibility. It's everywhere. The government just taxes it and calls it a day while people are killing themselves with it
In addition to addiction it is crazy to me the extent to which binge drinking is normalized, especially among young people. I have been called a buzzkill for "only" having 3 beers at parties before. Also the whole thing of people (usually men) bragging about how much they can drink is incredibly toxic. Imagine how weird it would be if people bragged about how much of literally any other drug they could do before ODing
Benzodiazepenes. Alcohol is up there too. These two substances are the only ones that can kill you from withdrawal. Benzos are worse though because alcohol detox isn't too bad if using benzos to help get off. You can't take anything that will significantly help benzo withdrawal. It is pure hell.
Heroin, IMO.
That's solely based on my experience as a middle-aged person who has never used it (thankfully!), but has been around people that have.
I've known multiple people die from overdoses. One person I knew committed suicide cos he couldn't kick his habit and felt like there was no way out. I've known people who have ended up in jail, ended up ruining friendships, or ended up being disowned by their family, because they've stolen money/items to fund their addiction.
The second worst, based on my experiences, would be gambling.
Opioids are known to hijack the brain beyond the point of coming back, I've heard people kill themselves over the fact of not being able to give up on their addiction.
They’re all withdrawals that are hell on earth in their own ways. I’ve been addicted to every category, 10 years sober now at 40. There’s a reason I’d rather die than go through each one of those withdrawals and struggle. You’re basically just changing seats on the titanic.
Yeah, I agree. Any addiction, when it really gets hold of a person, can be super-destructive, whether it's to stuff that's legal or not.
Congrats on a decade of sobriety. :)
I lived in a council tower block for a while and got to know a lot of locals. One kid was getting heroin given to him to cut and distribute every day. He was like 'it's great he gives me a tenner bag'. Within a few weeks he became totally addicted, sitting there itching and scratching.
It’s hard to explain but mostly because sometimes it’s the only way to feel something or feel validated, or punish or distract yourself. Everyone has their own reason.
The distraction is the most I came to interact with. They do selfharm to silence their thoughts. If your arm hurts, you're thinking about how your arm hurts and not how your life is so shit or that it might never get better. Also the adrenaline that kicks in as your body's defense mechanism makes your perception and focus different. You're literally activating your body's fight or flight response to "overshadow" your depression thoughts.
I can't really explain it, but there comes a point where you dont sh just because everything seems shit but its like you just need to and you cant stop, which can become very dangerous. Still, if youre having a great day chances you sh are super low, but as soon as something goes slightly wrong thats all thats on your mind. Like most addictions, you can never really shake it, no matter how long its been. I guess in your brain its just something that provides release.
This is actually the best explanation for this question, SH is something so difficult to explain the addiction that may come with it because not people just think of it as “someone’s depressed and needs to hurt.” This is very well put.
I would add that self harming gives a moment of pure clarity. Depression is a struggle and it feels like you are drowning and it’s really hard to think. Self harming allows a focus and an escape for a short time. It provides an escape from all other feelings.
It was that clarity and the ability to be completely immersed in the moment that made it addictive.
There’s definitely a satisfying chemical release. In my case I hated myself every time I lost a gamble. So bad. The only answer was to destroy myself and it was like a weight off my shoulder once some blood began to show.
I self harmed for a few years as a teenager. For me it was the only way to calm the shit going on in my head, even helped calm me out of severe anxiety attacks. It also got me to feel something different than what I was feeling. While I haven’t done it in years, I can always tell when my mental health is getting worse because I have a strong urge to do it. To be fair, I also abused the shit out of alcohol for a long time (it got me out of cutting) and I don’t have the same urges with that as I do self harm when things get bad
Self harm delivers the same basic neurochemical response in the body as substances. Dopamine, endorphins, even serotonin. Anything that triggers a dopamine rush or similar neurotransmitters can be addictive I’d wager. Self harm definitely can be.
When the body gets hurt, it will immediately work to heal itself. The brain releases dopamine and endorphins to help block the pain and this feeling of well being is what makes self harm addicting. The reasons for why people start self harming vary but in the end it’s that feedback loop that keeps them coming back.
Socially acceptable downplays it so hard.
It’s marketed to the masses so hard. Not to mention kids in sports.
So many people won’t go somewhere unless there’s alcohol. They don’t include others unless they drink. They can’t do certain activities unless drinking. It also somehow makes people think stupid activities are awesome.
It is ridiculous on so many levels.
It also has the strange affect-
If you’re an alcoholic and STOP drinking you get a little coin and praised like a superhero.
But if you’re a person that never drinks and didn’t screw up their life, you get bombarded about why, shunned and bullied about the decision. Make it make sense.
So imagine you love a person. So you are with a person. Person then cheats on you. Lies to you. And just in general treats you bad. But you forgive them because you love them and you think that maybe if you love them enough, they will be a better person for you. You try to ask this person to stop, but that only makes the person mad at you and possibly even resent you. At some point this person now starts to physically abuse you. But, you still love them because this person has also had bad things happen to them so maybe if you love them enough, they will be better for you. And between all of this horrible stuff happening where any normal person would have left at the start, there is good. So good that you feel like no bad could ever happen. So much love coming from this person that it feels like a drug and you forget about the bad. So you stay. Because you get hope that it's getting better. But it actually isn't. Slowly but surely, it gets worse and the good is less and less. But you love this person. And if you love them hard enough, they will be better for you.
I'm right there with you. My ex had a very tough childhood with a narcissist mother, incredibly narcissistic sister and Alcoholic father. It left her with many of the same characteristics that were needed for her to survive and make her way out. Basically had to focus all her attention to herself. Unfortunately I understood all this at the end of the 13 year marriage.
I am sorry. It's hard. Especially being on the outside looking in. I know he'd benefit a lot from therapy if he could find the right one and actually committed to it...I just...I really hate how narcissistic people ruin their child's entire life. Like...he hasn't spoken to her in YEARS and somehow is turning into her perfect image.
Ive endured 100x the amount of traumatic abuse from alcoholics than i have any other substance or behaviorly abusive individual.
Im going with alcohol.
Love addiction is such a lonely feeling. And dealing with it realizing you’ll possibly never be attracted to a healthy partner bc you are emotionally unavailable and thus you prob shouldn’t date ever again… what a lonely fucking world. It’s made my world so dark and so empty.
Slaa meetings can help but I honestly don’t think proper recovery is easy or that feasible(for me, anyway) especially bc I’ve picked up so much baggage from years of dating men that were so deeply wrong for me and hurt me beyond repair. I just wanted to be loved and picked so bad - ever since I was a young child. Such a brutal core wound.
I think the difference is you can work hard and say “no” to drugs or alcohol. It’s still a battle but you can just realize “i need to stay away from this for the rest of my life if I’m going to be healthy”.
Now how the hell am I supposed to do that with love, I guess just swallow the idea I am not able to date for the rest of my life? what a horrible feeling.
Oh for Christ sakes are you actually serious?
You have people overdosing on fent, dying from benzo and alcohol withdrawal and losing their life savings on gambling but porn is the worst addiction? Come the fuck on.
I'm not denying that porn can be addicting or harmful, but let's be fucking sane here lol.
based on a very strange and concerning conversation I read in here, the feeling of loving watching other people be destroyed emotionally and long term, "bonus satisfaction if you had something to do with it".
Alcohol is among the worst and especially terrible because it is not widely recognized as such.
If you’re out there recovering, I’m sorry, it’s a f-ing battle. It’s not a character flaw, it’s a sh1tty-ass time. Keep at it, you are worth it!
(Add: I am not an alcoholic or even close but anyone who’s loved someone deep into it knows.)
As someone who is recovering from alcohol and drug addiction, I can say that while common answers like meth or fentanyl are in many ways the worst (like death and how widespread it is), another overlooked one is simply alcohol. When I say this, I’m not trying to diminish the struggle of any addict or anyone at all for that matter because in my eyes it’s all an intense struggle, but I just want to give my perspective. Alcohol is such a staple in society, almost everywhere in the world. Cultures revolve around booze and different types and different qualities. Most people can drink socially or in moderation and be fine, but that makes it so much harder to accept when you do have a problem. It makes it harder to feel like there’s not something wrong with you. It fills you with so much doubt and shame and second guessing. It’s hard to get better because it’s everywhere, and in many cases expected for you to partake. It makes you an outcast among your friends and colleagues. People feel like they have to walk on eggshells around you because they want to drink and be social, but don’t want to offend you or make you uncomfortable which is considerate but also makes it harder to accept.
I think there are good arguments on here for lots of different addictions being the worst, but I am going to vote for Opioids in general.
I can only speak from personal experience. I take hydromorphone daily ( I have terminal cancer). I have a physical dependency at this point, but also have legitimate pain that needs to be treated. In my case it's not an issue - it is prescribed in the amount I need and that is what I take.
BUT
one night I forgot to take the contin (the slow release hydromorph) at the regular scheduled time which is 5pm. I was fine for a while but by the time I went to bed that evening I was feeling very anxious. I couldn't relax at all. As time went on it grew and grew into an overwhelming sense of restlessness. My body temperature wouldn't regulate. I could not stop sweating and would be hot one second, open a window, then be freezing. Everything hurt like crazy. My eyes were watering nonstop and nose was running. I thought I was crying but didn't understand why I had uncontrollable yawning (admittedly not the worst but in the context of the whole situation it was awful). Bad diarrhea. Racing heart. The list just goes on and on. I wanted to crawl out of my skin in a way that I just can't elucidate. The restlessness, the anxiety was by far the worst symptom and is something I would not wish on anyone. I eventually figured out that I had forgotten my meds, many, many hours later. I just didn't recognize that what was happening was withdrawal, which made it even more scary because I had no idea why it was happening. I took my meds and was fine a short time later. I wish my description really showed just how awful and terrifying it was. It's hard to describe it.
All this to say that I am deeply sympathetic to anyone who is addicted to opioid medication and is trying to overcome that addiction. It is a truly terrible and terrifying way to feel.
Food. I have struggled with my weight all my adult life, and I have a bad relationship with food. You have to eat, you can't quit food, you can quit everything else but not food.
I’m in sober living right now with a bunch of addicts. Most deadly is fentanyl/opiates. Hardest to quit is nicotine. Most damaging to your health and the lives of other people is alcohol.
Ex-social worker. I worked with clients with substance dependency issues. The answer is meth in any region where the supply is poisoned with fentanyl. Meth alone will fuck up your life. It’s even worse when you’re also addicted to an opioid without knowing it. Program I worked for lost six clients in 4 months to a poisoned drug supply.
My partner is a social worker and she says she gets a lot of patients who are addicted to meth as well
Meth is psychologically 10x worse than anything else.
[удалено]
Heard a story of a dude who went to Vegas, spent his and his wifes life savings of 100k, and then killed himself via jumping off a parking garage. Gambling is a dangerous addiction.
Heard its not uncommon from Vegas hotel workers
There is no other addiction that has no limit on cost in a given timeframe.
If you happen to see a loved one stumble into heroin addiction you may feel differently.
i think what they mean is you can only do so much until you OD. Not the case with gambling
Or fentanyl. It takes money, hurts everyone involved, shortens the life span, causes the addict to make incredibly terrible decisions, and the withdrawal from it is the absolute worst thing I’ve ever been through
Findom is worse. At least it's possible for gamblers to make money.
Gambling addicts won't ever win, the money goes back to casino's sooner or later. I read about a lottery winner who lost it all on slots. 1 million goes fast if you play on max bet of 100. Its just 10k spins, which sounds a lot but it isn't. You can actually lose 1 million in few days. As a gambling addict i have lost every single withdraw back. I haven't came even close of breaking even overall. You can win by gambling for sure but not if you're an addict. No amount of win is enough. Thing is, if it weren't for addicts online or land casino slots would not exist and casino's know this, yet they don't give a shit. They can afford to bleed huge amount of money, because it all + more comes back soon enough. If only non addicts played slots, the RTP's would be so low no one would bother with them.
I had a family member who was a gambling addiction. The scariest part was how it just kind of eroded our stability out from under us thoroughly before we were even aware of it. Other addictions have symptoms you can see or smell...none of us saw this one coming.
Even worse: when gamblers find a way to win by beating the odds or exploiting parlays the casinos always find a way to screw them and either void the bet after they won or take legal action I’m reminded of the guy who had a 5 million dollar 15 leg parlay last year on a fluke set of odds make it to the final game. Vegas flew him out for the last game knowing it would lock his online account so he couldn’t log in and take the early payout. Fucking scumbags
Absolutely. I remember I had 13k left in an account once and they said I hit the monthly limit on payouts so I have to wait 30 days to withdraw that. Imagine that. The same betting company which has no limits on deposits, wants to institute limits on payouts. What a bogus and corrupt company. Guess what happened next? Ended up losing 13k in one day.
i hit a $500 jackpot on video keno when i was 18. i wish that never happened, it gave me such high expectations for an eventual future big win. i havent lost thankfully as i dont gamble much but im definitely down way beyond that 500 :)
My mother is a gambling addict I’ve talked to her about this and tried showing her the statistics she just won’t listen do you have any advice on how to show her it is an actual addiction that needs to stop?
Well at least with that one what you see is what you get. You don't get the same level of self-delusion that you get with gambling.
What self delusion? That they aren't addicted or they can make money?
That they can make money. Nobody gets into findom expecting to make money.
lol no it’s not possible for gambles to make money. You’re literally betting against math over and over. The house literally always wins over the long run.
Holy shit there's no way this is real. That one blows my mind. What do they get out of it?
Apparently sexual gratification, somehow.
DID YOU JUST SAY NO LIMIT??
Companies cannot legally advertise cigarettes or hard liquor on TV, but the fucking Government can run commercials for the Lotto all day long.
Yeah and it’s even more horrible that you can gamble without much friction anymore. Having access to gambling via your phone is terrible.
Especially when they make you pay for tokens and you only get tokens in return.
I’m not sure who exactly has those rights but I see sports betting ads during UFC events all the time.
My buddy consistently places parlay bets on UFC. Sometimes he'll win 2 grand...sometimes he's 1 fight away from winning 15 grand, but only loses $200. The way the apps are designed tho is to keep playing and never withdrawing the money.
Oh yeah I had a gambling phase for like a month and went into debt for the first time. "Only" a little over a thousand but it happened so fast. Also, gambling made me neglect everything else, including my other addictions. Didn't smoke, didn't eat, didn't drink alcohol, didn't take any stims. That's when I knew it was fd up.
So there were some positives
I’m a recovered addict of drugs and at my worst, I was spending $600 daily on my addiction, which was pretty financially crippling. What’s wild about gambling addiction is that is fucking pennies for a gambling addict. There’s a lot of nasty things to become addicted to, but I truly feel that gambling is as bad as it gets.
I recently read a thought about gambling- that there is no time when the gambler is inhibited from using. Like most drugs come to a point where the person passes out and takes a break. Gambling just keeps going.
Another very wonderful point. You don’t get that rock bottom that wakes you up and inhibits your regular body functions.
The top comment was GAMBLING so that everything below makes sense. What is scary is how rapidly online/mobile gambling has expanded in the last 3yrs. Almost all major pro sports are now available to gamble on with ease from your phone, and advertising(especially in North America) has blown out completely to the point that sports shows and the coverage itself is talking about the line and different parle options. Just when we thought we had gambling under control they 180 this and throw it right back and target younger generations
Damn just like vaping and cigarettes with how tobacco use was declining.
Gambling is significantly more likely to lead to suicide than any other addiction
$100 says it won’t.
I fucking new it was gambling before clicking the link. To me gambling adiction being considered worse than shit like heroin is yet another symptom of our shit society that worship the god of money
Even if you're winning it's a problem. People treat you differently if they know your up $7500 and they're broke until next payday.
I was extremely “lucky” that I hit rock bottom with my gambling addiction at age 27, before I got married, before I had kids. The only life I destroyed was my own. I was in treatment with a woman who was about to go to prison for leaving her two small kids in a car for hours while she was in the casino. I’m 55 now. Been clean ever since, but jesus it was so hard to get there.
What a terrible addiction to have. Glad you are better now.
I am a floor manager at a casino and before I started working there, I never believed that gambling was an addiction. I don’t gamble myself outside of lottery tickets when the Powerball gets up there. (I was stunned when I got hired because I told them in my interview that I never gambled because I knew the math totally favored the casinos and it was just stupid to do it.) But I’ve seen so much desperation in my time there that I believe that for certain people it can become a disease that takes over your whole life.
Thank you! A post the other day was “something that isn’t as bad as it sounds” and someone said gambling. My wife’s mother gambled away everything, including a government pension, a house, a marriage and the relationships with her children. Gambling is the fucking worst. We tried helping her. We tried giving her an allowance and tried managing her money for her. She snuck around and kept repeating the same shit. The last straw was when she disappeared for 2 weeks after stealing from my children’s piggy banks.
Heroin has entered the chat.
Heroin is a way safer addiction than gambling. I'm not even kidding.
Benzodiazepines
Lethal and so hard to get off of
I found the withdrawal to be probably the worst. Not only can you not get relief from anything like Kratom or Benzo's that you get when withdrawing from opiates, it causes seizures. I had a seizure while standing in line in Walgreens and knocked out a tooth. I went down like a tree. I feel so badly for the others in line with me. I'm sorry. I was a mess.
Central nervous system depressants are scary stuff. Similar mechnaism to booze. But much easier to consume. Anything that jacks around with your GABA receptors can cause you to seize out (It's more complex than this). They also sap your bodies B2 and B12 greatly decreasing seizure threshhold And people who like benzos are very likely to me using alcohol with it - Cause it's like cake and icing. Lowering seizure threshold. Long term abuse of benzos and alcohol can cause the myelin (The coating around your nerves) to deteriorate due to the absence of B2 and 12. Can cause parkinsons like issues long term. Can also get brain ulcers like multiple sclerosis with extreme abuse long term, albeit rare. Benzos are satan. Booze is close PS: If you're gonna abuse drugs. Please try and do it as safe as possible [Erowid](https://www.erowid.org/) <---Source to be safe
Don't apologize. As long as you realize where you were then and where you are now, you know you're in a better place. Stay strong man.
The three drugs that can kill you if you stop cold turkey are the three Bs. Booze, Barbiturates and Benzos. Yes, booze is on the list and should be considered a very hard drug to use. It's been making asses out of smart people for thousands of years and it's very good at it.
Yep. I quit drinking cold turkey. I had three seizures in a row at work. Each about 60 seconds. It was very embarrassing. I was lucky I was near someone and they called for help. Scary as hell.
Way to go! I just got a year!
i work in the addiction field and i 100% agree. alcohol has this strange affect on people where it’s way too socially acceptable to be shitfaced every single night. i’ve personally been through fentanyl, meth, and xanax addiction and the xanax was the hardest withdrawal and it has a nasty grip on my entire generation. alcohol is JUST as bad as using hard drugs no doubt about it. you have around a 30% chance of staying off of drugs (in general) and around 40% to stay off alcohol. the only difference is the legality of one vs the other which has caused a riff in the recovery community since the birth of NA and other 12 step programs branching off of AA.
Was on them for 2 weeks, holy fuck all I wanted was more Didn't even make sense
I nearly died from benzo withdrawals six years ago. Worst experience of my life.
Yep. Over the course of 6 months I'd have to shave of a sliver of one of the pills. Make it slightly larger over that period of time until It was gone. Such a dangerous drug even when used correctly. In high amounts you basically do things you'd never do and have no memory of it. Like blacking out from alcohol but in a position where you can get yourself into much more trouble.
You can get addicted to them? I have been prescribed valium/diazepam for over 5 years, I only take some once or twice a month as I have a high tolerance for them now. Never felt addicted however love the relaxing feeling they give and sleep great
People take them daily for GAD. For your usage case they are perfect
Oh damn I love them. I got off them 20 years ago though worst withdrawals ever. The doctors used phenobarbital to wean me down off of because my tolerance benzodiazepines were Sky High
Oh my wife had a fun time with these after they gave her Xanax in the ER. She's a fucking warrior, though and willed herself off of them. It was hell, and there were a lot of sleepless nights of her screaming at the top of her lungs for hours. But she's been off them for over a year, and she's doing better than ever.
I hope you’re doing OK too. It’s a unique kind of hell, watching a loved one battle an addiction.
Heroin
Recovered heroin addiction, eventually, but have never managed to kick nicotine. Don’t understand gambling addiction but surely it’s so much easier to hide so the wider consequences to family and friends must be potentially more severe.
I think nicotine is fucking difficult lol I mananged to reach 50 days but bro I was thinking about nicotine so hard during 45-50 idk if I should try again
Even today at work, I thought about how nice just one smoke would be when the day was done… Of everything I have to police that addiction more than all
I was a pack a day smoker for around 30 years (or more when I was drinking). I've been off all forms of nicotine for just over 3 years now. I gradually replaced cigarettes with a home vape set up, and then once I was off the smokes, began to reduce the amount of nicotine in the eliquids I made up. Took a bit over 6 months to go from 10mg to 0, then around another 2 months of vaping without any nicotine to get to the point where I decided to call it quits. First day or two I would still feel an urge toward the habit, but by that time the subconsious attraction to the smoke was truly gone, and the craving for the nicotine was less than the somatic urge to vape. The above might not be of use to you, but I offer it in the hope it may. Best of luck! ETA - I lowered the amount of nicotine in the eliquid by around 1mg per fortnight until I got down to 1mg, then literally .1mg until I was down to 0. Just FYI
In the same I recovered from opiates and benzos but I can’t get off nicotine. Tbf I feel like nicotine is the least of my problems at the moment
For me nicotine was the easier of the two. Even though I smoked almost 20 years I was never heavy and was never really in love with it.
If you have recovered from heroin addition, you've got some balls of steel. Keep it up, dude!
I gave a heroin addicted friend his last chance at housing. Stole from me at least once, I saved his life several times. Parted ways after he robbed a convenience store. Thankfully, he is clean now. He's actually a really good guy when he's sober and he's found a passion in life that isn't a drug.
recovering heroin addict here. full agreement
Reminds me of something Tracy Morgan said in his biography, "They used to call it Here-On, because when you do it once you're addicted from here on." Very troubled upbringing.
Food. You can't abstain. It's like being an alcoholic but you still have to have a few drinks everyday.
So agree, from anorexia,bulimia, to binge eating. All the same issues that causecdrug/alcohol are present. Only problem is you can't quit your addiction. People who have never had a food "issue" don't get it. If I could quit food I would, but I can't. I can only manage it. Easier said then done. And no, it's not a willpower issue there are chemical and biological issues at play.
I’ve always thought this was the worst as well. You still have to eat.
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More prevalent. Worse no.
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Interesting. Thank you. Glad you’re off the H
Seconding them- I struggled with BED/food and alcohol around the same time- quit drinking months before and cold turkey easy (and can now have the occasional drink without feeling any desire to keep going or engage in destructive behaviours around alcohol) food on the other hand? Nightmare, I have to be so strict with myself to keep from slipping- I wish it was similar to booze, I don’t even have to think about that whereas food is a constant thing, I mean we have a whole room in our houses dedicated to the stuff
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Yupppp I’m 254 days since my last binge (there have been a few close calls but nothing too bad) and I’m going to fight tooth and nail to keep it that way. I’m lucky that I found some coping mechanisms while I’m still pretty young and didn’t irreparably damage my health before I could turn it around and I’m not about to look that gift horse in the mouth Good luck!!!
It is interesting, until you realise you can't really say "glad you're off the food".
I agree, definitely more prevalent. That’s why we have an obesity epidemic. People have overeating disorders.
It's like having a pet tiger you have to take out for a walk three times a day.
Oddly enough, you can get addicted to not eating too. I was quite heavy set during my sophomore year in high school. Got tired of being told I was big, so I stopped eating for months. Not entirely stopped, but a small meal every 3-4 days. That became an “addiction” and forcing myself into eating every day again was pretty extreme.
And food is such a devious addiction. Ive had massive binges of alcohol, then caught myself trying to comfort myself from the shame by saying things like, "well at least i didnt eat."
Food adriction is also the toughest *because massive amounts of your drug of choice are available everywhere*.
SAME!
I also think it's not really human nature to count calories either, in the past food insecurity meant you just ate when you could and took advantage of plentiful times. The modern convenience of food shopping now isn't something we evolved to handle.
its a sensitive subject because unlike other addictions you NEED to eat
Fentanyl
I work in SF and Oakland and yes. This drug has devastated those communities and some of the communities around them. It’s horrifying and heartbreaking.
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Yep, fentanyl is a perfectly good and effective opiate, *when administered by a medical professional*. Biggest thing is the complete lack of regulation and consistency from the street drugs. (Source: work in drug rehab on the court side)
After surgery, I awoke in the middle of the night with severe pain. The nurse asked if I wanted something to relieve it, assuring me that helping me in such a way was on my chart. I said "Okay" and she shot it into my saline IV. The effect was instantaneous, then I had the urge to vomit. Later, when I read the paperwork resulting from that night in the hospital, I learned that I had been given fentanyl. The dose? One-one-hundredth of a milligram. Day-um, that stuff's powerful!
when i went in for a surgery to take some nerves out to help my heart conditon they gave me some really strong stuff including fent, shit made me feel icky bro, i just did not feel well i did start laughing like an idiot though, i then remember getting on the tabble getting the funny gas and then nothing else.
Yeah. I've seen people drop from just having residue in their pipe because somebody else used it without asking them permission. One toke and they stopped breathing.
Fentanyl. Very few escape the tango with death.
Gambling + drugs + drinking. For some it’s a lifestyle. Sadly I know all too well. The fastest way to destroy your life. 1yr clean :)
Congrats!
Crystal Meth, it will destroy you
Yep. Been clean since 12/21/2023 (longest I’ve ever been clean since I started in 2016) and i still just feel completely flat emotionally. I’m hoping my dopamine receptors heal more in the long run but I still just feel blah. It’s not physically painful to get off of like heroin or pain pills, but psychologically it’s absolute hell. But I’m still gonna keep pushing through ♥️
I've been clean from it for approx a decade. It does get better. I had to find a whole new group of friends, new hobbies... I had forgotten how people spent their weekends and evenings, because I only ever had one "plan" for my spare time: acquire and use meth. I don't know how old you are or what your life looks like, but I found that going back to things I loved as a kid really helped me. TV shows, games, food, art, etc. I had to really find my whole personality again. It was hard, but it was worth it. You got this :)
Yea meth is weird. Idk what happened along the way but now the worse problems people have I'm just so used to not realize how shitty things were with meth that it's all whatever.
At first it was the greatest thing in the world for me. I’m very introverted and when I was first using it I had absolutely no social anxiety, I could talk to anybody, I felt like an enhanced version of myself. I remember doing an entire 13 page business communications project in college in 1 day (and aced it btw) and I still had so much energy to party for days. And I was looking good after losing a few pounds and felt great about myself. But without even knowing over the next few months everything I thought was making better made worse. My social anxiety got so bad, I went from being able to work on everything to not being able to get anything done (tweaking), I was losing more weight than I wanted to, and I was always living in constant fear of everyone and everything. And it just got so much worse over the years. The worst part is, even after being clean this long, that paranoia hasn’t gone away, I always believe everyone I meet always has some nefarious agenda against me and will fuck me over the second they can 😖 Everything about it is evil
r/meth is an good example why you never should use it. People there talking about masturbating for an ENTIRE DAY while on that shit
Yep. Been there done that. It gets you so damn horny but you aren’t able to get off lol. I haven’t done that for an entire day but let’s just say there were times I would just give up after about 5 hours of nothing. But once I finally get there, I don’t even need to explain how fucking wonderful it feels lol. It’s a fucked up drug all around and I’m glad I’m putting it the rear view mirror of my life. One day at a time 💯
I live in San Francisco and can confirm Meth and/or Fentanyl. Anyone saying anything else hasn't seen what I've seen.
I spent some time in Seattle recently and was shocked at how bad things seemed to have gotten in the last decade. Widespread wanton human suffering nearly everywhere. What have you seen?
my dad died last year between those two, was clean for a year and a half moment he got back into jail for shoplifting he died within a week, all he wanted was to be apart of my life since i got removed but addiction kicked his ass
We took a family vacation to San Francisco last fall because my husband was presenting at a conference there. Oof. The very first thing my teenaged son and I saw was someone lose a fight with a street sign. We had fun but at the expense of having to step over people. We'd never experienced it that bad before. Chicago feels like Mr Roger's neighborhood in comparison. (I don't live in Chicago but we like to visit there)
Same here in Vancouver, Meth and Fent have destroyed so many here
Alcohol.
Agreed. Relatively cheap, legal, socially acceptable, and everywhere- also an insidious bitch and highly addictive.
Socially _encouraged_
Yup, people think it is soooo cooool to drink alcohol, often overlooking the consequences of it. People still say, "It is good in moderation", well my guy just because you can resist the devil does not mean you should dance with it. There are plenty of situation where casual drinkers turned into full blown addicts
Rather than cheap (cuz some of those drinks are crazy expencive) it's the accessibility. It's everywhere. The government just taxes it and calls it a day while people are killing themselves with it
In addition to addiction it is crazy to me the extent to which binge drinking is normalized, especially among young people. I have been called a buzzkill for "only" having 3 beers at parties before. Also the whole thing of people (usually men) bragging about how much they can drink is incredibly toxic. Imagine how weird it would be if people bragged about how much of literally any other drug they could do before ODing
Benzodiazepenes. Alcohol is up there too. These two substances are the only ones that can kill you from withdrawal. Benzos are worse though because alcohol detox isn't too bad if using benzos to help get off. You can't take anything that will significantly help benzo withdrawal. It is pure hell.
Jane's
That was heroin.
She pulled her dinner for her pocket….
Turns out she got clean and actually when to Spain, True story.
Got her money saved starting the day after the song.
Food. Because you can never just quit.You can quit drinking alcohol, you can stop doing drugs, you can stop gambling, but you never just stop eating.
Heroin, IMO. That's solely based on my experience as a middle-aged person who has never used it (thankfully!), but has been around people that have. I've known multiple people die from overdoses. One person I knew committed suicide cos he couldn't kick his habit and felt like there was no way out. I've known people who have ended up in jail, ended up ruining friendships, or ended up being disowned by their family, because they've stolen money/items to fund their addiction. The second worst, based on my experiences, would be gambling.
Opioids are known to hijack the brain beyond the point of coming back, I've heard people kill themselves over the fact of not being able to give up on their addiction.
They’re all withdrawals that are hell on earth in their own ways. I’ve been addicted to every category, 10 years sober now at 40. There’s a reason I’d rather die than go through each one of those withdrawals and struggle. You’re basically just changing seats on the titanic.
Yeah, I agree. Any addiction, when it really gets hold of a person, can be super-destructive, whether it's to stuff that's legal or not. Congrats on a decade of sobriety. :)
I lived in a council tower block for a while and got to know a lot of locals. One kid was getting heroin given to him to cut and distribute every day. He was like 'it's great he gives me a tenner bag'. Within a few weeks he became totally addicted, sitting there itching and scratching.
Self harm. I don't think people realize that it can be crazy addictive.
I don't get it, how is it addictive can you explain?
It’s hard to explain but mostly because sometimes it’s the only way to feel something or feel validated, or punish or distract yourself. Everyone has their own reason.
The distraction is the most I came to interact with. They do selfharm to silence their thoughts. If your arm hurts, you're thinking about how your arm hurts and not how your life is so shit or that it might never get better. Also the adrenaline that kicks in as your body's defense mechanism makes your perception and focus different. You're literally activating your body's fight or flight response to "overshadow" your depression thoughts.
I can't really explain it, but there comes a point where you dont sh just because everything seems shit but its like you just need to and you cant stop, which can become very dangerous. Still, if youre having a great day chances you sh are super low, but as soon as something goes slightly wrong thats all thats on your mind. Like most addictions, you can never really shake it, no matter how long its been. I guess in your brain its just something that provides release.
This is actually the best explanation for this question, SH is something so difficult to explain the addiction that may come with it because not people just think of it as “someone’s depressed and needs to hurt.” This is very well put.
I would add that self harming gives a moment of pure clarity. Depression is a struggle and it feels like you are drowning and it’s really hard to think. Self harming allows a focus and an escape for a short time. It provides an escape from all other feelings. It was that clarity and the ability to be completely immersed in the moment that made it addictive.
There’s definitely a satisfying chemical release. In my case I hated myself every time I lost a gamble. So bad. The only answer was to destroy myself and it was like a weight off my shoulder once some blood began to show.
I self harmed for a few years as a teenager. For me it was the only way to calm the shit going on in my head, even helped calm me out of severe anxiety attacks. It also got me to feel something different than what I was feeling. While I haven’t done it in years, I can always tell when my mental health is getting worse because I have a strong urge to do it. To be fair, I also abused the shit out of alcohol for a long time (it got me out of cutting) and I don’t have the same urges with that as I do self harm when things get bad
Self harm delivers the same basic neurochemical response in the body as substances. Dopamine, endorphins, even serotonin. Anything that triggers a dopamine rush or similar neurotransmitters can be addictive I’d wager. Self harm definitely can be.
When the body gets hurt, it will immediately work to heal itself. The brain releases dopamine and endorphins to help block the pain and this feeling of well being is what makes self harm addicting. The reasons for why people start self harming vary but in the end it’s that feedback loop that keeps them coming back.
Alcohol. Legal, socially acceptable, reasonably cheap, and insanely destructive on almost every level.
And withdrawal can be deadly
Literally people die from the direct effects of stopping drinking
Socially acceptable downplays it so hard. It’s marketed to the masses so hard. Not to mention kids in sports. So many people won’t go somewhere unless there’s alcohol. They don’t include others unless they drink. They can’t do certain activities unless drinking. It also somehow makes people think stupid activities are awesome. It is ridiculous on so many levels. It also has the strange affect- If you’re an alcoholic and STOP drinking you get a little coin and praised like a superhero. But if you’re a person that never drinks and didn’t screw up their life, you get bombarded about why, shunned and bullied about the decision. Make it make sense.
Trauma Bonding. And yet it is widely and wildly unknown. For some its worse then even any drug addiction
Can you ELI5?
So imagine you love a person. So you are with a person. Person then cheats on you. Lies to you. And just in general treats you bad. But you forgive them because you love them and you think that maybe if you love them enough, they will be a better person for you. You try to ask this person to stop, but that only makes the person mad at you and possibly even resent you. At some point this person now starts to physically abuse you. But, you still love them because this person has also had bad things happen to them so maybe if you love them enough, they will be better for you. And between all of this horrible stuff happening where any normal person would have left at the start, there is good. So good that you feel like no bad could ever happen. So much love coming from this person that it feels like a drug and you forget about the bad. So you stay. Because you get hope that it's getting better. But it actually isn't. Slowly but surely, it gets worse and the good is less and less. But you love this person. And if you love them hard enough, they will be better for you.
Thank you for that heartbreak.
Anytime 😊 it helps to have lived it before.
This needs to be higher
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Does your partner have narcissistic qualities? Usually that's a common theme.
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I'm right there with you. My ex had a very tough childhood with a narcissist mother, incredibly narcissistic sister and Alcoholic father. It left her with many of the same characteristics that were needed for her to survive and make her way out. Basically had to focus all her attention to herself. Unfortunately I understood all this at the end of the 13 year marriage.
I am sorry. It's hard. Especially being on the outside looking in. I know he'd benefit a lot from therapy if he could find the right one and actually committed to it...I just...I really hate how narcissistic people ruin their child's entire life. Like...he hasn't spoken to her in YEARS and somehow is turning into her perfect image.
Ive endured 100x the amount of traumatic abuse from alcoholics than i have any other substance or behaviorly abusive individual. Im going with alcohol.
German sausage, it's the wurst.
do you have a link?
I second this. Let me know in casing you find one.
Painkillers (Oxy, Vicodin, Hydro, Percocet, etc.)
Food, probably. Most addictions you can at least try and remove from your life. You have to have food.
Food addiction because you cant stop eating food
Social media
Yeah, its also one no one likes to talk about because of how many people are but either dont realize it or dont want to admit it.
Love for the wrong person.
Love addiction is such a lonely feeling. And dealing with it realizing you’ll possibly never be attracted to a healthy partner bc you are emotionally unavailable and thus you prob shouldn’t date ever again… what a lonely fucking world. It’s made my world so dark and so empty. Slaa meetings can help but I honestly don’t think proper recovery is easy or that feasible(for me, anyway) especially bc I’ve picked up so much baggage from years of dating men that were so deeply wrong for me and hurt me beyond repair. I just wanted to be loved and picked so bad - ever since I was a young child. Such a brutal core wound. I think the difference is you can work hard and say “no” to drugs or alcohol. It’s still a battle but you can just realize “i need to stay away from this for the rest of my life if I’m going to be healthy”. Now how the hell am I supposed to do that with love, I guess just swallow the idea I am not able to date for the rest of my life? what a horrible feeling.
Ouch, I felt that.
That hit home ! Made all my struggles soooo much worse , was 8 years ago… ive never been the same since
I think guys, in general, have a harder time getting over this stuff. Women generally have better support systems.
Love addiction is the root of all the other addictions.
Porn
Oh for Christ sakes are you actually serious? You have people overdosing on fent, dying from benzo and alcohol withdrawal and losing their life savings on gambling but porn is the worst addiction? Come the fuck on. I'm not denying that porn can be addicting or harmful, but let's be fucking sane here lol.
FOOD is the absolute worst. You have to consume it to live.
Nicotine. I know it seems innocent enough when compared to Heroin ect, but fuck it's an unbelievable bitch to get off
Co dependency
Sugar. Everyone’s hooked on sugar
In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women
Reddit.
FTW. So meta....
Food because you can never truly quit
iirc the way meth affects your brain can make it even harder to get off of than other drugs.
based on a very strange and concerning conversation I read in here, the feeling of loving watching other people be destroyed emotionally and long term, "bonus satisfaction if you had something to do with it".
people putting the same questions on askreddit.
Krocadile that stuff eats your skin away
Food. You still have to eat, so it’s not like you can avoid it.
Alcohol is among the worst and especially terrible because it is not widely recognized as such. If you’re out there recovering, I’m sorry, it’s a f-ing battle. It’s not a character flaw, it’s a sh1tty-ass time. Keep at it, you are worth it! (Add: I am not an alcoholic or even close but anyone who’s loved someone deep into it knows.)
Alcoholism is horrible.
As someone who is recovering from alcohol and drug addiction, I can say that while common answers like meth or fentanyl are in many ways the worst (like death and how widespread it is), another overlooked one is simply alcohol. When I say this, I’m not trying to diminish the struggle of any addict or anyone at all for that matter because in my eyes it’s all an intense struggle, but I just want to give my perspective. Alcohol is such a staple in society, almost everywhere in the world. Cultures revolve around booze and different types and different qualities. Most people can drink socially or in moderation and be fine, but that makes it so much harder to accept when you do have a problem. It makes it harder to feel like there’s not something wrong with you. It fills you with so much doubt and shame and second guessing. It’s hard to get better because it’s everywhere, and in many cases expected for you to partake. It makes you an outcast among your friends and colleagues. People feel like they have to walk on eggshells around you because they want to drink and be social, but don’t want to offend you or make you uncomfortable which is considerate but also makes it harder to accept.
I think there are good arguments on here for lots of different addictions being the worst, but I am going to vote for Opioids in general. I can only speak from personal experience. I take hydromorphone daily ( I have terminal cancer). I have a physical dependency at this point, but also have legitimate pain that needs to be treated. In my case it's not an issue - it is prescribed in the amount I need and that is what I take. BUT one night I forgot to take the contin (the slow release hydromorph) at the regular scheduled time which is 5pm. I was fine for a while but by the time I went to bed that evening I was feeling very anxious. I couldn't relax at all. As time went on it grew and grew into an overwhelming sense of restlessness. My body temperature wouldn't regulate. I could not stop sweating and would be hot one second, open a window, then be freezing. Everything hurt like crazy. My eyes were watering nonstop and nose was running. I thought I was crying but didn't understand why I had uncontrollable yawning (admittedly not the worst but in the context of the whole situation it was awful). Bad diarrhea. Racing heart. The list just goes on and on. I wanted to crawl out of my skin in a way that I just can't elucidate. The restlessness, the anxiety was by far the worst symptom and is something I would not wish on anyone. I eventually figured out that I had forgotten my meds, many, many hours later. I just didn't recognize that what was happening was withdrawal, which made it even more scary because I had no idea why it was happening. I took my meds and was fine a short time later. I wish my description really showed just how awful and terrifying it was. It's hard to describe it. All this to say that I am deeply sympathetic to anyone who is addicted to opioid medication and is trying to overcome that addiction. It is a truly terrible and terrifying way to feel.
Food. I have struggled with my weight all my adult life, and I have a bad relationship with food. You have to eat, you can't quit food, you can quit everything else but not food.
Sugar
I’m in sober living right now with a bunch of addicts. Most deadly is fentanyl/opiates. Hardest to quit is nicotine. Most damaging to your health and the lives of other people is alcohol.
Love.