Need help preventing addiction
They say prevention is the best cure so here goes. I wouldnt say Im an addict, but I tend to latch on to whatever I can to take my mind off depression and anxiety and commit myself filling to that thing. For example, I am only 18, and I already think I have the start of a drinking problem. Its not that I drink everyday, but I drink to the extremes of excess. Like wake up in a strangers bath with no pants kind of excess. While I found it kind of amusing the first time, it lost its humour as the third and forth time rolled around. Ive tried to curb drinking, and because of that my mind latched onto rebuilding a motorbike. Now I have become obsessed with that, and get so worked up and stressed about anything that goes wrong. But now that the rebuild has grinded to a halt, my mind has latched onto something else. Its what motivated me to get help. Now I dont have a problem with anyone smoking weed, I think its a harmless drug and if used correctly it seems pretty fun. But I got so desperate to get some because I heard of its benefits for depression that I threw caution to the wind and got scammed. And I have to hide that I lost the money from my parents. I feel that if I dont get my obsessive habits under control soon Ill latch onto something and it will ruin my life for good, especially if its drugs, because if I do get caught my dream of becoming a lawyer is done.
sorry for the rambling.
Cheers
@SvenZoidberg88 Hi Sven, welcome to the subcommunity! We are delighted to have you here with us. No need for apologies; I hope you felt better after writing the post. Writing out our thoughts/emotions can be therauptic. It is wonderful that you are realizing you may be developing a drinking problem; intervention now can definitely help you down the road especially at your age. I'm so proud that you are reaching out for help! How have you been coping lately?
You are more than welcome to join in any of our open chats/ discussions. We actually have open chat today at 7:30 pm EST in the addiction support room. You can find the full schedule under the community calendar. Feel free to check out the resources we have here.
Feel free to keep us updated on how you are doing. Also, let us know if you have any concerns or questions. Best wishes! :)
@SvenZoidberg88
Hello and welcome! To me it sounds like you're very aware of your personality with intense attachment as you described. I am so happy to see someone who's only 18 with such a significant insight to their future. You didn't go into much details about how badly you become upset over a project ( when focused) but I wanted to share mine. I've always been searching for that super hobby that I can turn to every now and then. I needed to tune out my racing thoughts. But here I am 30 something still looking for a hobby. Point of this story is, you might just be like me, hot and cold about any subject matter of interest of the moment. Don't fear because you think you see the pattern. I think you're doing a great job because you already aknowledge what's best for you and what's not. Only thing I suggest is, if you think want it, thinking it again, weigh the pros and cons before acting on it. Which is something I learned how to do wayyyy later than when I was 18. Keep visiting us and keep us posted.