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joeyjensen1959 avatar

Is drug and alcohol addiction just a bad habit? Or is it a disease?

Addiction & Recovery | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (72)
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@heyjoe415 I went to AA and even started a church AA but it didn’t work for me. I kept sober during the 30 years but I was suffering mentally with my GAD that needed to be worked on. I had some angry and suicidal issues that needed help. They got medically fixed because I went in to my doctors and they fixed. I needed to work on my issues first and then I could help and be there for others.

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heyjoe415 | @heyjoe415 | Mar 29 6:35am

Thanks BH. We have somewhat similar stories.

When I was 19 (1972) I had my first panic attack, accompanies by chronic depression and OCD (a little different than GAD, which I did suffer and overcame later in my life and career). In 1972 there were no meds to treat chronic depression, OCD, GAD. I finally got some medical help in 2002, but the prior 30 years were mostly spent in shame because of my "mental problems", as my parents originally put it. Those types of behaviors just weren't acceptable in the early 70s.

Getting sober doesn't fix everything that ails us. We still need medical science and psychotherapy to help with the conditions we've both mentioned.

I am glad you stayed sober for 30 years! That is an achievement. The road of recovery isn't straight and, again, doesn't solve our problems as much as it helps deal with and accept them.

I wish you all the best.

Joe

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