Substance abuse is not a disease

Substance abuse is a symptom of a mental illness, more often depression. Individuals will self medicate with substances to fulfill emotional needs. When I was an alcoholic I liked the warm fuzzy feeling that everything was alright and had meaning. It numbed my emotions, lifted my mood, and helped overcome some shyness. I was going through some shitty times, which I won't get to here, so that's why I medicated in such way. I quit being an alcoholic the day I started going to the gym. Lifting weights gave my life a meaning and I no longer felt the need to fill the emptiness with alcohol. I still drank but not to get drunk. I liked making cocktails and the sensory experience of smelling Islay scotch. I never gave any of it up, and I've never relapsed since 2.5 years. I've now switched to weed helps me medicate more effectively, has no negative side effects, and is not addictive. Some other people see life black and white and decide cold turkey is the way to go. As usual people tend to mistake a symptom for a cause. So they will religiously demonize alcohol and even look down on people who consume it. I'm inspired to say all this after seeing a presentation by somebody criticizing office parties for encouraging alcohol consumption and thereby creating a sense of exclusion towards former alcoholics who religiously avoid the stuff. I define alcolism as chronic use of the substance for self medication. I am not a medical doctor.

How much were you drinking?

My employer pulled me aside once to discuss the matter.

Could Altering Memories Help Treat Addiction?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/could-...a=twitter_page

The five most addictive substances in the world

1. Heroin

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Nutt et al.'s experts ranked heroin as the most addictive drug, giving it a score of 3 out of a maximum score of 3. Heroin is an opiate that causes the level of dopamine in the brain's reward system to increase by up to 200% in experimental animals. In addition to being arguably the most addictive drug, heroin is dangerous, too, because the dose that can cause death is only five times greater than the dose required for a high.
Snorted, injected or smoked? It can affect a drug's addictiveness
Heroin also has been rated as the second most harmful drug in terms of damage to both users and to society. The market for illegal opiates, including heroin, was estimated to be $68 billion worldwide in 2009.
2. Cocaine

Related Article: Cocaine's effects: Highs and harms
Cocaine directly interferes with the brain's use of dopamine to convey messages from one neuron to another. In essence, cocaine prevents neurons from turning the dopamine signal off, resulting in an abnormal activation of the brain's reward pathways. In experiments on animals, cocaine caused dopamine levels to rise more than three times the normal level. It is estimated that between 14 million and 20 million people worldwide use cocaine and that in 2009 the cocaine market was worth about $75 billion.
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Crack cocaine has been ranked by experts as being the third most damaging drug and powdered cocaine, which causes a milder high, as the fifth most damaging. About 21% of people who try cocaine will become dependent on it at sometime in their life. Cocaine is similar to other addictive stimulants, such as methamphetamine -- which is becoming more of a problem as it becomes more widely available -- and amphetamine.
3. Nicotine

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Nicotine is the main addictive ingredient of tobacco. When somebody smokes a cigarette, nicotine is rapidly absorbed by the lungs and delivered to the brain. Nutt et al's expert panels rated nicotine (tobacco) as the third most addictive substance.
More than two-thirds of Americans who tried smoking reported becoming dependent during their life. In 2002 the WHO estimated there were more than 1 billion smokers and it has been estimated that tobacco will kill more than 8 million people annually by 2030. Laboratory animals have the good sense not to smoke. However, rats will press a button to receive nicotine directly into their bloodstream -- and this causes dopamine levels in the brain's reward system to rise by about 25% to 40%.
What is dopamine, and is it to blame for our addictions?
4. Barbiturates ("downers")
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Barbiturates -- also known as blue bullets, gorillas, nembies, barbs and pink ladies -- are a class of drugs that were initially used to treat anxiety and to induce sleep. They interfere with chemical signalling in the brain, the effect of which is to shut down various brain regions. At low doses, barbiturates cause euphoria, but at higher doses they can be lethal because they suppress breathing. Barbiturate dependence was common when the drugs were easily available by prescription, but this has declined dramatically as other drugs have replaced them. This highlights the role that the context plays in addiction: if an addictive drug is not widely available, it can do little harm. Nutt et al's expert panels rated barbiturates as the fourth most addictive substance.
5. Alcohol

Although legal in the US and UK, alcohol was scored by Nutt et al.'s experts 1.9 out of a maximum of 3. Alcohol has many effects on the brain, but in laboratory experiments on animals it increased dopamine levels in the brain's reward system by 40% to 360% -- and the more the animals drank the more dopamine levels increased.

Related Article: No amount of alcohol is good for your overall health, global study says
Some 22% of people who have taken a drink will develop dependence on alcohol at some point during their life. The WHO has estimated that 2 billion people used alcohol in 2002 and more than 3 million people died in 2012 due to damage to the body caused by drinking. Alcohol has been ranked as the most damaging drug by other experts, too.




https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/01/02/hea...www.cnn.com%2F

^I'm pretty sure Doritos is up there too.

I'd like to correct myself. I'm sure there are hardcore addicts out there who have become completely powerless to substances that they must indeed religiously avoid it. There is a difference between abuse and addiction. In my case, it was abuse. Abuse eventually turns into addiction. I'm reading a lot of stories and there's always a mental health issue preceding the abuse/addiction.

You fucking idiot. No wonder you got schizophrenia from all the weed. Don't listen to this guy.

Sober for three months

What a fucking moron I used to be. I can't believe I wrote all of that. Marijuana "has no negative side effects"? Lol it gave me schizophrenia just one month after I wrote that.

Don't be a moron like I used to be.

2 years 4 months clean from all substances.