Addictions are horrible things. They destroy lives, families, opportunities for success.
One of the main reasons why it’s so hard to quit an addiction is that no one cares about the withdrawal symptoms.
Your job doesn’t care that you’re vomiting out your guts. Your bills don’t care that you physically can’t work. Your family members (generally) don’t care about the effects of withdrawl.
It’s almost impossible to get clean without a strong support group because even a single missed day of work due to withdrawal symptoms can mean losing everything causing you to want to relapse because “what’s the point?”
How the fuck am I supposed to quit when it results in my family losing everything because I can’t work because I’m too fucking sick or agitated to work?
In many normal countries you can absolutely call in sick when you’re vomiting out your guts
I can call in sick but I don’t get paid… The bills are still there though.
In most civilized countries, if your doctor signs on it, you get paid sick leave, and the majority will sign, as they will see the withdrawal as a debilitating disease.
If most addicts were going to doctors to get off, I think there would be a higher success rate. I imagine many, if not most, don’t even have a doctor to see
I haven’t had a primary health physician since I was 15. I’m 30.
In the UK? What the fuck. That’s wild to me.
Statutory sick pack is an absolute joke (about £120 per week). Most places do offer company sick pay on top though (x amount of days fully paid etc)
This… I can take time off work but SSP is a pittance.
Here in the good ol US of A drug addiction is seen as a moral and personal failing thus you have to personally suffer immensely and loose your job, also depending on the area you can get arrested and sentenced to prison for drug possession the second you try to get help
I was away from work for almost 5 months, 3 of those in a rehab clinic, I got full pay and I’m still with the same company 12 years later, still sober, if not for that I’d probably be dead right now. For context I’m in the Netherlands
Sounds rough man. I got no personal experience with addiction - so feel free to tell me to get outta town. Could an organised support group could be helpful? I imagine it’d be a scary thing to commit to, but sharing the load with people who are going thru the shit as well - I imagine you’d at least be heard there and people would care/understand withdrawals etc. Sounds like you feel a lot pressure too (totally fair btw), so an organised support group could feel like another burden, but there’s a darn good chance it’ll make every other aspect of life easier.
Hopefully someone who knows more can chime in.Edit: re-reading. I realise it’s physically tough as well as mentally. So yeah, fark.
Not OP, but organizing support groups, or joining one already around does help some. It does not help everyone.
I’ve been to a couple AA meetings and wow. After the meetings is the time I felt like I needed a drink the most. They still make the addiction everything in their life, but it’s the inverse. They eat sweets (because they aren’t consuming sugars for alcohol, so the body craves it) and talk about alcohol all day. Hearing these stories drives me toward the problem.
I would rather focus my time and attention on something else. Start any random hobby or pick a topic and learn about it. Idk. You’re trying to kill time so you don’t make bad choices so fill your time with good choices. Like crochet and then mail me a blanket. It gets cold sometimes.
Thanks for replying. That’s good to know, and I could totally imagine that scenario.
Love the hobby suggestion too
I grew up in a family broken by addiction. I don’t know what substance or thing you’re struggling with, but I can tell you that if it’s something like methamphetamine, even being homeless is preferable to being an addict, because you can recover.
Addictions have a way of slowly destroying your life and removing the things you love. Right now you’re worried about your family losing the capital you provide them, but eventually if you continue down the path of addiction, your family will lose you entirely. And trust me losing a family member to addiction hurts much more for everyone than having a month or two of lost pay. It’s a hurt that goes down through the generations. My daughter is essentially without a grandpa because of this.
There is support out there. You’re worried primarily about paying the bills, right? How long would it take to get over the withdrawal symptoms? Two weeks? A month? You only need enough money to cover that. A local church may give you money to help you. You could start a go fund me. You could save up enough by budgeting. You could ask for support from extended family. You could ignore the capital needs and let the bills go past due for a month (pay only rent).
The longer you stay under the yoke of addiction, the harder getting out of it will become. To get out, you need to resolve yourself and want to get clean. At the end of the day, nobody can do that but you.
