Are we addicts?

[[Le...]]

When I was in rehab I left because they tried to get me to say during mandatory AA/NA meetings,"Hello my name is Leigh and I am an addict." Everytime it came around to ME I sat there with a blank expression on my face with large blinking eyes like (the characters on South Park). I froze and  would not say it. After a couple of days of angry glares I compromised and said, "Well my body is addicted but I'M not addicted." I began to dread those meetings. I like the group therapeutic aspect and all but I wouldn't budge on the addict issue. Finally the director said, "Maybe Leigh just does not know she's an addict until she's been off longer." I finally left for that reason(and the fact that they confiscated my yoga mat and lavender tea). Well I HAVE been off for a year now and the only thing I crave is a bat and a chance to beat the doctors who put me on this drug -that was a joke. So what do you think? Are we addicts? Victims? or Both? The purpose of this question is that I want to start a benzo withdrawal support group and I was wondering was I the only one who felt this way-I would want my group to support the opinion of the majority.

[[no...]]

Good question. Personally, I know I'm a victim of a bad doctor. But, I don't like the term "victim"so I don't want to think of myself as one. I'm addicted to benzos otherwise I wouldn't have all these w/d symptoms. But , I don't like term "addict" b/c it makes me feel like some loser junkie. So, there you have it: not a victim, not an addict, just a woman coming off benzos.

[[Ho...]]

When I was in rehab I left because they tried to get me to say during mandatory AA/NA meetings,"Hello my name is Leigh and I am an addict." Everytime it came around to ME I sat there with a blank expression on my face with large blinking eyes like (the characters on South Park). I froze and  would not say it. After a couple of days of angry glares I compromised and said, "Well my body is addicted but I'M not addicted." I began to dread those meetings. I like the group therapeutic aspect and all but I wouldn't budge on the addict issue. Finally the director said, "Maybe Leigh just does not know she's an addict until she's been off longer." I finally left for that reason(and the fact that they confiscated my yoga mat and lavender tea). Well I HAVE been off for a year now and the only thing I crave is a bat and a chance to beat the doctors who put me on this drug -that was a joke. So what do you think? Are we addicts? Victims? or Both? The purpose of this question is that I want to start a benzo withdrawal support group and I was wondering was I the only one who felt this way-I would want my group to support the opinion of the majority.

 

I understand your frustration and anger however, joke or not, please refrain from such comments.

[[La...]]

It was posted somewhere that if you are addicted you crave more and more of the drug to get the same effect, your body needs more, if you are dependent you ususally dont up your dose or run out of med at the end of the RX but you rely on the med to give you the relief it was prescribed for, sleep if insomnia is a problem, or calmness if anxiety wa a problem, when you are dependent you do not abuse the drug , thats my understanding of the difference but the outcome, the withdrawal is the same for us all so its a mute point to me, addict or dependant I am not worried about the label really, just happy to be me again and get this poison gone, I wish you great success in starting a support group, 

[[...]]

Here we go again!

[[Ch...]]

Addict is a hard word to swallow.  I've never abused it by taking more than prescribed nor taken it for recreation.  I don't crave it but my body does.  But I'm in control now and my dependency/addiction will soon be behind me.  Of that I have no doubt.

 

I consider myself an "accidental addict" of legal prescription medicine, not the victim of a bad doctor.  I hold him in the highest esteem and believe he didn't understand the ramifications down the road.  If anyone should be a whistle-blower it should perhaps be the pharmacists who better understand the ramifications of continued use and warn us.  My prescription bottles carry no warnings nor has any pharmacist ever said a word about refills.

 

My lesson from this is that I now question every drug suggested by my doctor and I do the research before I make a decision to take it or not...school of hard knocks, right? 

 

Challis

 

[[as...]]

Several months ago I attended a group meeting at a local church. It is called Celebrate Recovery. Similar to AA though from a Biblical perspective. The name of the group was very enticing to me...I WAS celebrating recovery. From the Accidental dependency of the drugs the doctors put me on and lied about to keep me on. I attended the first meeting. Much like your experience Leigh, they took me as an addict. Even after spending 1/2 hour or so talking to the director of the meeting and explaining that I was originally put on the ativan for Mitral Valve Prolapse and its heart irregularities. Stayed on it because the docs told me to and said it was totally safe. Less addicting than the Beta blockers  , so they said. I merely followed a doctors direction (actually took much less of the drug than was advised). He looked at me for a moment like he didn't even hear anything I had just said. Then continued on as though I was a poor, poor addict not yet ready to release my denial and accept my addiction. I never went back. 

[[Ti...]]

No. My body is chemically dependent on Benzos though, and without it my health is severely compromised. I have been doing nothing but trying to get off the drug shortly after put on it. I have never craved it. I suppose some who abuse Benzos are also addicts but that's not the case for me.

[[ja...]]

Being Mentally and Physically dependent are two different things. For me I was never mentally dependent. Therefore I'm not a addict. I never craved I never ran short of my pills. But Had I been a Addict I would have no problem saying that .I think saying it and believing it makes for Success getting off and through this a Victory! Doesn't make them a Junkie .Makes them Brave .

I also don't think its of anyone Else's Right to try and make someone say there a Addict.What do they know? I think to many people Judge others and make statements that are Harsh and its so not cool.

Only you know wether or not if your a Addict. Even if your not willing to admit it or not..deep down You know.

~Jenny

[[BY...]]

If you are taking the pills to get a desired high and then go out to buy more illegally, or lying to another doctor to have a refill, and even do things that are wrong to get the pills, despite the consequences, that would be an addiction.

Just my opinion.

 

Drug dependence means that a person needs a drug to function normally. Abruptly stopping the drug leads to withdrawal symptoms. Drug addiction is the compulsive use of a substance, despite its negative or dangerous effects.

http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/001522.htm

[[Ho...]]

I've heard this complaint before about some rehab facilities; that those of us who are 'accident addicts' are treated like addicts, which isn't the least bit helpful while withdrawing from these meds. Coming off benzos isn't a moral issue, it's a health issue so to be judged as someone who is out of control, tends to rub many the wrong way.

[[Bi...]]

Well in my case, and I am not speaking for everyone. I was addicted to it. I couldn't see that before, but I do now. I am not calling everyone an addict, but me, myself.. yes. When I had to take a pill to calm myself when there was other ways to cope.. yes, I was an addict.

In my case, the P-doc who gave me the Klonopin.. I asked for it. I was told it helped with anxiety. If i had not asked for it, would she have prescribed it? I don't know.

 

Billy.~

[[el...]]

For me, I have to go along with Billy’s reasoning. Although I actually didn’t need the benzo to live life, I was told I did, and I believed it for 13 years. Not anybody’s bad I guess. I was addicted.

 

I am an addict, but I am an addict who is no longer in his addiction. That’s a distinction that I hear in AA rooms often. People who haven’t had a drink for over 20 years describe themselves as alcoholics who are no longer in their addiction.

 

More importantly for me, when I can introduce myself at any meeting (or anywhere) as an alcoholic and addict who is no longer in either addiction, it speaks of great strength. Mentally, it makes me feel as strong as steel - stronger than others around me.

 

We are all doing something here that is so incredibly difficult, and the rest of the world will take notice - especially when they need the help of someone who has “walked the walk” - the help of another addict who broke through the bonds of active addiction.

 

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. That which we call a skunk by any other name would smell as bad."

 

eli

[[Wi...]]

Here we go again!

Flea...it was bound to happen...sigh...

 

WWWI

[[Ho...]]

Here we go again!

Flea...it was bound to happen...sigh...

 

WWWI

 

 

[Guest [vi...]]

good luck with your benzo group. to many groups is never enough with this pernicious addiction.

 

i've used the word "addiction" already. i am an addict. i started using it recreationally for the spectacularly calming effects it had on me (and, no, i did not suffer from anxiety but still i experienced a lot of tranquility using it). i got addicted, never did increase my dose, quit it for 5 years and then got introduced to them for just the same reasons as before. still haven't increased my dose but can't get off for the horrible withdrawals reasons. i could get off of them earlier for i was younger and addicted to just a benzo (but now -- see my signature). the tolerance depression has put me on the ferris wheel. i am now on antidepressants too. but i do have a problem with substances. so i will verily go with the "addict" definition.

 

therefore, don't be shy of adding "addicts" in your nomenclature in your group. "dependency" (a fancy pharma term) is another you ought to add.

 

once again, good luck and god bless folks likes you.

 

i dream that when i fully recover, i will start a benzo withdrawal clinic. i 'm in india. but i dream a lot on mirtazapine (an antidepressant i take) these days.

 

[[jr...]]

Here we go again!

Flea...it was bound to happen...sigh...

 

WWWI

 

deja vu

[[sp...]]

Good question. Personally, I know I'm a victim of a bad doctor. But, I don't like the term "victim"so I don't want to think of myself as one. I'm addicted to benzos otherwise I wouldn't have all these w/d symptoms. But , I don't like term "addict" b/c it makes me feel like some loser junkie.

 

As someone who has struggled with substance abuse problems for a long time, this post is extremely offensive to me. I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, but I'd encourage you to choose your words more wisely.

 

As someone who knows a lot of drug addicts, there is definitely a difference between physiological dependance and psychological addiction, but they are linked because they will invariably lead to each other if either condition persists unchecked for long enough. Once you're addicted to a drug, you're an addict of that drug. Not having lost your house to heroin doesn't change that.

 

I don't think forcing people who have become addicted to prescription benzodiazepines without knowing what they were getting in to to attend 12 step meetings makes sense, but in general I think for-profit rehab clinics are bullshit. Beyond that, whatever meeting you were at does not sound like a typical 12 step meeting, because 12 step groups absolutely do not require people to self-identify as addicts if they are not comfortable doing so. As far as NA goes, the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using drugs, period, and I've never seen anyone get called out for not wanting to identify by their first name, not wanting to identify as an addict, etc. If that stuff is going on, then it sounds to me like wherever you were was a self-righteous for-profit waste of time.

 

Typical format of the beginning of a typical NA meeting: "Is there anyone here for their first time or new to this group who would like to introduce themselves by their first name?". Period. If people want to speak up, great, if not, sit in silence. If people want to introduce themselves with "my name is X and I'm here because I became dependent on prescription benzos" instead of with "my name is X and I'm an addict", that's also fine. Whatever AA/NA meetings you were attending were run by people who have not actually read the texts and learned how the thing is supposed to work.

[[Ch...]]

Good question. Personally, I know I'm a victim of a bad doctor. But, I don't like the term "victim"so I don't want to think of myself as one. I'm addicted to benzos otherwise I wouldn't have all these w/d symptoms. But , I don't like term "addict" b/c it makes me feel like some loser junkie.

 

As someone who has struggled with substance abuse problems for a long time, this post is extremely offensive to me. I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, but I'd encourage you to choose your words more wisely.

 

As someone who knows a lot of drug addicts, there is definitely a difference between physiological dependance and psychological addiction, but they are linked because they will invariably lead to each other if either condition persists unchecked for long enough. Once you're addicted to a drug, you're an addict of that drug. Not having lost your house to heroin doesn't change that.

 

I don't think forcing people who have become addicted to prescription benzodiazepines without knowing what they were getting in to to attend 12 step meetings makes sense, but in general I think for-profit rehab clinics are bullshit. Beyond that, whatever meeting you were at does not sound like a typical 12 step meeting, because 12 step groups absolutely do not require people to self-identify as addicts if they are not comfortable doing so. As far as NA goes, the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using drugs, period, and I've never seen anyone get called out for not wanting to identify by their first name, not wanting to identify as an addict, etc. If that stuff is going on, then it sounds to me like wherever you were was a self-righteous for-profit waste of time.

 

Typical format of the beginning of a typical NA meeting: "Is there anyone here for their first time or new to this group who would like to introduce themselves by their first name?". Period. If people want to speak up, great, if not, sit in silence. If people want to introduce themselves with "my name is X and I'm here because I became dependent on prescription benzos" instead of with "my name is X and I'm an addict", that's also fine. Whatever AA/NA meetings you were attending were run by people who have not actually read the texts and learned how the thing is supposed to work.

Nailed it again.  You're my new hero. 

[[...]]

I would say physically dependent. That addict stuff makes me mad. Maybe some people are traditional addicts using this medication.  But taking .5 mg per day for five years or what have you following Dr.'s orders?

[[dr...]]

I also consider myself having been "dependent", but "not addicted."  I know these are semantics, but for some of us, myself included, the distinction is important.  The way I think of it is.....  For all those years when I took Klonopin responsibly and within prescription guidelines, I wasn't considered "an addict" by any of the physicians who prescribed the medication for me.  Nor was I ever considered an addict by any of the other non prescribing physicians I saw when I mentioned to them that I was taking 1.25 of Klonopin.  Now years later when I decide to get off the medication, I am suddenly "an addict" because I am having withdrawal symptoms?  I don't think so.  On at least three occasions, my primary care physician has offered to put me back on Klonopin while going through withdrawals.  "Addict" does not appear to describe this scenario very well.  At least not for me.

 

Draftsman 

[[bl...]]

I'm addicted to eating. When I don't, I have the urge to, and I have the worst physical and mental symptoms both. If I were deprived of eating, I would do desperate things to get food.

 

 

I would never call myself an "addict" for being physically dependent on something!

[[...]]

I think a distinguishing factor between being an addict and having a physical dependency is that quitting wouldn't be a problem if not for the w/d.  The single minded focus required to make tiny cuts over a long period of time...I don't see an addict doing that. If you could only have 5/8ths of an alcoholic drink one night and 4/8ths  the next... wouldn't that be hard? An addict could never do that. 

[[bl...]]

I think a distinguishing factor between being an addict and having a physical dependency is that quitting wouldn't be a problem if not for the w/d.  The single minded focus required to make tiny cuts over a long period of time...I don't see an addict doing that. If you could only have 5/8ths of an alcoholic drink one night and 4/8ths  the next... wouldn't that be hard? An addict could never do that.

 

Exactly! Well said too.

[[sp...]]

I think a distinguishing factor between being an addict and having a physical dependency is that quitting wouldn't be a problem if not for the w/d.  The single minded focus required to make tiny cuts over a long period of time...I don't see an addict doing that. If you could only have 5/8ths of an alcoholic drink one night and 4/8ths  the next... wouldn't that be hard? An addict could never do that. 

 

Many, many people come off alcohol and heroin doing exactly this. That said, failure rates are higher, because there's a temptation to take more to get high which doesn't tend to happen with benzos.

 

I think it's a little silly to split hairs about this, though. From where I sit, the only reason to do so is to avoid the arbitrary stigma that society attaches to substance dependence. My view is skewed, because I know recovered heroin addicts who are vastly more responsible and upstanding members of society than many non-drug-users I've met.

 

Avoiding withdrawal is a main reason people relapse on opiates, too. The two things are not as different as they may appear. There are also a lot of people who ended addicted to narcotics through the same means that many of us ended up addicted to benzos: doctors who were quick to prescribe long-term regimens of substances that create a physical dependency.