One of my sisters went through Valium withdrawal. It wasn't pretty.Originally Posted by Khendraja'aro
One of my sisters went through Valium withdrawal. It wasn't pretty.
My grandmother once was sent home from a mental hospital (she suffers from dementia, during the time of the incident she was in the early stages) and they seemingly had changed medication quite abruptly which led to a psychotic attack at home - we had exchanged her old bed because it was broken while she was away. This small change led to her screaming and hollering that we were trying to get rid of her and that my father was to take his axe and cut her head off.One of my sisters went through Valium withdrawal. It wasn't pretty.
I was the only one at home at the time. Positively frightening.
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Paranoia can be frightening to watch, like they're in a nightmare and can't be awakened. I hope you weren't too young at the time. What did you do?
My sister became horribly mean and vicious, verbally abusive, moody with a touch of paranoia. She doesn't remember most of it now.
Called our family physician who was able to give her some sedatives.
Paranoia can be frightening to watch, like they're in a nightmare and can't be awakened. I hope you weren't too young at the time. What did you do?
My sister became horribly mean and vicious, verbally abusive, moody with a touch of paranoia. She doesn't remember most of it now.
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
You know being "addicted" to running isn't something most people would think of as bad. I think far more of America is addicted to being lazy.
And yes being addicted to something that causes your body harm (like drugs, alcohol, cigarettes) IS a character flaw.
Why? It is something everyone is capable of doing. Weather they do it or not is up to them and how much value they put on not being addicted. If people choose to the "easy" (short term) solution of just giving in to their addiction that is their fault.
There are people who actually run themselves into the ground.
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
It's the fault of the substance and of the person's body. place blame where blame is due pls
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
You haven't really read what anyone has said, Lewk.
Weather?
No, but many people clearly don't understand any psychiatric conditions. In excess, even running can have negative consequences. Sometimes it is also an expression of another underlying problem.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
I do place the blame for addictions where the blame deserves to be. 100% solely on the person.
Yep, and one part of the brain doesn't differentiate between chemicals. Natural or synthetic, beneficial or harmful, it's all the same. The other part of the brain, the cognitive and conscious parts, are often affected by those chemicals and become altered.
There's actually something called Runner's Syndrome. They have to run, even in pain, during injury, illness or inclement weather. It's not rational but harmful. That's when some start taking numbing pain medications or certain steroid injections. One addiction can lead to another. We've seen this in almost every single athletic sport, from ballet dancers to bicycle racers.
Clearly you don't, because if you did you'd place the blame on the substances and on the body, right down to the receptorsthis is logic, Lewk.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Anyone can stop taking whatever they are addicted to. If someone fails to do so it is entirely their fault.Clearly you don't, because if you did you'd place the blame on the substances and on the body, right down to the receptors
Blame and fault don't serve much purpose in this context. But people do need to have a motivation to do something, sure.
So, what are you smoking and why don't you stop it?
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
No, it's the fault of the substance and of biology. You can admit that's true in depression, so clearly you can admit the same for addiction.
Otherwise please explain why the two are so different in your eyes. Either from a rational and/or scientific perspective, or even from a personal perspective. Is it because you love depressed people and hate addicts?
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Loki had it pinned down by post #2. Mental illnesses need to be de-stigmatized.
I've been diagnosed with psychological and emotional "illness", but it's not the same as being able to say "I'm a diabetic" to friends or family. We've come far enough that diabetes or hypertension are understood and accepted by most everyone. Those are recognizable conditions without "illness" in their name. We don't call diabetes a "pancreatic illness". Even cardiovascular "disease" has been replaced with other terminology suitable for saying out loud. "I have high blood pressure" doesn't draw stares.
It's still very hard for me to say out loud to anyone that I have a mental illness or a psychological disease. There's a huge stigma, and people are uncomfortable hearing those words.
Oh, and just so no one feels strange asking.....I have OCD (obsessive compulsive DISORDER), recurrent vegetative depression with abandonment and post-traumatic syndrome DISORDER. yay, just the kind of gal you want to take home and meet the folks!
Disorder, disease, illness. Whatever. I also have cluster headaches http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clusterhead.jpg restless leg syndrome and a very mild form of Trichotillomania (pulling hair when nervous). I'm quite concerned that all these things might mean I'm headed toward MS or Parkinson's, but there's nothing I can do about that. Doc says I have a slightly higher risk for brain aneurysm, stroke, or other neurological DISORDERS.
They give me meds to knock out the OCD and I'm just a vegetable. They give me meds for depression and I'm still a nervous wreck. I didn't used to be this way, or it was manageable, until I had children, breastfed then started peri-menopause. Then everything went catty wampus. It's very frustrating.
So don't you dare lecture anyone about anything, Lewk.
Now that I've exposed myself, y'all can freely share your own pretty warts!
Last edited by GGT; 02-04-2011 at 04:48 PM.
Because you can stop being impacted by your addiction through will power and simply stop taking the substance you are addicted to. You can not stop depression simply by will power.
Who told you that? Where did you read that? How do you know that?
Logic? Common sense? Awareness of the world? People stop smoking all the time. They go through withdrawal and then they are non-smokers if they have any will power. Ditto with alcoholics and drug users, the type of substance will determine the difficulty. Just because something might be difficult doesn't change the fact it is doable by EVERYONE.
Actually it's not. If you feel free to not pay taxes you are. That is until the tax man catches up with you. Addiction on the other hand is always with you, urging you to use, it is the proverbial "Monkey on your back". Not using is a decision just like the one to use, only more difficult, and one that must be made everyday. As time goes on the decision becomes easier, almost subconscious, but still remains. I admit it is not, was not, an easy thing to do. Though I refered to those unable to do it my way as weak, I know that sometimes people need help making this decision. If they honetly seek the help they need and stick to whatever program they're on, they are not weak but merely human.
The worst job in the world is better than being broke and homeless
Perhaps you could read up on things when common sense and logic doesn't pan out. Not all "addictions" are the same, some aren't even related to ingesting substances.
You saying or thinking so doesn't mean it's right.
Of course you can. People recover from depression on their own all the time. Clearly it's doable, by the logic and the awareness you use.
Alcohol abuse I think is associated with far more stigma than eg. nicotine addiction. I think that makes it more difficult for alcoholics to get the support they may need in order to recover.
Alcohol withdrawal is more severe than nicotine withdrawal.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Again from what I understand is that you can't just will depression to go away. The same imbalance in your head will remain regardless of circumstances. Sure you can treat symptoms of it but it doesn't just go away. This of course is no fault to the person who had depression.
Addiction is completely different. They chose to try to the substance of choice (drug, alcohol, smokes) and they choose to continue to use it.
It comes down to choice. If something is afflicting someone due to their bad choices then of course they should be blamed. If something is afflicting someone through no cause of their own we have no right to blame them. This isn't a complicated idea.
But not all bad choices are, or can be, immediately recognized as such. Sometimes you don't see the error of your ways until you're already in too deep. Blame is not an effective tool. You can't accept the addicts behavior, but blame includes shame, which only drives an addict to escape through using.
The worst job in the world is better than being broke and homeless
No. By the time they're addicted, it's essentially the same as depression or other mental illnesses - they've altered their brain chemistry to the point where most will need some kind of outside help to overcome the problem.
If you're addicted to a substance with severe withdrawal symptoms you most likely won't be able to make it through on your own. And with "severe" I mean: Very painful, wracking and possibly life-threatening. You'll be paranoid. You'll have hallucinations. You'll be literally mad.
That's not something you can magically wave away with "willpower" or whatever that shit you're touting. After all, there's some evidence that your genes play a role in determining your risk to become an alcoholic. Which means that there are factors outside your control. Which in turn means that your precious "willpower" means squat.
It's an idiotic idea to distinguish between depression and addiction, and shows that you know nothing about neurochemistry.
Do you really think that you made your decision to engage your wife on your own? Do you really think that you chose your friends completely all by your own free will?
If you do, you're badly mistaken. You're only one member of a huge crowd which determines where the voyage goes. Just take a look at what happens when you are drunk - suddenly you say or do things you'd never do when sober. Is the drunk one the real you? The sober one? Are you both? And why did a simple little molecule switch between the two so easily?
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Of course there is the somewhat trivial point that no-one gets addicted without being exposed to whatever it is they're addicted to, and often that exposure was by their own choice (eg. someone who doesn't live in Taliban Afghanistan choosing to consume alchol). Well, I suppose it's a trivial point unless one believes strongly and religiously in the therapeutic value of guilt
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
I've never met anyone who is an alcoholic that didn't make the conscious choice to drink. This is the problem with you liberals. You *never* want to place blame where blame belongs. When a criminal does a crime we should pity them because "society" gave them a bad start. When an addict takes another hit of their addiction you say don't blame the addict? Seriously? WTF?
Rumrunner:
Who says shame is bad? Shame is a negative impact. People tend to avoid negative things. Therefore associating shame with an activity will cause that activity to be less likely to be done. By removing shame or guilt for a particular action you *INCREASE* the acceptance and likelihood of that action.You can't accept the addicts behavior, but blame includes shame, which only drives an addict to escape through using.
If you keep letting addicts off the hook by this pathetic crap of "its not their fault" you enable them.
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