Mental Illness and Alcohol

I suffer from Poly-substance abuse and have for the past 13 years. I am bipolar 1 rapid cycling mixed episodes as well as Generalized anxiety disorder and social phobia disorder.
I have been battling alcohol for years now even while on my meds.
I want to give inspiration to all recovering and all addicted alcoholics that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Please go get help(I know how hard it seems) it will do a wonderful thing. I abused alcohol NOT to escape things but to feel. I was up to 20 beer a day now down to 4 if that and now I see things without the alcohol I didn't before. I have struggled many times spending upwards to $2000 a month on Beer and you would never realize what you save when you cut down.
Put it in your head next time you want a drink to go for a walk, drive whatever you love to do besides drink. It does help believe me or not. Don't let it fool you into thinking "ahh whatever this guy is just a preacher" I am not. I am here to help anyone battling this addiction. Please if you want insight or anything pm me or write to me in this forum. I have been through way too much in my life and want to help others as much as I can.
Thank you to whom ever reads this and gets inspired as that's the point I want to make. I am here and will always give hope and insight to who ever needs it.

Great work Colburt, your story will definitely inspire others. If you'll do it why not others. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll must share it with others and get them inspired.

Hi colburt91,

Thanks for sharing! We have the same diagnoses, except I don't have GAD or social phobia. There really is light and hope at the end of the tunnel. Life is much easier now, and the MI and addiction no longer ping pong with each other. It's impossible to be stable while abusing alcohol/drugs.

ladyswan wrote:Hi colburt91,

Thanks for sharing! We have the same diagnoses, except I don't have GAD or social phobia. There really is light and hope at the end of the tunnel. Life is much easier now, and the MI and addiction no longer ping pong with each other. It's impossible to be stable while abusing alcohol/drugs.

I agree its very unstable to be abusing alcohol and meds. I felt as if I was stable as now since alcohol doesn't play a factor I do get some of my bipolar and anxiety traits back. But learning to cope as we speak and I find it much easier to think of ways to cope around alcohol now.

Hi, I am very new to this forum.
I have struggled with alcohol adiction and mental illness for many, many years. Each time I reached out for help they would tell me to stop drinking but the stress from my MI became overwhelming and I would end up drinking again. I felt trapped and thought I was hopeless.
Two years ago I found a therapist who was very patient with me. She gave me the care I needed for my MI and continued to encourage me to stop drinking.
It has been very difficult. I would stay sober for a few days or a few weeks. The first sign of anxiety or any emotion for that matter and I would run to the bottle.
Finally the cravings stopped and I was able to get through anxiety attacks and flashbacks without a drink. The feeling of hopelessness is slowly going away and my life is getting better. I am starting to feel like I am able to manage my MI and stay sober.
Thank you for the post, it's comforting to know there are others who understand.

Hey
I can c a lot of myself in what u guys r saying. I'm currently seeing a psych for eating disorder issues & r on meds for clinical depression but I still know I use alcohol way to much to blur it out. Thanx for the inspiration. Hugs to u all x

Thanks Colburt for sharing your experience with us. After reading your post, i got very happy to know that by self- determination you was able to overcome alcohol addiction. So, will it inspire other people. I am pretty confident that people who will read your post will definitely try to hold up on drinking.

UPDATE: Bad news, I relapsed last month and now back at it again. I will be seeking professional help in the new year though!

The trouble with being an addict is that you do your very best to convince yourself that you are not an addict -- that you are in control. So going down from 20 to 4 beers a night seems to be a great achievement -- which it in a way is. However, 4 beers a night still fulfills criteria for addiction.

I have been told by my doctor that I can drink, sure, just very little. One beer or one glass of wine. But I could never stop at just one. I have found out that it's actually easier for me not to pick that first glass, because once I dry the first one all I want is the second. My last beer was on March 17. It was just one. Not because I could stop. But because I made sure there was only one in the house and I was tired enough that I didn't go and buy more.

I wish you all the best in the New Year -- and if you decide to seek professional help I keep fingers crossed that it will work for you. Big hugs!

I suffer from depression (with insomnia, OCD, and social anxiety). I am also a drunk, although I know longer practice my craft. I've haven't drank alcohol in three years tomorrow, Dec. 25.
I suffered from depression my entire life. Alcohol made it feel better but it didn't actually get better. I really thought alcohol was my primary problem and when I quit I would get better. The only thing quitting did was stop the pain/discomfort associated with withdrawal from binge drinking. It also took away the highs. I was just "blah" all the time. I've always had suicidal thought ( I was hospitalized for a suicide attempt) and realizing quitting alcohol didn't fix the majority of my problems made this kind of thinking worse. I went to a doctor and got some pills (SSRIs, bupropion, effexor) but they do not work. The doctors say I have anhedonia.

Be careful when quitting alcohol if you have a co-occurring mental illness. Sometimes taking away the drug we medicate with can make it worse. It is always important to remember there is a reason someone has drank enough alcohol to make themselves and alcoholic.

Congratulations to you for controlling your drinking. I wasn't able to. Is there any secret to self control. I mean, did you the prescription your doctor gave you do the same things to your neurotrasmitter levels that alcohol did. Or come close to it?

By the way, I have heard of other instances in which people have controlled themselves too. So I am not disbelieving your statements I am just wondering how it worked. Can you share with us?