CMV: I just don't view bulimia/anorexia/addiction as a disease.

Isn't that how most people become alcoholics? Unless I am mistaken, alcoholism is a cause of depression, and caused by depression. In any case, they are heavily, heavily linked.

Yes, they are heavily linked as you say, but they can be totally exclusive disorders. I do believe that I certainly have a predisposition to substance abuse issues because I often think to myself, "If I'm not feeling great, then maybe one more will help this?" and the sad thing is that I really don't enjoy any drug including alcohol THAT much.

So ultimately I get stuck in this cycle until I black out because I just never feel "that great." Alcohol makes me feel bloated and sleepy. Adderall makes me feel tweaked and anxious. Oxycodone makes me feel too wired. Yet there are times where I think to myself, "Maybe one more will make me feel better?" and I believe in my situation it is directly related to my mild depression.

The fact is that I am just never feeling that great. And I hear others rave about alcohol and drugs so at times I will try to indulge in these substances but they never do for me what others claim it does for them. So, I certainly believe I am at this point in my life where I could really develop a disease, alcoholism or drug addiction or whatever, but I don't believe I have either at this point in my life.

A lot of people have the same mindset of "maybe just one more will make me feel better," but they learn their lessons and overcome that mindset. I've elected to completely cut out any substance in my life so that I can focus on confronting my depression. If that ever subsides, then I will start to actually address my substance abuse issues.

For now, I'm not convinced that my "disease" is alcoholism. If anything, it is my depression, but I'm pretty certain that will go away eventually. People who are depressed or going through mental issues HAVE to avoid drugs and alcohol because they can exacerbate their situations but in these cases their depression or anxiety is the main issue.

Especially if they don't like the feeling of being drunk or buzzed at all. I wish my family had considered other avenues before dismissing it as alcoholism. I'm ranting and personalizing way too much at this point. I can view these as "beginning stages" of serious diseases, but in a lot of cases they are not yet people LEAP to the conclusion that they're diseased.

And then that belief pervades the rest of their lives and they never got to consider any other avenues of recovery.

/r/changemyview Thread Parent