[Serious] Alcoholics and addicts of reddit, how bad has it gotten?

I have gone through some major shit dealing with alcohol addiction. My drinking stated at the age of 19 and drank until the age of 22. It all started innocent, drinking in the afternoons and ever so earlier until it got to the point where I would have to be drunk all the time (vodka in a coffee mug at work) in order to function. At one point, after I lost almost everything I had, after 2 DUI's, no job, I would still go and find a way to get booze and drink. $15 handle of Wolfschmidt would usually get me through two days until I had to get more. I didn't care about anything else in the world but getting vodka. I would sometimes wake up in the morning drenched in sweat, trembling. It got to the point where I couldn't even HOLD the bottle of vodka to my mouth as I was shaking so much, spilling the vodka all over myself occasionally. Eventually I knew I couldn't continue like this. I have checked myself into the nearest hospital emergency room and that's where the REAL horror began. I cannot even begin to explain to you what I went through at the hospitals, I have to say this was the absolutely worst experience of my life. As another user in this thread suggested, and what was my belief at that time - hospitals will take care of you and actually help you detox from alcohol and help you make your withdrawal somewhat manageable - oh boy was I wrong! The hospital detoxed me over one week and I was released. I had full blown DT's (delirium tremens). I saw shit that wasn't there like circles on the ceiling, I imagined I was in a church, I imagined I was talking to people, hallucinated the weirdest shit all while being restrained helpless and feeling like my chest was being pierced by a thousand rusty razors and trying to explode at the same time and some. Turns out, the hospital doesn't give a flying fuck about you if you come in in a state like this, needing help. All they will do is label you as an addict, restrain you, hook you up to potassium/magnesium drip and leave you there periodically checking on you and taking your vitals. After I haven't slept and yelled for days, some miracle doctor finally gave me haloperidol. It helped tremendously. It knocked me out and I have slept. The next day I woke up and I was feeling way better. My BP was still around 170/140 and the hospital staff started showing some concern probably because they didn't want me going into cardiac arrest - keep in mind they did not give me any real medications except the haloperidol. I was released from hospital two days later ...AND Vodka. I had to get vodka. I was detoxed way to quickly and was still going through some protracted withdrawals. Next I know, I was drinking again, drinking vodka in order to calm my anxiety and put an end to the cravings. One week later, I went into another hospital and explained my situation. I explained I was looking for help coming off of alcohol and explained what I believed the other hospital did wrong, and all that. The staff seemed so nice, I actually believed they would help. They took their time and explained I will be taken care for, we will detox you slowly and all that. As soon as I signed the paper giving them consent for treatment, the second I did that I was immediately hauled upstairs and their tone changed significantly. I remember waking up the next day, restrained, hallucinating. I went though the same thing as at hospital #1 but about x10 worse. They did exactly everything what the other hospital did, after a few days of having full blown DT's they finally administered haloperidol and miraculously I felt way better the next day. Before being released from the hospital, eh, should I say, since they were so tired of me I had two options. #1 be taken to the state hospital #2 be taken in the psych ward for an undisclosed amount of time. I chose #2. I spent a week there, it was actually pretty cool, I would make small talk with the patients, techs and a week later I was released. And what do you think happened next? PAWS (post acute withdrawal syndrome) My treatment of choice? Vodka. But this time was different. I only got a pint and drank only very little every day and it took literally everything out of me to finally stop drinking and avoid any withdrawal symptoms. I would drink less and less every day, until I no longer had the evil cravings. Fast forward 8 years later - I still see a shrink for my anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and whatever else I am diagnosed with, but I feel fine. Man I'm so mad at myself for losing control over my drinking back then. I thought "no", "this will never happen to me", "this can't happen to me", "I don't have an addictive personality", "I'm not an alcoholic" until it was too late. Lost jobs, lost my degree, lost friends, lost family, the list goes on... Moral of the story; if you are drinking significant amounts of hard liquor and have to go through withdrawals, be sure to keep in mind you can't really count on the hospital to help you out. The hospital will definitely detox you way too quickly and you will be back drinking as soon as you get out. They might also send you to a state mental institution if you get unlucky. If you really want to stop drinking you have to give it all you've got and do it yourself and most importantly DO IT SLOWLY. Detoxing from alcohol cold turkey can definitely kill you. No one else is going to do this for you. I learned the hard way and I am still suffering the consequences.

/r/AskReddit Thread