Addiction (My Experience)

Acknowledgment

This post is strictly my experience with these topics, it is not the same for everybody and I completely understand and acknowledge that.

Mental Health/Addiction

Mental Health has been a part of my life now for about 8 years now. I myself experience severe anxiety; panic attacks, overthinking, etc. Addiction is something I personally don’t experience but one of the closest people to me is currently struggling with it and I have slowly been finding ways that work for me to cope and help with it, and if there is anyone else in that boat I would love to share my knowledge!

Anxiety

I know I have discussed anxiety previously on my blog. Due to it being such a popular topic right now with everything that’s going on in the world I want to bring as much awareness and guidance to it as I can. The main thing I experience from anxiety are panic attacks, I feel as though I could shed some light on them, so that is exactly what I am going to do!

-Panic Attacks

-Symptoms of a panic attack

-Heart racing

-sweaty palms

-pins and needles

-numbness

-yawning (alot)

-fidgeting

-shortness of breath

-heavy breathing

-light headedness

-nausea/vomiting

Panic attacks are so odd. I say that because you could literally have a panic attack out of nowhere for a reason that you are completely unaware of. For example; I remember one time I was sitting in the living room with my mom, just watching some tv, and all of a sudden my heart started racing. I remember thinking to myself “there is nothing wrong why is this happening” and 2 minutes later I was having a full-blown panic attack; numbness, heavy breathing, dizziness, heart racing I was terrified. Truthfully I thought I was dying, my mom looked at me and said “what’s wrong?” I just said, “I wish I knew.” There is good news though! chances are you are not dying when you are having that panic attack. So what can you do to prevent/cope with panic attacks?

Prevention/Coping Mechanisms

-Self-care

When you take care of yourself, you take care of your mind. It is important to give yourself time to focus on yourself and your mental health. You can do things like; take a bath, meditation, paint, dance, go for walks, etc. Really whatever works for you!

-Acknowledgment

I rememeber one session I had at therapy my therapist asked me ” what do you do when you start feeling anxious/a panic attack coming on?” I told her “I try to distract myself, think or do anything else to forget about it” , she told me that was the worst thing I could do. She said to face something you need to face it head on, so she said whenever I feel anxiety coming on to acknowledge the fact that I am having it and embrace it, in order to pass through it faster. Truthfully, that was the best advice I highly recommend it.

-Health

When I say health I am talking diet, excersise, etc. What you are putting in your body makes a hudge difference because that is your fuel, for your body and brain. Excersise helps you release negative feelings by focusing on your strength and health, which is why alot of people work out when they are stressed.

-Journal

Journaling is a great way to cope with your anxiety, It is a way to channel your emotions out of your head and onto paper, which helps you releave that elephant that is sitting on your chest.

-Communication

We are blessed in our day and age because mental health can be discussed now. I have had a lot of discussions with the older generation about how when they were growing up mental health was not something you could talk about. Nowadays there are many resources and support for those who suffer from mental illnesses. It is so important to reach out to these resources, even your friends, family, co-workers, teachers, anyone that you feel comfortable reaching out to. Do NOT be afraid to ask for help.

-Addiction

I have recently started experiencing addiction. Not personally, I am not an addict but one of the persons closest to me is. It has a big impact on our relationship, but we have been learning together how we will cope and make it work. These are some strategies I have used personally to help me cope and support someone who struggles with addiction.

-Don’t see them for their addiction

I know this may seem obvious to some and for some, it may not even make sense but let me explain. When you are labeled an addict it is mostly seen as a negative label that society has placed, so once you have that label you automatically have a stereotype attached to you. There is so much more to someone than this label, it is a part of them but it isn’t who they are don’t limit them to it.

-Understand what they are going through

When you have someone who is struggling with addiction who is able to say “I am an addict” and want to get help, that is a huge step and understand how hard that can be for them to do. Put yourself in their shoes, and your whole perspective will change.

-Take the time to understand where thier addiction comes from

Addictions come from the coping mechanisms we use to numb out negativities in our life. For example; when you experience trauma and it comes to your mind, you drink to numb yourself so you don’t think about that trauma. When you can understand what triggers them you can better understand what you can do to help them and even just understanding where someone is coming from can make a huge difference to them not feeling alone.

-Understand it is not you

When you are have a relationship with someone with an addiction there will be times that relapses happen or something else happens that you feel like it’s your fault. I know for me I’d feel like “if I was good enough they wouldn’t have relapsed”, “if they loved me they would stop”, etc. The truth is it has nothing to do with you. They can love you with all their hearts, you could be doing everything you can to help them but at the end of the day they are the ones dealing with the addiction and only they can fully figure it out.

-Understand mistakes will be made

Just like any human mistakes happen. It is no different when you are facing addiction, it’s how the mistakes are handled that make the difference. Not just how the addict handles the mistakes but how their supports handle them. Nothing is worse then making someone feel like shit for something that chances are they already feel like shit about. Understand that mistakes will happen and be understanding when they do.

-Do NOT hover

It is easy to worry when you have relations with an addict, it can be a constant what if war in your mind. To the point where you become controlling and to protective over the person you care about who is struggling with the addiction. This will not help anyone it is not healthy for you or for them.

Conclusion

Addiction is tough, very tough for those experiencing it and tough for those helping those struggling. In my experience it has taken a toll on my relationship on my behalf and on theirs. I think I speak for both of us when I say the lessons we have learnt and the struggles we have worked through together has made our foundation stronger then ever.