Thanx Exammy...that was most interesting.

The bit which grabbed my attention mostly was this bit:

"as a means of numbing an extreme negative event in my life."

This is the aspect of life that I personally cannot really understand.
For me..I've had such moments. It's that point when everything you ever trusted seemed to evaporate, betray you...come to nothing, but it can also be an aggressive thing also...like someone trying to destroy your life (that was not my experience) and I imagine that if one saw no obvious way out other than a very serious criminal offense...then I guess 'numbing' might figure, but to me.. I still would not want to or go down that path because my head tells me that:

a) It's worse for me.
b) It doesn't solve the problem.
c) If I numb it.. it won't go away.

Can you please help me to understand why this was not the case for you at that time?..because your answer will fit many thousands of others who are at or approaching that point.

Did you consider prayer at all ? or seeking divine intervention or at least comfort?

Dear Polycarp,

I don't know if this is going to be helpful
to anyone, but here goes...

A few years ago I got addicted to the
strong calmative headache tablets - Mersyndol.

A doctor initially recommended them to me for
migraines. Before long I discovered that by
doubling the dosage to 4 tablets at night,
I slept like a baby. This was during a rather
difficult time in my life on a personal level.
I was not coping very well, and I found that
the tablets had a numbing effect, which helped.

Before long I began to rely on the tablets
for a good nights sleep. And after a time,
I simply began to take them every evening.
I was hooked, and totally relied on them
for a "good" night's sleep. I found that
I was able to put up with anything during
the day, as long as I had the tablets to turn
to at night. Pathetic, I know.

What scared me out of this cycle was when
I was told I had cancer. I stopped taking
the tablets immediately,
and have never taken them since.

Addiction, is an easy thing to succumb to,
as I found out. But having a health scare
helped me to get back to reality.

My advice to anyone contemplating taking
stronger medication for headaches - be very careful.
You may get more than you bargained for.

Poly and pals:

I have come to the conclusion that the whole world today revolves around drugs and the use of!

If you hear the stories of the troops who served in Vietnam and the troops who are now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would appear that drugs in every shape and form play a big part in the whole deal ( regardless of how vehemently the authorities will deny it! )

It amazes me that so many people can voluntarily imbibe in the daily useage of drugs in all forms, ( and I think that they just cannot handle the pressures of modern day living without being bombed off their faces!)

It is becoming sickening when you see some of the youth of today ( highly visible on the streets ) staggering around either drunk or drugged to the hilt and read of the increasing crime levels due in part to the need for money to feed a habit!

Drying-out (Rehabilitation centres) appear to have a very low success rate, simply because an addict needs to WANT to give up the nasty habit, and obviously very few seasoned addicts really want to give up, because it has been their only escape from their own personal mental problems!

If anyone wants to argue with me that I do NOT know what I am talking about, please accept that I have a daughter who herself became addicted to softer drugs (for kicks)and eventually ended up on Heroin. She herself does not know why she got involved in heavy drugs, but has suffered intensely as a result, having had two heart-valve operations and stents in the brain!...(what is left of it!)

This information alone should be sufficient to frughten off any potential drug-users, but it will NOT, because the peer groups apply their own pressure, some local policemen turn a blind eye to these goings-on and I would suggest are involved in the big game themselves.

Look very carefully at your own children, as no one is immune from this terrible scourge!

Cuphandle
One of the tragedies of life was quoined (a printing term) goes "youth is wasted on the young" and to some degree is true. When you’re young you believe that you’re ‘9 ft tall and Bullet proof', tragedy or death is something that happens to others.

I only wish that stories like your daughter’s would make a difference. Tragically it doesn’t, most people feel THEY are immune. What many don’t realize or acknowledge is that in reality the old saying “there but for the grace of God go I”. That pathetic shadow of a person substance abuser could have easily have been them if but fortutous circumstances and that we can't afford surity in all thing unexperienced.

Long term addicts have a physical need and a reduced capacity to make any meaningful decision regarding stopping. Imagine if you will being subject to the most mind altering and painful torture you can at that is what an must endure to dry out. Contrast that with the greatest moment of physical bliss one can experience then that is the sensation that encourages early drug abuse. The pleasure BLOCKS reason. I don’t pity addicts, I understand them …that doesn’t mean I want to join them or I condone them, I simply feel non directive compassion.

As a young man (20) and a youth line trouble team member I watched a lonely young woman (18) ( who under normal circumstances I would have pursued with enthusiasm) dissolve into a Mickey Finn induced coma only to emerge 120ish days later with the mental competence of a 3 yo. I understand your distress. Particularly since she had previously rang in for to discuss whether to go to the fateful party. The police never tracked down the person who spiked the punch with LSD.

I feel for you and your daughter but the one truth I’ve re-discovered is that no matter how hurt you are it won’t help your daughter, she is what matters now

"Last night, my wife was waiting for me at the local Macca's.."

Eating MacDonald's and other such 'non-food' on a regular basis is just as damaging to your health as regular drug usage. It's also just as big a drain on the public purse.

Hi Foxy,
Might I say that you’re looking particularly foxy today. ;-)

Bronwyn
I know someone who saw "Enough Rope" with Nigella Lawson :-)

Polycarp,
I’m a firm believer in ‘context’ as the definer of all things. The sentence that so interests you was an illustration to my point about the differences (complexities) in the causes of addiction. What it wasn’t was a Freudian cry for help or to open up a thread for discussion.

The event in question was traumatic in its own right but it was also in a context of prevailing time and space. It is not that I’m unable or unwilling to discuss the incident or the issues surrounding it is simply I have resolved the both long ago and I see no useful purpose in a detailed discussion in this context. In short the topic is moot.

I would take the opportunity to note that the mind and its physical entity the brain are both an endless source of cures for itself. A mark of EXPERIENCE is knowing that there are an infinite number of way stations and ways to mental hell . A sign of LEARNING is knowing that there are as many ways back. A sign of MATURITY being able to find the right one for you and WISDOM accepting that everyone’s path is different. Being HELPFUL is not confusing the pronouns ‘me’ and ‘you’ when pointing. :-]