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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sar on February 28, 2001, at 18:32:11
Hi. I'm new here but have read through many of the posts and am glad I've found this place.
I'm taking time off from college and living with my parents after a suicidal episode about a month ago. Part of leaving my collegetown also had to do with drinking...I found that I could not be sober around people because of my social phobia and i sometimes could not be sober by myself because of anxiety/depression. Have any of you had a similar experience? How did you deal?
Thanks in advance.
sar
Posted by niborr on February 28, 2001, at 19:31:53
In reply to alkie, much?, posted by sar on February 28, 2001, at 18:32:11
Dear Sar
Find a therapist you trust...feel comfortable with. Tell him/her everything. Be open to trying paxil if that is recommended.
Be kind to yourself. Do some reading and see how other people have been helped.
Of course, I recommend a visit to the website I work on--http://www.undoingdepression.com
Keep in touch here. You will meet some wonderful people.
Drinking does more harm than good; try to avoid alcohol until you figure things out.
Good luck to you.
Robin (aka Niborr)
Posted by sar on March 1, 2001, at 14:32:00
In reply to Re: alkie, much? » sar, posted by niborr on February 28, 2001, at 19:31:53
Thanks for the kindness, Robin. I've tried Paxil (didn't like it) and am 3 weeks into Effexor--I'll see how that goes. Sometimes it feels like it exacerbates my craving to drink and I've read so many scary things about Effexor but will sit it out for a few more weeks...being at home w/ my parents and away from drinking buddies is helping me not to drink but I wonder if I'll ever learn to enjoy people much *without* alcohol. Being at home is so boring & *safe*--how the hell do ya go face the big bad scary world...
peace,
sar
Posted by ksvt on March 1, 2001, at 17:41:08
In reply to Re: alkie, much?, posted by sar on March 1, 2001, at 14:32:00
>Sar - i was just a few years older than you when I had my first depression. My pdoc at the time announced that he thought I had an alcohol problem. This infuriated me, because I didn't think (and don't now in retrospect think) that this was true. Alot of my social life was centered around bars, but I have a very low tolerance for liquour so, I could feel the effects without drinking alot. The more i argued with this guy about my "drinking problem" the more I realized that I couldn't win the argument because denial is typical to lots of alcoholics so my arguing was going to get nowhere. i finally decided that the only way i was going to prove my point was to stop drinking altogether, and to demonstrate how easy it was to do that. It was fairly easy and it stopped being a point of discussion, but I do think it made me more reserved in social situations. I still went to bars with my friends, I just drank sodas. But really, I think the security it gives you in social situations is pretty transitory, and as many times as it made me feel more comfortable, it also made it easier for me to do or say alot of dumb things for which I would feel embarrassed the next day. Also it's only going to give you one more huge problem to deal with when it sounds like the depression is tough enough. K
Posted by Lisa Simpson on March 2, 2001, at 8:04:56
In reply to Re: alkie, much?, posted by ksvt on March 1, 2001, at 17:41:08
PMFI, but how did you manage to give up drinking? Did you have a special way of doing it? If you think it was easy, you must have a secret! Share it with me!
Thanks
Lisa
Posted by ksvt on March 2, 2001, at 22:19:35
In reply to Re: alkie, much? » ksvt, posted by Lisa Simpson on March 2, 2001, at 8:04:56
> Lisa - it was only easy because I was right and my psychiatrist was wrong. I drank too much on occasion but I really wasn't an alcoholic. I think I liked the social part of it more than the drinking part, although there are plenty of alcholics in my family and I'm sure I probably could have gotten there eventually if left to my own devices. Part of it I think also was that I really was annoyed with this psychiatrist and I was motivated to prove him wrong. (somehow I think I reacted probably precisely how he wanted anyway.) The other piece of it for me was that I was much more naive about depression then and strangely, more willing to treat it like a disease than I am now. To me giving up drinking was just something I had to do temporarily to get myself well - it was sort of like a doctors prescription that you have to follow. I don't want to make this sound simple because it obviously isn't for true alchoholics. It's just that I wasn't one yet, so it was easier for me. Good luck K
Posted by Mary Ann on March 9, 2001, at 22:29:12
In reply to Re: alkie, much?, posted by sar on March 1, 2001, at 14:32:00
I was a heavy drinker and always felt like crap afterwards due to guilt, etc. I grew up in an alcoholic household so the first thing my parents and brother offer to me when I come over is BEER! Kind of like, "Hi, how'ya doing, wanna beer?" I started out taking Prozac, which took away all cravings for alcohol, which felt really good. Now I am on Serzone, which doesn't really make me want to drink, but when I do drink (I know I'm not supposed to) I only have one or two beers and can push the rest away.
All in all, I have had the best result with Prozac for my depression, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress and OCD. The other great thing about Prozac is that it took my appetite away and I have lost some weight, something I really need to do, but the circumstances to my weight gain are really complicated (near-fatal car accident which left me disabled, to make a really long story short).
Good luck to you. Life is so much better without that horrible craving for alcohol. I am also reading the Alcoholics Anonymous book, which I find very interesting. Your local library might have it, but if you want to purchase it (any local AA chapter will sell them) it is very inexpensive and can be a valuable tool to understand why you drink, even if you aren't ready to stop.
Anyway, enough of my preaching about AA (I don't go to meetings.)
Posted by Cece on March 21, 2001, at 15:59:40
In reply to alkie, much?, posted by sar on February 28, 2001, at 18:32:11
Hi-
I drank alcoholically- mostly alone and very depressed- for a long time (many years) before I was able to get help. I was in therapy most of that time, but although that helped me admit my problem, it didn't solve it for me.
Finally I dragged myself (literally) to AA. Now I am not an AA evangelist, and I don't go to meetings anymore, but it really worked for me, and to my huge surprise I loved the sense of community. But also, by the time I got there I was desperate to stop drinking- I knew that I was slowly killing myself, and drinking hadn't been fun for a very long time.
I went regularly for about 6 years and toward the end of that time started working with a pdoc for my depressive Bipolar II. As my disorder got more under control, I began to be able to drink alcohol occasionally and very moderately. I now have zero desire to feel loaded, or even tipsy- I just like the taste and a little tingle now and again. When Neurontin was added to my med mix, I noticed that it really reduced my desire for alcohol- my pdoc said that other patients of his had said similar things (no, it's not like that stuff, can't think of the name, that makes you sick if you drink!).
Alcohol and depression make a vicious circle- alcohol makes depression worse, people try and keep their depression at bay by drinking. It can be a very hard cycle to break out of.
Good luck, keep seeking help, and don't discount AA (you don't have to accept the whole package- I myself am an agnostic).
Cece
> Hi. I'm new here but have read through many of the posts and am glad I've found this place.
>
> I'm taking time off from college and living with my parents after a suicidal episode about a month ago. Part of leaving my collegetown also had to do with drinking...I found that I could not be sober around people because of my social phobia and i sometimes could not be sober by myself because of anxiety/depression. Have any of you had a similar experience? How did you deal?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> sar
Posted by Fred Potter on March 21, 2001, at 16:21:32
In reply to Re: alkie, much? » sar, posted by Cece on March 21, 2001, at 15:59:40
Naltrexone
This is the end of the thread.
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