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Discussion in 'Withdrawal Symptoms' started by sunflogun, Apr 23, 2015.

  1. sunflogun

    sunflogun Community Champion

    One of the things I recall when I was an addict was that I became obsessed by consumption, I was unable to think about anything else and people around me totally noticed that. That was one of the things that started to "motivate" me to get clean. Have you dealt with obsession too?
    kana_marie likes this.
  2. AAngelo

    AAngelo Senior Contributor

    I think most if not all addicts have experienced this. When I was smoking in college, I couldn't wait for the class to end to get a quick smoke as I walk to the next building. Sometimes I would even excuse myself to get a quick smoke if the lecture sucked. The main obsession people noticed with me though was with alcohol. It wouldn't be a normal class for my seatmates if I wouldn't invite them for a drink.
  3. jeremy2

    jeremy2 Community Champion

    I wasn't obsessed per say but i would look forward to the weekend outings with heightened anticipation. Am glad i was a able to quit drinking without much drama and am glad to say that it's been three years since my last drink.
    karmaskeeper likes this.
  4. kassie1234

    kassie1234 Community Champion

    I don't know if I would call it obsession or perhaps pre-occupation (I guess they could be used interchangeably, to a degree!) but yes, I feel like most if not all addicts do have that overwhelming preoccupation with their addictive substance. It dominates your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions and behavior -- it's all encompassing, really. And it can be particularly hard when you're in that addictive mindset to channel your thoughts elsewhere. I always say that's why I think hobbies and activities that keep you busy are so important in recovery. Channel those thoughts elsewhere!
  5. sunflogun

    sunflogun Community Champion

    In my case it was not preocupation, I got obsessed about it and I could not think about anything else, I even felt bad when I could not access the substance I needed, so yeah it's an obsession and the harder the drug the higher the obsession.
  6. kylerlittle

    kylerlittle Community Champion

    I deal with obsessions since I'm a person who is considered struggling with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Sometimes it drives me insane because I have to check constantly on things that I obsess over, it's almost like a lack of faith or realism. It's very difficult to manage and very difficult to have control over it, sometimes it controls you completely. I found that exercising might calm it down a little bit since you'd be thinking in the present moment and not have your mind make up stories.
  7. amethyst

    amethyst Community Champion

    Obsession has haunted me on various occasions in my life. When I gave up drinking, I was obsessed with checking on the time every couple of hours to see how many hours, days and weeks I have been without a drink. Over time I started becoming more relaxed about the time, only to get obsessed with vitamin and mineral supplements, anxious about all the damage I had caused to my system. After that phase, I became obsessed with organic food and trying to find some spiritual depth in my life... this obsession lasted for many years.
  8. Bonzer

    Bonzer Community Champion

    I pretty much understand, what you are saying. It's a fear of embarrassment. When people around you notice and take exception to your behavior, you realize that something is terribly wrong with you. Glad, it acted as a useful trigger to motivate you and do away with your addiction. Some people simply get mad and further get into a shell. Glad, you did it the other way, the desired way.
  9. kana_marie

    kana_marie Community Champion

    I would get obsessed when I ran out of pills. I would search every nook and cranny looking for that one dropped pill. I would go over everyone I knew in my mind and listing everything I owned to figure out how to get money. I wouldn't stop until I got my hands on something... anything, really.
  10. kylerlittle

    kylerlittle Community Champion

    That's really sad because I can relate to it and I feel for you. I struggle with OCD and a lot of obsessions and anxiety, eventhough I do not struggle with any substance or alcohol, I just struggle mentally and I can relate to it.
  11. Bonzer

    Bonzer Community Champion

    OCD is one form of anxiety disorder. I know anxiety is a living hell. Unfortunately, instead of providing help and support, people tend to mock at those who suffer from anxiety and attach a stigma to it. OCD if not treated early, can become chronic and can cause mental disability and permanent dependence on others.
  12. kylerlittle

    kylerlittle Community Champion

    Absolutely. I think you're right. I'm a person who feels like he has to depend on his family and girlfriend a lot. I feel like I'm stuck and I really need help with OCD, I really do.
  13. sunflogun

    sunflogun Community Champion

    Actually I didn't felt any embarrassment, I simply didn't get why people didn't understand how that was important to me, I didn't even saw the image I was passing to others, I only cared about getting the drug.
  14. juno

    juno Community Champion

    When you are addicted, it mskes sense that your mind is one thing, that which you are addicted to. People do that with, food, drugs, and even with OCD actions that they are addicted to. Compulsive shoppers, for example, can't get their mind off of the next thing they need or the next shopping trip.
  15. wahmed

    wahmed Active Contributor

    I think the worst thing is being Hooked. When we fly long distance my husband smokes like mad and as soon as we land his first thing is to smoke
  16. sunflogun

    sunflogun Community Champion

    Any sort of addiction is bad wahmed, but I think it's hard to compare the feeling of obsession of smoking cigarettes to harder drugs. No one would steal to smoke a cigarette for example.
  17. pwarbi

    pwarbi Community Champion

    Part of being an addict is the obsession. Even when you don't feel you need something you still have the obsession and habit that makes you.

    That's why quitting can be so hard because your fighting the emotional aspect of the drug aswell as the physical.
  18. sunflogun

    sunflogun Community Champion

    And we get disillusioned by it. This one time I thought I quit smoking cigarettes and in fact I did because I was smoking drugs all the time, so we just live in another dimension.
  19. IrishHeather

    IrishHeather Active Contributor

    Oh ya....I totally understand that feeling. I was addicted to prescription pain pills, when I would run out I would rummage through cabinets and the pockets of all my clothes hoping I had dropped one or forgot that I had put it in a certain place. I would go so far as to unscrew the floor vents to see if I had dropped one on the floor and it had fallen in a vent. I would rummage through the trash and check empty bottles, again and again just to make sure I had not missed anything. Then I would call all my friends and ask them for pills, and if that didn't work I would go so far as picking up cans on the side of the road just to feed my addiction. I would become so obsessed with getting more that I would put everything else in my life on the back burner until I got my 'precious' pill. So yes...obsession is a very real fact of life for most addicts. So like you Sunflogun, my obsession was one of the things that motivated me to get sober as well.
  20. Smarty

    Smarty Active Contributor

    I was addicted to a certain medication... thankfully, not exactly to the point when I couldn't think about anything else... but it still crept into my mind way too often and it was a huge distraction, to say the least. From what I have seen, though, in the more severe cases there is exactly that... A constant obsession, a loop of thoughts all leading to the same thing. This is one of the top psychological reasons why it's so hard to break the addiction. You know, we are being advised to think about other things, good things, but when you just can't think about anything else, this advice is totally useless. Hmm.. now that I think about it, maybe what helped me was anger.... I was so angry that I couldn't properly do anything else so that was my "inspiration" to get well.
    kana_marie likes this.