Snobbery

It's been a while sine I frequented this board, mainly due to the snobbish attitudes of many posters.

 

Those that seem to think they are above those who have fell into the trap of dependence " Through non fault of their own"

 

Those of us you would deem scum/junkies/low lives etc.. The type of people who would sneer at anyone who arrived here through no fault of there own - the drain on society!"

There addiction is different to mine because I have a nice job, car and family etc.. "

 

Well I hate to tell you - we're all in the same boat! "

 

I'm not one of these so called dregs of society - I'm lucky, I am physically healthy and a positive member of society. Yet I see myself always one step away from being in the gutter at all times.

 

So please after all these years away I hope you exercised these snobbish attitudes from this board?

Well there is a difference between taking 8 mg a day of street bought Xanax for 3 months to self medicate while knowing this is not good for you and trusting your doctor and taking the med they suggested as prescribed and being injured through your own ignorance and the ignorance of your doctor. There is a difference between dependence and addiction. I am not looking down on anyone as I have experienced both. I was once addicted to opiates. It was for a small portion of my life but it certainly disqualifies me from looking down on anyone as an addict. But this benzo thing for me and a lot of us here is different. Not sure where you fall in. This site is definitely more geared towards people who became dependent through the will of their physician and not necessarily their own. Like I said when I was buying pills on the street it was much different than when my doctor told me to take these and I trusted him. Also, I must say that opiate withdrawal was a cakewalk compared to this crap. With the opiates I wanted more. That to me is addiction. With Xanax I needed more because every time I skipped a dose my body would start malfunctioning. It did nothing for me but keep me stable, no euphoria, no high, nothing. Just straight dependence.

I'm an addict, and I am also physically dependent on benzos after following drs. directions.  I don't think it's snobbish to try to explain the difference to someone else.  It's a horrible feeling to be dismissed as an addict when your current situation was brought on NOT by addiction at all, but by taking prescribed medicine in order to function and financially support your family.  I don't know if this is what you are talking about by *snobbery*?

 

I have seen addict snobbery where a beer and wine drinker from a middle class background said she couldn't go to a rehab with a bunch of crackheads.  Missed the entire point and she was dead by her late 50s from abusing her body with alcohol.

 

It would be nice if benzo warriors - who followed drs. direction, then had to suffer after because of it - got some kind of recognition for having to do this battle through no fault of their own.  If that's snobbish, it's not meant to be.  But it's a very different thing from bingeing on unprescribed benzos for the fun of it.

Interesting topic and one I can relate to.  Ive been on BB since 2012, when I was forced to go cold turkey off a mountain of benzos and ADS.

I always felt ashamed of my benzo history. Not just on BB, either. I am an RN and stole benzos from the various facilities I worked in through the years. If you ever saw "House" or "Nurse Jackie" you know my story. The last 12 years my drugs were legally prescribed, as the state was cracking down on both benzos and narcotics.

I never thought of myself as "an addict." But of course, I WAS one. The word addict has a negative connotation. "Physically dependant" doesnt. Most BB members tend to be people who were prescribed benzos for various, fairly normal reasons. And not in huge doses like I was. I was prescribed Klonapin SIX mgs a night plus Ambien 10 mgs a night back then.

I used to say "I never enjoyed taking benzos, I didnt take them to get high." But that was a small lie, because I LOVED that benzos allowed me to go to sleep even after a 10 hour shift as a nurse. I never took them during the day. Only at night, and usually along with a lot of beer.

Addictive personality? Perhaps.

Well there is a difference between taking 8 mg a day of street bought Xanax for 3 months to self medicate while knowing this is not good for you and trusting your doctor and taking the med they suggested as prescribed and being injured through your own ignorance and the ignorance of your doctor. There is a difference between dependence and addiction. I am not looking down on anyone as I have experienced both. I was once addicted to opiates. It was for a small portion of my life but it certainly disqualifies me from looking down on anyone as an addict. But this benzo thing for me and a lot of us here is different. Not sure where you fall in. This site is definitely more geared towards people who became dependent through the will of their physician and not necessarily their own. Like I said when I was buying pills on the street it was much different than when my doctor told me to take these and I trusted him. Also, I must say that opiate withdrawal was a cakewalk compared to this crap. With the opiates I wanted more. That to me is addiction. With Xanax I needed more because every time I skipped a dose my body would start malfunctioning. It did nothing for me but keep me stable, no euphoria, no high, nothing. Just straight dependence.

 

Right on brother, I feel you!

Well there is a difference between taking 8 mg a day of street bought Xanax for 3 months to self medicate while knowing this is not good for you and trusting your doctor and taking the med they suggested as prescribed and being injured through your own ignorance and the ignorance of your doctor. There is a difference between dependence and addiction. I am not looking down on anyone as I have experienced both. I was once addicted to opiates. It was for a small portion of my life but it certainly disqualifies me from looking down on anyone as an addict. But this benzo thing for me and a lot of us here is different. Not sure where you fall in. This site is definitely more geared towards people who became dependent through the will of their physician and not necessarily their own. Like I said when I was buying pills on the street it was much different than when my doctor told me to take these and I trusted him. Also, I must say that opiate withdrawal was a cakewalk compared to this crap. With the opiates I wanted more. That to me is addiction. With Xanax I needed more because every time I skipped a dose my body would start malfunctioning. It did nothing for me but keep me stable, no euphoria, no high, nothing. Just straight dependence.

 

Ok hi,

 

Time to become unpopular,but if you're offended ask yourself why?

 

My  view on this is,as the OP said we are all in the same boat.

 

I tend to agree with the OP and i'l tell you why,rem it's only my opinion so breathe.

 

I have an Addictive personality its something I've had to come to terms with an what I have found in my experience that the root of this is depression an anxiety the very same thing that the normal joe blogs(you just don't know your an addict yet) has went to the doctor for an was prescribed these medications for.

 

I chose to self medicate through alcohol an drugs for many years because of the stigma around mental health an it was the only relief I found.

 

I was born this way then throw in a war zone an the trauma attached to that.

 

I didn't know when I took that first drink or drug (btw I hate to make a difference in a them there both drugs)that I would have many years of misery trying many times to get off them.

Many if my friends could take these substances an just stop yes including benzo's.

 

Did I go back to my first Pub an complain to them about selling me the first beer?

 

Why is a your brain different THINK because there is a chemical imbalance to begin with.

 

 

 

Now if there is anyone here who thinks there above anyone else please have a think about yourself,I know many people who have been prescribed these medicines an was able to stop them the same way people don't drink there first pint an think where have you been all my life? Ya get me?

 

People like us can't,you could say as I've heard before we are allergic to drugs YES we are all addicts.

It's unfortunate circumstances but thems the breaks peeps.

 

 

An tbh I hovered around joining here a while I was afraid of negativity  an so far I've found that this forum has had a negative effect on my recovery.

But thats just me it wasn't to my expectation,but as an addict I should learn that I can't control things that out of my control.

 

To the very few people who welcomed me thank you so much anyone who has a snobby view on here give you're head a wobble.

 

Have a good day my buddies I wish you all well in you're addiction's.

 

 

Way back when I was still seeing a doctor, and the doctor was still prescribing me clonazepam, I remember telling him that I thought I needed to get off the drug because I was becoming addicted to it.

 

"Oh no," said the doctor, "you might be physically dependent on it, but you're not an addict."

 

I asked him what the difference was, and he said I wasn't an addict because I wasn't running around on the street trying to score a hit so I could get high. It was just that my body had become physically dependent on the drug, which was very different.

 

"But I don't have to run around on the street trying to score a hit, because you keep writing me prescriptions for this stuff," I said.

 

At which the good doctor shrugged, looked at his watch, and said "Well, time's up. Do you want me to stop prescribing the clonazepam? I can stop today, if you want."

 

I shook my head. I knew I didn't want to quit cold-turkey.

 

"OK, then," he said. "See you next month. And don't worry about quitting. When it's time, you'll have no problem with it. It's not addictive."

 

Huh? No wonder we're confused.

 

It may be just an argument about proper terminology, but behind it, I think there may be an effort to legitimatize what the doctors and the pharmaceutical companies are doing. They are treating patients in pain, you see, and not pushing risky kicks to playground kids. Really, that's what they're saying, and what they believe - at least the doctors, at least most of them. But it's not just doctors that distinguish between addiction and dependence.

 

Here's how the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse explains the difference:

 

 

Is there a difference between physical dependence and addiction?

 

Addiction—or compulsive drug use despite harmful consequences—is characterized by an inability to stop using a drug; failure to meet work, social, or family obligations; and, sometimes (depending on the drug), tolerance and withdrawal. The latter reflect physical dependence in which the body adapts to the drug, requiring more of it to achieve a certain effect (tolerance) and eliciting drug-specific physical or mental symptoms if drug use is abruptly ceased (withdrawal). Physical  dependence can happen with the chronic use of many drugs—including many prescription drugs, even if taken as instructed. Thus, physical dependence in and of itself does not constitute addiction, but it often accompanies addiction. This distinction can be difficult to discern, particularly with prescribed pain medications, for which the need for increasing dosages can represent tolerance or a worsening underlying problem, as opposed to the beginning of substance use or addiction.

 

If you check the Google Search Results on the topic, you'll find much the same distinction being made. One article explains that physical dependence "affects that part of the brain that oversees autonomic body functions," while in contrast, with Substance Abuse Disorder, or addiction, "a patient’s actions are directed primarily by an overwhelming need to accommodate the brain’s reward center, and the part of the brain that guides self-control and decision making is directly impeded."

 

An article in Psychology Today discusses the confused terminology in a more thorough, historical manner, concluding with this distinction:

 

Dependence means physical or physiological dependence as indicated by tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. It is a state of neuroadaptation that can occur after repeated substance use, whereby continued substance use is needed to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Dependence does not equal addiction, though it can be one feature of addiction.

 

The term "addiction" is much more complicated, and there still remains considerable debate in the medical community about exactly how to define it—for example, whether it's best conceptualized within a disease model, a learning model, or something in between.

 

Medically, and in practice, addiction is most often diagnosed using the DSM-5 category of substance use disorder. Unhelpfully, however, nowhere in the DSM-5 is this explicitly and transparently mentioned. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), who are the developers of the DSM, nonchalantly utilize the terms "substance use disorder" and "addiction" interchangeably on their website.

 

In medical practice, to get a diagnosis of a substance use disorder, there first needs to be a careful diagnostic interview conducted by a mental health professional. The interviewer assesses whether there is a problematic pattern of substance use or behaviors that are causing a person distress and impairment in their functioning to the point that it's considered clinically significant.

 

In addition, a person needs to meet at least two of these 11 symptoms:

 

    Repeated use, resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations

    Repeated use in hazardous situations

    Continued use despite social/interpersonal problems

    Cravings

    Tolerance

    Withdrawal

    Use for longer periods or in larger amounts than intended

    Persistent desire or unsuccessful attempts to control the use

    A great deal of time spent on activities related to the use

    Reduced important social, occupational, or recreational activities

    Continued use despite physical or psychological problems

 

That article goes on to say that while drug dependence and addiction may overlap, it is possible to be dependent without being addicted, or even addicted without being dependent.

 

In short, whatever their motives, scientists and medical professionals do in fact make a distinction between drug dependence and addiction. So when members of this forum try to use those terms as defined by those scientists and medical professionals, I don't think it is accurate or helpful to accuse these members of snobbery.

 

Also, there is at least one very good reason why we should stress the distinction, and that is to warn others about these prescription drugs. It's important to tell our family and friends that we were not abusing these drugs. We were not just looking for a thrill, trying to get high on Saturday night at the clubs or some all-night rave. We weren't buying the drugs on the street. We had a prescription, from a doctor, and we used the drug as prescribed, to treat pain. But we still ended up having a big problem.

 

It's very important to make people understand that this is something that could happen to them, that even if they do everything just right, it can still turn out all wrong. It's important to get the message out that they should trust their doctors, but not too much. And if distinguishing between drug use and drug abuse, between dependence and addiction, helps us to explain the dangers of prescription drugs, then I think we should continue to make that distinction.

Great post redevan.

 

I am here through self medicating, which turned into a binge as I have an addictive personality and little impulse control. I have long suffered from anxiety, and though my anxiety had been much better in recent years, I still always loved that wrapped up in cotton wool feeling opiates and benzos made me feel. My abuse of the things that gave me that feeling is what has caused me to have felt more anxiety than I had at any point in my life. I do feel a degree of guilty for having gotten myself in this mess whereas others where got into it by their doctors.

 

But I think one thing that united us all, regardless of whether we self medicated or were given it by a health professional, is that all of us were ignorant as to what these pills could do to us. And that is the thing that I hope we can all perhaps work to help. Spreading awareness of benzodiazepines and their dangers.

The shrink who prescribed the poisons to me told me I didn't have an addictive personality, so I figured I could take the magic pills forever.