Sorry for ranting on here, i know my situation isnt unique or different and may be offensive, and i understand that i may seem like a fraud who is only seeking attention about something minor but i think posting something on here might help so i guess ill give a breif story
Currently im 18 and i live in a sort of homeless shelter type situation and have been battling both depression and alcoholism for the past 3 or 4 years now. I picked up drinking when i was roughly around 14/15 and had pretty much developed addiction to it. At the same time i was given a diagnosis of depression after trying to commit suicide (sorry if this is upsetting language), and then for about 2 years it was pretty much a god awful routine of drinking at every possible chance i got, any spare money i had went on whatever size bottle of vodka i could afford.
When i was about mid 16 i started doing drugs, which was mostly cocaine and was on and off until i was almost 18. Obviously my parents werent too happy about this and eventually it ended up in me getting kicked out of the house. I hopped around houses staying with friends and stayed with my nan for a couple weeks and was starting therapy for my mental health and alcoholism. One day when she was driving me back to my nans she saw that where my nan lived and due to laws and blah blah blah i ended up moving into a shared house with other people in the same situation, and because i was 17 at the time i was lucky enough to be given this opportunity.
After a month or 2 i eventually turned 18 where i was then moved into another homeless type thing (where im Currently at) and after still battling with depression and the new meds i had started, i, again, tried to commit by OD and luckily my friends had found out and i was eventually able to make it to hospital. After whats now been a couple months of binge drinking ive decided that i want to change and give all this up, to not be restricted to alcohol and atleast let the medication work.
I know im only young and it may be selfish to call myself an alcoholic, but all i want is for my mind to be free of thoughts of alcohol and drugs and all this sh*t. Because im alot younger i just dont know where to start or how to help myself. Ive been sober from alcohol for about 10 days now and ive been drug free for about 4 months. I have alot i want to know but i dont have the questions
Thank you for reading and again im sorry for the stuff i said at the start
Thank u for sharing a bit of ur story. I realize that may not have been easy. Ur story is very similar to others on here. Im 38 now but I know that for myself, by age 16 i knew i was a drug addict. I also suffered from mental health issues which contributed alot to my addiction, so i can sort of relate in one sense to ur story. Theres not a set age when someone becomes an addict or alcoholic… u just know. Im glad ur here. No need to apologize for anything u said. U were telling ur story and sharing ur experiences. Congratulations on ur 10 days of free of alcohol and 4 months free from drugs! Extremely proud of u! As for help… i found 12 step meetings to be very helpful. Such as AA or NA or CA. They have in person and online meetings. Also stick around here as much as u can the support here is incredible!
Welcome to the Talking Sober “TS” community. Congrats on 10 days and 4 months!! It doesnt matter what age you are or what you call it, if drugs and alcohol are a problem then youre in the right place. Checkin and read around often.
This place and aa helped me get sober from weed and alcohol.
Im lucky to have some support workers that help motivate me to keep going. Thank you for the support, i didnt expect people to reply but its really heartwarming to see people coming together to help eachother. Ive never tried AA before but even just being on here for such a short period has really inspired me to try. Thank you for the comment it really does help
Dude, never to young to make the best decision of your like. You are amazing, and you are loved. Let those that are sober around you help you to keep moving forward one day at a time.
I know there are likely others on here who can relate to being young and in a similar situation. I know our situations are not exactly the same, but I was 16 when I was kicked out of my house also and knew I had an alcohol problem. I was a fast/hard bottom - homeless, getting arrested, endinf up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning tried going to detox several times. I got sober through AA (though I am learning it is not the only way), and very often I was the youngest person in the room. I was sober for 10 years, and never a day in my life do I regret it! On a new journey with sobriety today, and appreciate you sharing your story…
Never let anyone make you feel you are too young or like you dont understand pain bc you are so young and havent lived a whole life of the ism. You have a beautofil insight - painful as the place you are in - there is hope, there is possibility and you wont believe what your life can turn in to (if you told 16-18 yr old me I would be where I am today - beautofil home, loving husband and kids - I would not have believed you). It is possible to heal, process doesnt happen over night and life still happens in the process - but healing is possible.
I’ve been alcohol free for just over 5 months now. I know this seems hypocritical or sound like I’m in denial but right now my priority has been on quitting only alcohol after drinking since my mid teens so a little over 30 years pretty consistently a frequent binge drinker. I was divorced two years ago after my father in law passed from brain cancer (he was definitely a father figure to me) and afterwards my marriage fell apart. I got my mmc and have been using medical marijuana before bed for sleep, combat anxiety, and ongoing gut issues. Last week or two I’ve been going to my regular bar and drinking Bud Zeros and have not had the urge to drink even with doing some other recreational drugs last night, and it wasn’t, and isn’t a problem at this point but I was proud that I didn’t drink any alcohol with something that would normally have me drinking heavily. The good news is I have a few people I’ve met out here and consider them friends that are also considering quitting drinking so hopefully I can show them it’s possible and have friends to do things together that do not include alcohol.
the support here is incredible!