Hi All, I am currently struggling with very low mood, negative and worrying thoughts, anxiety, etc.
I feel like I’m my own worst enemy. I want to stay sober (booze and pills) but when my brain is deprived of that…apart from my low dose anti-depressant…there isn’t much to keep it in check.
I try rational thought and thinking about things differently but it’s a massive mental (and physical) struggle just to live life lately. I’m hoping things will get better the more sober days I tuck under my belt and my anxiety will wane. Just want to feel normal and happy again (sober) you know? Please pray for me. Love to you all.
8 Likes
This is not an easy path, but the fact that you have chosen it is a good thing. The most helpful advice I can give you is find distractions. Create art, start a new hobby, get out into nature, whatever it takes to get your mind off of it. Instead of grabbing beer after work, I take my son for a long walk, at least an hour. If I am unable to do that, I’ll peruse the local thrift shop or just focus on something else. I’m not sure how far into your journey you are, but it does get easier. I also have depression and anxiety, but being sober has helped me with my anxiety more than anything I have tried, certainly more than any chemical ever did. I’ll be praying for you to get past this rough patch and are able to continue. We are all here for you in whatever way we can help.
5 Likes
Thank you so much for taking the time as one fellow human to another to reach out with your supportive words.
I like what you said about sobriety being better for anxiety/depression than any chemical. That’s what I’m banking on too!! It will be hard in the shorter term but long term it will hopefully get easier. I just know life is better in all ways when we’re sober. God Bless You.
2 Likes
Praying for you right now,and it does get easier I promise just give it time and pray and read scripture Jesus will get you through this member,I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 you got this 
5 Likes
Hi @Aussie_Tiger and sorry to hear you are struggling. But you are doing super great preserving your sobriety through low feelings and worrrying. I’m very familiar with this. I’ve struggled with severe derpession and anxiety since my teenage years and thought I’d never be rid of them. They still visit me. But they no longer run the show. Sobriety has been the number one basis for this to change in my life - and the same can happen for you.
The other big gun I’m employing in the battle for myself is therapy. Since I’m sober I have been going twice a week to a therapist I click with and have learnt more about the painful parts of myself than I ever could have on my own, no matter how hard I tried. If you, like me, throw alcohol and drugs at underlying mental health issues, maybe it’s time to take up Therapy into your sober arsenal. Give yourself a chance. If you do, it WILL get easier and you WILL feel better, in sobriety.
Much love
6 Likes
Thank you so much for opening up and taking the time to reply. I too have struggled with mental health since my teenage years. I take heart in your journey and the role being sober has in staying on top of your mental health. My brain plays tricks on me and I try and be mindful. I am divorced for over 4 years with 2 kids now 11 and 9. That took a heavy toll on me and my kids…and my ex. I take ownership for my part in it (which was a big part) and even tho I have a loving partner now for over two years with 2 kids of her own and we are moving in together…I still carry a lot of bad medicine around from it. I think about it way too much.
I truly believe that sobriety is the way to go but is hard for a person like me to maintain. God Bless you and thank you and I will keep your suggestion about therapy in mind too.
1 Like
Thank you so much.
1 Like
I’m with @Faugxh . Sobriety is the prerequisite, the sine qua non, the first thing we need to maintain before all else. It’s not the solution to all our problems (although my suicidal thoughts left once I quit drinking), but it’s the starting point of being able to work on ourselves.
Also like I’m Faugxh I’m in therapy now. Being sober finally gave me the possibility to be diagnosed proplerly and find therapy fitting to my diagnosis. Working on my problems. Slow tedious hard work but so worth it.
I’m not saying you should do therapy. I am saying that by being sober we give ourselves the chance to work on ourselves. Give ourselves the chance to become better people. Could be by going to AA and doing the steps. Could be doing SMART recovery. Could be finding a therapy and/or therapist that suits you. Could be something else, could be a combination. But work on ourselves we must, I am sure of that. It’s work of love. For ourselves and for those around us. We give ourselves the chance to become happier healthier humans. Let’s take that chance. Change is possible. We do recover. I’m glad you’re back here Aussie Tiger. Together we can do this.
5 Likes
That is a lot to go through for anyone. I sympathise with the overload of pain and stress that ppl like us, already blessed with fucked up minds 
don’t bear as readily as some others. All the more reason to look into additional help to both maintain sobriety and work on your pain around experiences, so that your life may become more happy, constant, fulfilled. Less hard to live.
And like Mno said, there are more options than therapy to explore. Though I do think, if it’s been going on that long, there will be a time in your life to look at your depression, your pain and fear, deeply. Maybe that time is now. Maybe it’s with a bit more sobriety under your belt.
Stay sober, stay with us and with yourself.
Since you seemed to relate to my story 
I’ll take the liberty to attach a link to my Two year post where I told a bit more about my life before sobriety. Maybe you feel more akin, and more understood, and you can get a sense of what’s in store for you, down the sober road. You are NOT alone. Boar Day 731
1 Like
Wow!!! I am blown away with that response. Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. Thank you for opening up about the suicidal thoughts. I know it’s not easy to talk about. I don’t know where to begin with therapy. I’ve tried it before but didn’t get much out of it.
I really need to get some sobriety days under my belt first. Gonna be a stressful few months coming up for me and my kids. I know I shouldn’t worry about life but my brain is a bit all over the place and I feel physically tired, trouble sleeping and eating at the moment. Just kind of running on reserve power.
I am a believer and I pray often. I know in my heart I’m a good person but I look back and have many regrets. My divorce being a big one. I have experienced deep remorse, apologized and tried to forgive myself and move on but like a scar…the primary injury has gotten better but there is always a physical reminder. So it is with parts of my past.
I have survived difficulties before in life and I don’t want to give up, but seems like I am standing at the bottom looking up at a mountain of problems, worries and stress. Deep breaths and take the first step hey?
1 Like