Smokin’ Comment: LeeMyles on Self-Medication

July 31, 2011 in Smokin' Comments

When you write about the death of an addict, your bound to get a pretty full range of reactions. Fuldis Closure’s piece on the piteous demise of  singer Amy Winehouse gave birth to a pixilated cornucopia of comment fruit. (Swish on that metaphor, Chill). After the din started to fade, an infrequent commenter left us a very earnest and unflinching look at how depression turns to desperation. In case you missed LeeMyles’ comment the first time around, here it is again:

“@fuldis closure: I don’t see you as defending junkies. You’re empathetic to the plight of the depressed. I’m 27 and I can’t remember the last time I felt elated. I just go through periods of being ok and not being able to stop crying or get off of the couch. You know what helps? Pain killers, alcohol, pot and cocaine.

Pain killers and pot for the fuzzy feeling that softens the anguish and alcohol and cocaine to get me to a place where I can go out and socialize with other people. I’m not addicted to any of these things. I don’t wake up, smoke a joint, take an oxy, drink a beer and then sniff a line before I walk out the door, but I have done all of these things separately (except for the cocaine, which was always done with alcohol) to help ease it…everything.

If you’ve never been sobbing on the couch for days, for no reason other than that you feel you’d be better of dead because you can’t possibly get off this couch and leave the house and face all those shiny, happy people, there’s no way to understand why a person would turn to drugs. There’s no easy fix for it either. It takes years of therapy and lots of love. But the drugs, they help temporarily. Some people just can’t kick it in the end. I am thankful that so far I am not one of those people.

Is it selfish. Absolutely, but in certain circumstances I feel it’s almost a defense mechanism. I can’t wallow in the pain every minute of every day. I just can’t. If I feel like this too long I’ll probably try to kill myself. I’ve done it before.

I hope this doesn’t elicit an attack. I am depressed and I am a drug user because of it. And I can see how people could get sucked in and never fall out of it.”

  • http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/kausaustralisandsaturn/ Worthless Emo

    James Adam York wrote Person’s Unknown, a collection of poetry. One piece I particularly love and wanted to share from that. I found a link Here. Perhaps it would compliment this.

  • http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/fuldis-closure-2-2/ fuldis closure

    @LM: I wish I had seen this when you first posted it, but congrats on the Smokin Comment award. This is exactly what I was trying to get at in some of my comments, but you said it so perfectly and heartbreakingly, because you know what you’re talking about better than I do. I hope you’ll write more (about anything) and post on WS.

  • http://wordsmoker.com/members/leemyles/ LeeMyles

    Wow! I am honored to receive a Smokin’ Comment Award. I think this is the first time I’ve won something since a hula hoop contest on a cruise ship years ago! This is much more satisfying. Thank you, Chillbear. You like me! You really like me!

  • http://wordsmoker.com/members/leemyles/ LeeMyles

    @ fuldis closure:
    Thank you, Fuldis. The only way to talk about depression and addiction is with honesty. Most people cannot fathom the horrible things you tell yourself as you spiral downward and how hard it can be to drown out the noise.

    They think the self-medication is all selfishness and narcissism, but there is a great deal of self preservation involved. Many don’t understand that aspect. They don’t know how physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting it is to feel so desolate so much of the time. The drugs give you a short break from that reality.