For example drugs/alcohol addiction to feel more relaxed in social interactions or just to drink the pessimism away. For example a porn addiction because of the frustration of the lack of interaction with women.
I do not have any addictions however I have heard that anxiety itself is a form of addiction or works similarly in the brain to other addictions. Drug addicts will use drugs to cope with their emotions or whatever. I am uncomfortable around people so the anxiety is an excuse for me to avoid those situations. The anxiety allows me to cope by being avoidant. It justifies my avoidance. If that makes sense.
I did drink quite a bit when I was younger to deal with social situations. I was pretty much always drunk when going out. Liquid confidence as they say. It helped me to be social and feel free from anxiety and be free from the prison of my own fears.
Not anymore thank God but I was heavily addicted to Xanax for many years. My brain basically turned to mush and I spent quite a lot of time in a private rehab/psych ward getting off of them. Not a pleasant experience.
I became addicted to ecstasy/MDMA in my younger years. The feeling of being free of anxiety was like a dream come true. But this made my return to normality when the high wore off seem like a living nightmare.
Unfortunately, I used ecstasy so heavily that eventually I ended up with chronic depression. I also stopped getting the euphoric high when I took it.
These days I use nicotine and caffeine on a daily basis ... not sure whether these are a result of my SA, though. I definitely have an addictive tendency.
I too caned mdma like they were sweets, great times, I also thru in speed, acid, shrooms and charlie cos they all a good buzz!! Unfortunately, I met a girl who didnt like drugs but who could spot the telltale telltale signs in me so eventually stopped all of them, pretty much, for the most part, if she ****ed off the weekend somewhere, and if I was staying out all night.
Got anxiety a while after, which I blame her for, as probably would have been alright if I carried on with drugs
Anxiety prevented me from developing any addictions. Never knew anyone to get drugs from, buying alcohol would require an awkward ID-checking interaction which would mess up my comfortable self-checkout too much to consider, casinos are utterly dull when you're not social enough to have anyone to tell about your winnings, etc.
I'm 51 now but I got addicted to alcohol very early on in the piece as a teenager. Drank a lot. Then in my twenties I always craved it, lived for it, lived for the release it gave me. I'm on the wagon these days because it's for the best. But yes, alcohol, and pot too, were basically a daily feature for many years.
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