Why stay sober when you're me?

[jägermonsta]

Time to rant!

We've been preached that drugs and alcohol are baaaad for you! They will limit you, drag you down, you'll never get any where in life!

I seem to be the exception.

Not to toot my own horn here, however I will but man, people are fucking weak.

The fiance and I watch that 'Intervention' program on A&E. Some people are drawn to this show because it makes themselves feel better. They see these people with their crippling addictions and horrible lives and think, "Hey, I guess I'm not so bad when compared to these people.". When I watch the show I see completely weak minded scum who really shouldn't be alive in the first place. It's these pieces of garbage that give humanity a bad reputation.

Now there are absolutely physical repercussions to abusing drugs and alcohol. I'm referring to addiction, and how you act and present yourself, the effects on the mind. Me? I use the effects of drugs and alcohol to my advantage. If I take a couple hits of marijuana at night I'm able to reflect the entire day, what went on, what should of happened, and what will I do to effect the next day. I don't sit on the couch and piss myself. People need to understand how to utilize these tools. How to learn from them and how to not let them take control of your life.

Perhaps it's too much for people to understand how powerful the mind is. When you take 'drugs' that alter your mind, you gain a lot of power to manipulate how you think and act. Sadly most people aren't like me.

ADD? Depression? OCD? All a bunch of bullshit excuses for weak minded people. Daddy touched you when you were 5? Get over it, you're 35 years old now and you're still fucking reflecting on it each and every day of your life. I just fucking hate these people. There's an excuse for everything wrong they do in life. How about they just understand they're horrible people and should kill themselves to lift the burden off the rest of us who have to listen and look at their sorry asses. We're sick and tired of your crying, die already for fuck sakes. I don't have any sympathy for you, nor should anyone else.

So how do I, a person who regularly drinks, smokes marijuana, eats mushrooms, occasionally does the oh so popular stimulants, succeed? How do I rise to the top? How do I 'abuse' drugs and alcohol, complete college with a 3.8 gpa, land a 55k+ job at 24, find a potential new job paying even MORE, home owner at 26, debt free, etc...etc... how do I go on and succeed while others doing the same shit as me, drag behind and fall. I've never once had help from family, everything I've done in life I've done on my own, everything I've done, I've done while taking drugs and alcohol. Am I going to die young? Most likely... but shit, I did alright.

[ĄƦçɧąɳɠҾԼ]

I agree with you for the most part, anything done right and in moderation is better than over doing it and messing yourself up completely.  Congrats on all the stuff you've accomplished in your life.

I don't think you have a good grasp on what depression and mental disorders like it really are though, they are not excuses for people who are weak minded, they are actual chemical imbalances in the brain.  It has nothing to do with being weak or strong minded, even people who are very mentally strong can be affected by it.  The human mind is very fragile, and things that happen in our past while we are very young can break it for the rest of our lives.  Some people rise above it and live normal lives, but others can't.  It's not they choose to continue to reflect on it, it's just stuck in their mind and haunts them every minute of their lives.

It's not really something you can fully understand until you actually interact with people are affected by such things.  You won't get much out of just seeing them on TV.  But you'd have to have a clear and non-judgemental mindset to actually understand it.  It's hard to understand things that don't affect you personally.

[jägermonsta]

I don't think you have a good grasp on what depression and mental disorders like it really are though

It's not really something you can fully understand until you actually interact with people are affected by such things.

Ehhh... my fiance is allegedly 'depressed' and also diagnosed with 'ADD'. All when she was a teenager, experiencing life as a teenager. She also has a major in psychology. I hear what you wrote all the time from her. These imbalances... and how they are created. What I was getting at was that I believe it's possible to balance yourself. If you 'believe in yourself' and think differently, you'll be fine. I think when people get these labels on themselves, they can't shake the symptoms and consider themselves handicapped for the rest of their lives. My fiance has been able to change, she doesn't act like the people I despise. She got over it.

[|iR|Focalor]

Perhaps in time your opinion will change, especially if you ever have children. I'm not explicitly saying, "You're wrong." If things are working out for you presently, then obviously you must be doing something right. But there is always a risk involved with possessing certain substances. One can take steps to minimize those risks, but you can never completely eliminate ALL risk involved with it. When you have children, the consequences of such actions are exponentially worse. For a lot of people, having children becomes a catalyst towards a new way of looking at the world and themselves.

There's a big difference between "indulgence" and "compulsion". Indulgence means you are strong enough to control the behavior. Compulsion means the behavior is strong enough to control how you manage your life (esp. time, money, etc). Taking time to look objectively at your own behaviors in such a way will draw a big fat clearly visible line between weaknesses and strengths.

[ĄƦçɧąɳɠҾԼ]

Many people can balance themselves out, their imbalances aren't as great as others.  Still many others require medications to do so.

I have a few imbalances myself that I've come to realise, after years of denial.  Never seen a psychologist or been diagnosed, I just know what's going on in my head.  I have a slight depression that gets triggered by certain things, as well as some anger issues, which is also an imbalance, but I've gotten used to it, I've learned to balance myself out.

But still for people that are far worse and have experienced actual traumatising events in their youth, just "getting over it" is not really that realistic.

[jägermonsta]

Perhaps in time your opinion will change, especially if you ever have children. I'm not explicitly saying, "You're wrong." If things are working out for you presently, then obviously you must be doing something right. But there is always a risk involved with possessing certain substances. One can take steps to minimize those risks, but you can never completely eliminate ALL risk involved with it. When you have children, the consequences of such actions are exponentially worse. For a lot of people, having children becomes a catalyst towards a new way of looking at the world and themselves.

There's a big difference between "indulgence" and "compulsion". Indulgence means you are strong enough to control the behavior. Compulsion means the behavior is strong enough to control how you manage your life (esp. time, money, etc). Taking time to look objectively at your own behaviors in such a way will draw a big fat clearly visible line between weaknesses and strengths.

We don't plan to have children. If something happens, then it's off to the clinic for a vacuuming.

Why is it that I'm going to 'look at the world' and rethink my life? Like as if I'm doing something wrong? It's wrong because why? Because people who live that life style fuck up? So because of the actions of these fuck ups, what I do is wrong and sooner or later I'll 'rethink' my life and I'll become 'normal'? This is maturity? Maturity is being sober?

Risks in health, yes. risks with law, yes. Risks with mind/addiction? No. I control that. People will say, "Hey you will sooner or later have a problem you won't be able to control it." Why will I? Because other people do? I'm destined to fail no matter what? I'm against the odds? I say, no.

[jägermonsta]

But still for people that are far worse and have experienced actual traumatising events in their youth, just "getting over it" is not really that realistic.

Then if they can't handle it, why go on? Why not understand you can 'get over it'... These people, I don't like.

[|iR|Focalor]

People need to understand how to utilize these tools. How to learn from them and how to not let them take control of your life.

Perhaps it's too much for people to understand how powerful the mind is. When you take 'drugs' that alter your mind, you gain a lot of power to manipulate how you think and act. Sadly most people aren't like me.

This quote is more or less what I'd like to refer to. This is called "rationalizing". Too many people who engage in addict behaviors rationalize doing so by claiming that such substances are somehow "empowering", when all the evidence clearly shows that these substances do not enhance the brains ability to function. People take such psychoactives for one purpose: to get fucked up. If these substances had no pleasurable euphoric effects, people would not take them. You may think that strung out heroin addicts are weak scumbags who need to be done with it and liquidate themselves, but consider this: Some people think that those who require artificial chemical stimulation of the brain in order to function at an optimum level are weak, because they observe that these people feel as though they would not be the same without these substances. They see it as a crutch, a weakness, something to be despised. They see it as willful enslavement by an artificial master. That's what I meant by the difference between "indulgence" and "compulsion". If it's something you do on a daily basis, and if you allow your mood/lifestyle/habits to be greatly affected by the absence of it for a prolonged period, is it really just an indulgence that YOU control? Perhaps this thread in and of itself is yet another way you are trying to rationalize such behavior. If you're smart enough to achieve what you have in life, hopefully you'll be equally smart enough not to deny yourself the ability to objectively view your own motivations behind your behavior that you claim allows you to objectively perceive yourself in relation to the world around you.

A person is not satisfied with the way they perceive the world around them, so they take a substance to "enhance" their perceptions. Sounds to me like they aren't completely happy with the way they really are. Are they depressed and weak?

Hopefully you don't take this as too much of a personal attack either, because I think we're both aware that I'm not completely drug-free myself at the moment. I mean no personal offense to you at all. I'm not trying to argue against your behaviors as much as I am arguing against the philosophy you have presented here.

[Arm0r]

Admiring that handsome hunk while standing in line buying a batch of banana's? It's ok jager...we understand.

You don't need these drugs to cope, enjoy your achievements and embrace life as a new gay man.

trying to give advice from experience eh?

[|iR|Focalor]

He hates anyone better than him at Q2 and getting pussy. So basically... he hates everyone.

[reaper]

This seems to be the same disorder talk radio hosts have.

What makes you think you are any different than these people, because somehow you stayed on the beaten path?  You know there is a lot of luck involved in life too. 

I was making 50k when I was 20, and it wasn't that hard.  That's hardly the top of the food chain, i'm not sure why anyone would brag about that.  To me it's pretty irrelevant though, because I try not to focus on money..

Sure most people hate money getting taken out of their check to go to social programs, when it's such a large sum of money you give to the government.  But you seem to fail to grasp that you could just as easily be them.  That's not to mean people shouldn't be given incentive to work harder, and not go to jail if they do bad things.  But personally i'm proud of the good work this country does, and I have no problem giving even more money to the government, if it's used effectively.

ADD? Depression? OCD? All a bunch of bullshit excuses for weak minded people.

Must be fake.

 

Just because you haven't experienced something at the same level someone else has, does not mean it doesn't exist, damn, are you seriously saying ADD, Depression, and OCD aren't real?

[ĄƦçɧąɳɠҾԼ]

But still for people that are far worse and have experienced actual traumatising events in their youth, just "getting over it" is not really that realistic.

Then if they can't handle it, why go on? Why not understand you can 'get over it'... These people, I don't like.

Because they want to get over it, they want so much to put it behind them and get on with things, that's why they go on.  But it's always there, everytime they close their eyes, the nightmares, the flashbacks, the voices.  They try to come up with ways to cope with it, many of which are harmful to themselves. 

It's not something you'd understand, not with such a closed mind as you have.

[quadz]

Perhaps it's too much for people to understand how powerful the mind is.

What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.

[reaper]

Ehhh... my fiance is allegedly 'depressed' and also diagnosed with 'ADD'. All when she was a teenager, experiencing life as a teenager. She also has a major in psychology. I hear what you wrote all the time from her. These imbalances... and how they are created. What I was getting at was that I believe it's possible to balance yourself. If you 'believe in yourself' and think differently, you'll be fine. I think when people get these labels on themselves, they can't shake the symptoms and consider themselves handicapped for the rest of their lives. My fiance has been able to change, she doesn't act like the people I despise. She got over it.

You know that's funny, because I thought the same thing before.  My friend had mentioned depression, and I thought he was a lunatic.  I couldn't have been more wrong.



imagine malaria, and how it doesn't matter how physically strong you are, it'll take you down

depression is like malaria, and no matter how strong you are, you're dependent on the chemical compositions in your brain

to take it to the extreme to illustrate the point..

so...if someone is making the right choices, living the right lifestyle, and is aware that not everything is going to go their way, while still suffering, thankfully we have modern medicine.  one of the big problems is, for people who are seriously affected by these diseases, the medication functions so well, they don't think they need it anymore...rinse,repeat,rinse,repeat.  kind of like how once someone is drunk they think they can drive.

[QwazyWabbit]

So how do I, a person who regularly drinks, smokes marijuana, eats mushrooms, occasionally does the oh so popular stimulants, succeed? How do I rise to the top? How do I 'abuse' drugs and alcohol, complete college with a 3.8 gpa, land a 55k+ job at 24, find a potential new job paying even MORE, home owner at 26, debt free, etc...etc... how do I go on and succeed while others doing the same shit as me, drag behind and fall. I've never once had help from family, everything I've done in life I've done on my own, everything I've done, I've done while taking drugs and alcohol. Am I going to die young? Most likely... but shit, I did alright.

Not sure how much you paid for your home but if you have a mortgage on that home you are not "debt free". At 55k a year you will be lucky to survive in this economy. 55k is not the top unless it's the top dishwasher at Branson. Congratulations at being in the middle of middle-class America.

I wonder what happened in your childhood that you feel you had no support from your family and feel the need now to self-medicate every evening in order to reflect and cope with your daily life and why you feel the need to enter a co-dependent relationship with your "depressed", ADD fiance. It's possible she's been mis-diagnosed since depression can be a rather temporary condition and a neurosis rather than a permanent label. There are lots of psychologists who are quick at applying labels and prescribing medications. Depression is treatable.

As for the assertion that you're different and can handle drugs and alcohol: Call back in 5 years and let us know how your disease is progressing. If you're treating the people in your life and workplace the way you are ranting here I estimate you will be jobless and homeless in about that time. BTW, use birth control, I would hate to have to pay more taxes to support your kids who will be unwanted and unloved in the "debt-free" home you have created. You will probably be carrying a cardboard sign on the offramp by the time you are 35 looking like 55. The world is full of people who claim to be different and claim to be able to use mind altering drugs on a daily basis; they are called addicts.