Becoming Addicted?

[amillionstars]

I'm extremely scared that my bestfriend is becoming a drug addict, I'll try to give as brief description as I possibly can. Any and all advice would be appreciated. I will refer to my friend as .. B.

B has had some troubles since the time he started high school - he suffered from depression and then was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. All through this time, he was completely opposed to drugs - never even smoked a joint in his life, and didn't drink. That was half the reason we got along so well because we shared similar morals.

Anyways, during high school, he overdosed on pills. Not going to specify, just saying they were prescription. He tells me that it wasn't his attention to overdose, and not his intention to die - he just wanted to feel better and at that time, he believed taking more pills would make him feel better faster? I guess that was his logic.

Although he really seemed happy on the outside to most people, I knew how he was feeling on the inside .. and I knew part of him felt empty. He confided everything in me, so I knew at that time that something still wasn't right.

He started university in September ( he is quite honestly one of THE most intelligent people I've ever known) and that's when things got progressively worse. It started by him having a drink with his friends, getting drunk, etc. Which is more or less normal for the majority of university students. Not a big deal. It was followed y an occasional joint, not a big deal either.

He ended up overdosing again, I'm not certain as to what because he's extremely closed off about it now.

He basically should be dead at this point, he's lucky to be alive.

So, now, he has been getting high upwards of 6-7 times a day. Once again, I guess it's a lifestyle BUT, he has told me that the weed he's smoking has to be laced with something because he doesn't remember some days and even some months are completely erased from his memory. This is EXTREMELY worrying to me - weed should not make you `black out`or whatever or forget long periods of time like that. And the fact that he`s perfectly okay with that is alarming.

He also started using E, MDMA and DMT. He is into the psychadelic drugs because he gets to 'leave this universe for awhile' because he hates it here. It saddens me because he`s not even using drugs for the occasional fun thing to do, he`s using them to deal with his problems and get away...

I know many people argue the addictive qualities of the listed above, but I`m scared of what he will do on the drug, and he also has an addictive personality. I`m scared it will progress to something more ...

I don`t know what to do. Am I worrying over nothing

[Gidig]

Hey there-

I wouldn't say you're worrying over nothing. Drugs are scary, and it is easy to become addicted. While weed isn't physically addicting, it can be mentally addicted and that can cause problems and be hard. E, MDMA and EMT can be scary because doing them in high doses or a lot can be really harmful to your body and brain. E is actually horrible for people with depression/bipolar because you can have horrible comedowns and be super depressed. Honestly, everytime I've taken E the next few days I'm just crying all day and suicidal.

Honestly, I don't know the medical answer to the blacking out, but I can say when I've been in some times in my life that I smoked that much weed, I forgot large chunks of time. Especially when smoking and drugs is your life, it's the same thing day after day. Days can get mixed together and sometimes you forget things happened all together. I don't think it's too abnormal for that much drug use. But still, that doesn't mean it's safe or okay.

Overdosing especially on prescription medication is not uncommon, I've had a few people I know do it even without intentions to overdose. Hopefully wherever he went for treatment handled it the best they could, and were able to help if he needed or wanted it.

I would honestly talk to him and tell him you're not asking him to stop, but you're really concerned about him. You can't ever stop someone from doing drugs. Most of the time, trying just pushes them away even further. Hang out with him as much as you can, but don't over do it. Show him you can have a fun time sober and that people still care for him deeply.

You sound like such a good friend, but make sure you're taking care of yourself and not letting this overwhelm your life. Best of luck. <3

Maria.