I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem • Hacker News Board

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#51

Post by insickness » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:06 PM UTC

ddelt wrote: post #21

I wish I’d see more discussion and analysis like this over the recreational use of anabolic steroids (read: not for professional sports or contests, but rather for physical appearance). You want to talk about some shit that gets demonized for no reason? Testosterone replacement therapy is legal, but if you decide that you want to use an extra 100mg, suddenly it’s a criminal offense and you are a bad person. For what?…

There's a good book on this called Better Than Well that discusses the use of medicine for life improvement rather than treating disease. One of the most interesting chapters was on amputees by choice, people who want to cut off a limb to become handicapped. Doctors were left with the painful decision of helping these people achieve this or having them do it on their own in a much more dangerous way. While most would agree the behavior of amputees by choice is in some way pathological, it presents an interesting question about whether people have the right to do to their own bodies what they want and the role of medicine in helping them achieve those aims.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#52

Post by nemo44x » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

ishmaeel wrote: post #9

lqet wrote: post #2

> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…

I was a smoker for several decades. I would describe being away from a cigarette as "an acute feeling of thirst, but in your chest." And when you decide to quit, it takes quite a while before you stop feeling that strange thirst.

Good way of putting it. It’s in the chest for sure. I’ve always thought of it as something missing in your chest - a type of emptiness. “Thirst” is a good metaphor.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#53

Post by entropie » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

lqet wrote: post #2

> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…

> I am often wondering about how addiction "feels"

It highly depends on the "thing" (it must not really be a thing). I would say "its the desire to plug a hole".

Do you drink tea? Why dont you drink tea without sugar? There are lots of answers to this question. It can be "it tastes better". Thats what your mind is telling you. It probably would be more healthier to drink tea without sugar but you still add sugar to it.

Thats addiction. And there are tons of other examples and its hard to determine it for every case. Addictions are deeply implemented in our brains. Eating, the urge to be close to people, getting complemented for things you do, all this is kind of an addictional behaivour.

Drugs can basically fill this already existing but empty receptors more efficient. Then your brain tells you to do it again. It will find reasons.

That was harder to explain than i thought. I hope it makes sense.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#54

Post by quattrofan » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

supr_strudl wrote: post #39

>When you’re at a wedding reception, alcohol serves as a social lubricant. People are more gregarious. They talk, they interact. The same is true with cocaine at parties, heroin among friends, or opium among friends, NDMA among lovers. It enhances empathy, openness, and forgiveness, all of these pro-social attributes. Please, don't take this horrible advice. Drugs are harmful and can do fatal damage to you and those…

Do you drink alcohol? If so you're a drug user... We've just decided for myriad, commercial, political and historical reasons to legitimise some and make others illegal. Note I never used the word "scientific" in that sentence.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#55

Post by rkachowski » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

yladiz wrote: post #25

> Hart strives to “present a more realistic image of the typical drug user: a responsible professional who happens to use drugs in his pursuit of happiness.” I think this is likely wrong. I guess it partly depends on the definition of a "drug user" (like, does it include alcohol drinkers) but I would be very surprised if most heroin users are responsible professionals - how can you do anything when you're high on her…

From my reading, alcohol drinkers are absolutely included in his definition of a "drug user" and the exact same objection would apply - how can you do anything when you're drunk on alcohol?

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#56

Post by hnick » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

lqet wrote: post #2

> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…

A guy I knew in college told me not smoking for him was like not eating. Not physically in the stomach, but those same urges and feelings that you'd better do something about it soon because it's important. It becomes the main thing you're thinking about until it's resolved and anything or anyone that gets in the way annoys you.

Hunger never hurt me, but I used to give into it quickly because it distracted me a lot and I enjoyed cooking and eating. The first time I dieted intensively it took about 5 days but I mostly stopped feeling it. It was more of a notice "probably a good time to eat" than a strong urge anymore. It was easy to reframe in my mind as a positive - this is the feeling of fat evaporating! Getting to that point can be tough though.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#57

Post by m0llusk » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

This is interesting personal testimony. For anyone curious about a more scientific view of this issue I would recommend the book High Price by Dr. Carl Hart. While it is common for people to believe strongly that drugs are bad and addictive, actual scientific observation of drug users finds in many cases there is little evidence of harm and instead of forming an enduring habit they follow a progression which is more like a hobby.

There are plenty of comparisons that might be made, but driving seems an apt comparison. Driving is extremely dangerous, magnifies even small mistakes, and kills or maims very large numbers of people on a regular basis. And yet even with similar evidence of harm and habit formation people do not treat driving with the same fear but instead face driving with irrational positivity and optimism.

Scientists using rigorous observations and mathematical analysis do not see drug use and driving as having risk profiles that are completely different.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#58

Post by Etheryte » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

lmilcin wrote: post #38

I am Coca Cola and coffee user. I am not addicted. That is, until I try to leave it for a while and then even if I succeed it still takes a lot of willpower. Addiction is a force that counteracts your will power. You may not have drug problem but you are an addict if you feel compulsion to use the drug. Today you may have enough willpower to counteract that force to consume more alcohol or drugs. But the next day may…

I'm not entirely sure if I follow the narrative here, perhaps you can clarify what you mean. Occasionally I have a beer, either socially or to try out a new beer — does this make me an addict? I would argue no, this alone is not a good definition. I don't have a better definition myself, and surely this is a subject many people have put a lot of effort into figuring out, but I don't think this approach has merit.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#59

Post by fire7000 » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

ddelt wrote: post #21

I wish I’d see more discussion and analysis like this over the recreational use of anabolic steroids (read: not for professional sports or contests, but rather for physical appearance). You want to talk about some shit that gets demonized for no reason? Testosterone replacement therapy is legal, but if you decide that you want to use an extra 100mg, suddenly it’s a criminal offense and you are a bad person. For what?…

No alcohol won't give you the growth you want. The alternative is a horse steroid Boldenone undecylenate

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#60

Post by nicoburns » Thu, Feb 18, 2021, 1:10 PM UTC

yladiz wrote: post #25

> Hart strives to “present a more realistic image of the typical drug user: a responsible professional who happens to use drugs in his pursuit of happiness.” I think this is likely wrong. I guess it partly depends on the definition of a "drug user" (like, does it include alcohol drinkers) but I would be very surprised if most heroin users are responsible professionals - how can you do anything when you're high on her…

I've never taken heroin, but I've heard that it is quite possible to work while high on it. Partly because the high isn't quite like other drugs that give you a high. Which is apparently one of the reasons why it's so easy to become addicted: at first you can feel pretty normal and competent while on it.