should i tell my shrink?

[hug46]

I am a recovering heroin addict and part of my treatment is that i see a psychiatrist every month, she is very nice and all is good but i have not mentioned my re uptake of psyches.
I want to, but i am worried that they will freak that i am taking drugs again and going down the slippery slope when actually the opposite situation is the case. There is also the language barrier , i live in a foreign country to my birth and am not yet fluent but i get by on the whole.
I just don"t feel they will get the whole picture if i hold something back or should i keep it under my hat and just get on with the healing process in the knowledge that i am good up in the old brainpan.

 

[ratpoison]

It's very difficult to give a definite answer to this. I know there are psychologists who will accept it and I know there are nazi state-hoggers who will not, so I think it's more abut how you feel towards her and her openness towards it.

If she's a good therapist and open minded it should be of no problem, but I think you should prepare that it can get difficult.

 

[Julz]

You could just call it "meditation"... so there could be an "answer" as to why you are doing better, assuming you are.

 

[SWIMfriend]

If you are really feeling stable and clear-headed, then I think maybe not--and when you add the "foreign country" aspect there's no way to tell what sort of problems could be presented by a different culture (including possible SEVERE legal problems).

Anyone with an actual psychiatric problem should stay away from psychedelics; and anyone with a psychiatric problem that ARISES coincidental with use of psychedelics should stop taking them. I don't think there's any further advice that medicine has to offer in regard to the issue of psychiatry and contraindications of psychedelics.

 

[Mz.Gypzy]

My suggestion would be instead of admitting to using Psyches,
Bring them up in conversation. Tell her that you have been
Doing some research on them and explain how they can be used
For healing and such. Maybe give slme examples like addicts
being healed from Iboga.
Ask her if she has ever done any research and what she thinks
About the subject, that way you can get a feel for her opinions.

You definitely don't want to get yourself into any trouble or
Have her prolong your treatment. Take that into consideration.

 

[hug46]

Well they are certainly not nazi state hoggers although i have come across a few in my time. Kind and nice atmosphere and there are no legal implications as these places operate on a confidentiality/trust thing, after all i am getting treatment for something illegal already and i would discuss with them if i fell into bad ways again. They are there to help, impartially. Its a trust thing i guess but i dont want them to worry either because i"m certainly not worried.
As for the psychological illness, i guess someone who puts a needle into their arm to feel good for years on end aint too right in the head . But i have felt better and more calm in my head in the last couple of years than perhaps i ever have in my entire life, it ain"t the psychedelics, i"ve just become right, for various reasons, or as right as i"m ever going to be.
I"m gonna tell her..........or should i?:?
i know i"ll ask the cat
And yes mz gypzy, very good point, i have been planning on broaching the iboga subject at some stage, i think i was posting at the same time as you!!

 

[red_lego_spaceman]

That is a really tough call. If you trust her not to judge you or freak out or derail your treatment, maybe it would be a good thing to tell her about it.

If it is benefitting you and she sees the benefit, then she will be better informed. If it is not benefitting you, she will be better able to help.

Best of luck, whatever you do!

 

[SWIMfriend]

As for the psychological illness, i guess someone who puts a needle into their arm to feel good for years on end aint too right in the head .

Someone who does that has made an unwise choice at one point, and then the process of addiction has overcome them. They are NOT "mentally ill" (by virtue of simply having an addiction problem). Furthermore, it's not helpful for someone with an addiction problem to think in self-hating terms.

Sure, the decision to talk about psychedelics is up to you--full candor is unquestionably a helpful thing in the RIGHT therapeutic situation. The most likely response will be a recommendation that you stop using psychedelics. That may be a good recommendation--or a bad one; but it would likely be made only for LEGAL reasons, rather than therapeutic reasons. Still, if you feel you're being helped by a candid and trusting relationship, it can be destructive to lie or keep secrets.

The most important thing is to do everything you can to move away from behaviors you have realized are destructive for you--using any and all means YOU feel are appropriate.

 

[SWIMfriend]

Kind and nice atmosphere and there are no legal implications as these places operate on a confidentiality/trust thing, after all i am getting treatment for something illegal already and i would discuss with them if i fell into bad ways again.

Good. I just hope you're sure about that. For example, I'm sure there are jurisdictions where, if your therapy was court ordered in lieu of some more punitive court action, there could be a requirement that you not use ANY drug (OR alcohol), and that the court-ordered therapist might be required to report knowledge of such use.

My attitude is to not trust "authorities" regarding "drugs" in ANY WAY. I would never admit to any "person of authority" that I have EVER used ANY drug at ANY time. If I were found in the middle of the street with a needle sticking in my arm I would say NOTHING--and if I HAD to say something, I would say that it dropped out of the sky and into my arm, LOL.

 

[hug46]

As for the psychological illness, i guess someone who puts a needle into their arm to feel good for years on end aint too right in the head .

Furthermore, it's not helpful for someone with an addiction problem to think in self-hating terms.
Don"t worry swimfriend in my opinion thinking you ain"T too right in the head isn"t even on the same page as self hate for me, i quite like myself

The most important thing is to do everything you can to move away from behaviors you have realized are destructive for you--using any and all means YOU feel are appropriate.

This is good and has always been my credo

"My attitude is to not trust "authorities" regarding "drugs" in ANY WAY. I would never admit to any "person of authority" that I have EVER used ANY drug at ANY time."

Yes they are part of the health authority but have chosen to work in this field . In my experience i have found that the majority of drug workers (not all) are a pretty idealistic lot, maybe at times a little jaded but are quite human and will happily advise on gently bending rules to get the constructive help that you need. I have no legal worries, especially in this case. If i"m wrong i"ll post you from the gaol.

I"m not sure whether DMT has helped me in this situation but it has by no means hindered and i like doing it.
So what do you think now? Not discuss it?

 

[d*l*b]

I would personally keep schtum. I had a bit of a naive view of what happens in the health system with addicts/recovering addicts until quite recently. I have in the past few weeks heard of some quite terrible mistreatment of someone who is on the register at the hands of paramedics, doctors and the police over a couple of days. Now I don't think I would trust anyone in the system at all, no matter what position they hold.

Whatever you say will end up on paper (or I suppose rather on the network nowadays) somewhere. If there is no risk today that is one thing, but what about in 10 years time?

 

[deadlight]

i recommend avoiding the topic, i was honest with mine when i was younger and after that she wouldn't accept that there could be any problem except drug (ab)use

 

[SWIMfriend]

It is YOUR decision.

I'm just saying that I can think of MANY bad outcomes that can come from opening up about it (and some are the type that can manifest even years later, or in ways you would never anticipate, or in ways you never KNOW were a manifestation of what you said)...

And I can think of NO good outcomes--except the rather dubious one of being able to feel you're totally honest with the therapist.

Also...you are telling me about the TYPE of people these health services people are, and that's nice. But you don't seem to have a lot to say about what you know may be all the RULES they have to observe.

Furthermore, you can be dealing with somebody you LIKE...but then they write down what you say, and then you may find out you've have in effect told someone you DON'T LIKE.

I just think it's VERY VERY USEFUL to keep a clear head regarding the FACT that it's almost NEVER USEFUL to tell "people in authority" (and that CERTAINLY includes people who work in health services) about drug use.

 

[hug46]

It is YOUR decision.

I'm just saying that I can think of MANY bad outcomes that can come from opening up about it (and some are the type that can manifest even years later, or in ways you would never anticipate, or in ways you never KNOW were a manifestation of what you said)...

this is good that is why i am asking but could you give an example?

Furthermore, you can be dealing with somebody you LIKE...but then they write down what you say, and then you may find out you've have in effect told someone you DON'T LIKE.

So your"e saying i"ll like them until they write down what i say, then i won"t like them? That doesn"t make sense to me if iv"e understood right. Its not like in 10 years time this is going to come back and haunt me. I think i am already up the creek with that scenario, they already know i take drugs that"s why i"m there.

I just think it's VERY VERY USEFUL to keep a clear head regarding the FACT that it's almost NEVER USEFUL to tell "people in authority" (and that CERTAINLY includes people who work in health services) about drug use.

Your staunch "do not trust authorities with drugs" has given me pause for thought and yes it is my decision and i thank you. My tree of indecision has been gently shaken by your breezes of influence, which way it will fall, i shall decide with a clear head.

 

[Abrazaderas]

dont do something you cant take back if you aint sure.

 

[SWIMfriend]

The response to the first two points is based on the same phenomenon: When something gets WRITTEN DOWN in most medical records, that information can travel FAR AND WIDE. In fact who KNOWS all the places it can go.

In the US, such information can potentially go onto classified government lists, insurance companies, police. And it can get into the hands of potential employers...and on and on.

...and it doesn't matter that you may be already subject to such things regarding heroin: there's no use adding an ADDITIONAL CLASS OF DRUGS to those lists.

So...because you don't know who may eventually have the information, you don't know HOW it can percolate through your life, and you don't know if the NEXT therapist--who you may DESPISE--will then have the information when your records are passed along. That's what I mean by giving it to one person you like, and then a person you DON'T like has it as well.

There's no END to it. And it will only get worse as technology generally, and databases in particular, are further developed and become further entrenched into government and corporate records.

 

[d*l*b]

My issue with the possibilities of the future is that we really don't know what they could possibly be yet! There is, in the wrong hands, already a massive amount of data that could be very dangerous to the way we live life in the future. Best not to add to it.

I look to the past and around the world for the experience of those living under totalitarian political systems, I can't say there won't be anyone like that in control of us in the future (some would say we already are, that's another debate though).

 

[Jarl Von Hoother]

Don't mention anything, they may decide to find a reason to prosecute you if you if you're on probation. heroin is just as illegal as mushrooms... I don't have a clue why

my advice would be to share your inspiration with a friend.

I hope you can get clean off this stuff. I took a friend in my home who tried to get him off oxycotton... it didn't work out too well.

taking opiates is like signing your soul away, it's a drug for the weary world who resign to life...

I m telling you this because who ever you are, you matter to us, to this world and to me... stay away from going down that gutter... we all have weaknesses in life, and real strength derives from facing them while keeping your priorities in line, and sucking it up

opiates are fucking lie... a neurological trick for the 'stupid switch' to keep the lights out so you can depart reality

Anyway Im glad you are choosing to expand your mind... keep things confidential, on the record and where situations are less demanding talk to a close friend about your newer path toward transcending your existence which is what we all should do... and never get this drug confused with that... That is societies job to realize no matter how right they were told and patted on the head about psychedelics being ANYWHERE close to junk, crack, or whatever else

I don't intend to offend... from person to person- just stay away from that utter useless s#^t

Good luck dear soul

 

[hug46]

So...because you don't know who may eventually have the information, you don't know HOW it can percolate through your life, and you don't know if the NEXT therapist--who you may DESPISE--will then have the information when your records are passed along. That's what I mean by giving it to one person you like, and then a person you DON'T like has it as well.

aah thank you , that has been clarified and yes good point. And Abrazaderus your minimal sentence made good sense.

I still think im already buggered with the drugs on my record and not just for heroin but with additional substances. In fact its possible that my records say that i took heroin before i even touched the stuff so it seems damned if you do, damned if you don"t. Ive made many mistakes in my life and i am sure they are written down in the annals of time for all to see. I have a friend who is completely paranoid about the powers that be and information technology. One night he drunkenly exposed himself to the landlord of a pub at closing time after an argument. He was put on the sex offenders register for this. Thats bad shit with the powers that be, but my point is most people always slip up someway or other, its life.

I don"t adhere to worrying about all this information getting written and being used against you in 10 years time. I am not saying it doesn"t happen i am just saying that i don"t want to stress about this. Obviously i"m not going to forcibly encourage rumours of my drug taking or possible criminal activities if i can help it. Also i am not saying it definitely won"t come back to bite me on the backside one day. It just does not work for me worrying about future repercussions but i guess we are wired differently (which is one of the reasons why i like you D-L-B).

This may seem naive but i also don"t want to work for an employer that takes offence at me doing psychedelics.My current employer positively encourages it and many of my previous would probably partake (not sure about the heroin though). These are the circles i have chosen to move in during my adult life. To clarify i don"t want to advertise my drug use but if anyone takes issue, bollocks to them. Pigheaded maybe.

Also i like to see the possible humanity in authority figures, possibly unwise but it works for me on a personal level. And for all the reasons you can tell me not to i can think of reasons why i should. But thats just my philosophical view on life and with that there is no rights or wrongs just theories and peoples viewpoints.

Having said all that, swimfriend i have noticed you live in the US, as i grew up in the UK in the 70S and 80s perhaps a more innocent place and time that has coloured my world view! Where the local police rode around on bycicles and , at worst, would clip you round the ear and send you home to mother if you were naughty. Where the sounds of leather on willow (cricket to the uninitiated) would echo across village greens to mix with the tinkling of tea cups and the gentle laughter of the women"s institute as they prepared delicious cream teas. An innocent time which may have had a profound affect on my viewpoint. Having said that i did used to get quite a few beatings from the local skinheads and this has given me an irrational fear of bald headed men, which i have now got a handle on. I like America but i"m not sure i would like to live there.

Having said that i don"t think i will tell my shrink just yet as i like your cautionary posts and they have indeed given me pause for thought. Thankyou all:thumb_up:

 

[polytrip]

Always be open about everything to your shrink. I leave you to be the judge of whether that means, actively informing him/her about your use of psychedelic´s when no questions are asked. But just be open. It makes the healing proces go a lot smoother.