I’m very worried for my boyfriend, he went into treatment
for alchoholism and six months later he hasn’t picked up a drink BUT as for any addiction the drinking was just a symptom.I understand addiction as I have had my own battles. He has a severe anxiety/paranoia disorder, hypochondria and goes into states of severe panic. It is very hard to deal with, he spends thousands of ponts on brain scans for imaginary tumors and suffers from almost constant psychosomatic headaches. As for the paranoia he is in constant fear of being targeted - either by terrorism or on a personal level - he even leaves a bit of anything he drinks in the botle so it can be tested for toxins if he falls ill. Obviously it was the alchohol that he used to calm down and medicate all of these things, but now he doesn’t have the alchohol these things are ruining his life. He can’t eat, sleep and can hardly leave the house, in constant ‘fight or flight’ mode. His doctor perscribed him many things but none seemed to be working, relctantly he has given him xanex - a benzo which is highly addictive. I worry he will not be able to use them medically and will start recreationally popping them whenever he feels anxious - recreating the whole alchohol problem all over. He seems to already have begun on the path of cross-addicting - into gambling; losing money he really can’t afford to lose playing poker tornaments. It’s caused more than financial prolems aswell - e.g we both picked up a bug, but I was a bit worse and he called and was like ‘you know i’d be over there looking after you if I was well enough’, and I was fine with that until later that night he called to check on me from a poker tornament! He can’t live his life with the paranoia but I have no idea how to help him, I love him and want to do the best by him without enabling him. But how?
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