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I really appreciate ur vocal stance about harm reduction. If u have a moment, could u perhaps link to, or talk about how harm reduction works with alcohol?
Thank you, an I hope u have a good day:)
of course! while I’m now completely sober, I wouldn’t have been able to get here without harm reduction, so it’s a very personal thing to me. that being said, to be clear I also see harm reduction as an objective good, even (especially!) if it never leads to sobriety
the thing about alcohol is that a lot of it is tightly regulated on account of it being a) legal, and b) easily accessible. so you don’t necessarily have the same safety concerns as you’d have with other drugs. it’s pretty easy to keep track of how much you’ve had, because most countries have some form of “standard drink”, which legally has to be printed on labels etc
other than that, harm reduction is fairly similar with alcohol as with other drugs. the way I was taught about it was to break harm reduction into three parts: mindset, context, and substance. before you can work on setting harm reduction goals, you need to understand the facts of when, where, and why you drink, and it can be helpful to work within those categories
mindset (how you feel)
what thoughts and feelings usually lead up to drinking?
are there thoughts and feelings that are likely to lead to a worse experience when drinking?
what are some other ways you cope with those same feelings?
harm reduction in this category usually means practicing self-awareness around this stuff. if you know you’re more likely to have a bad time if you drink while angry, you can set yourself some goals around not drinking while angry (or drinking less when angry). it also can help to set up some safety barriers so that drinking is less likely to hurt yourself or others
context (social + built environment)
where do you usually drink the most? how safe are these places?
are there people you drink more around or who encourage unsafe drinking behaviours?
what environments make you feel safest when drinking?
this is where most of the harm reduction work happens with respect to drinking. not drinking with people who encourage unsafe drinking can make a major difference. as can having an accountability partner, not drinking when alone, or otherwise planning ahead to keep you as safe as possible
substance (facts of what you’re using)
how much do you usually drink?
how much is safe for you to drink? at which point do you usually start to feel unwell?
what is the best way for you to track how much you’re drinking?
what other substances might be involved? how will they interact with alcohol? (including prescription medication!!)
this also includes knowing what overdose looks like, and having a plan for what you will do in case of overdose. being aware of what a certain amount of alcohol is likely to do to your body can also make it easier to drink safely
IN GENERAL: it’s important to be realistic with yourself. setting goals you know you can’t meet right now is a fast train to burnout, shame, and disappointment. even doing ONE thing to make yourself safer is GOOD. the safer you are the better, and whatever that looks like is good
I hope this has been helpful! feel free to ask any other questions about this either way :)
on the new tmagp episode: the entities aren't all negative?? does this mean they're definitely not the ones from the tma universe? or is it just that there were preexisting entities that were actually good? or was it a mix of good and bad? me and my friend were speculating about what other entities could be, and she suggested addiction, which I think fits well not only with several statements but with the food in tmagp. like we've got coffee and sugary stuff and alcohol and all of those can be addictive
some of yall need to understand that "my body, my choice" also applies to:
addicts in active addiction with no intention of quitting
phys disabled people who deny medical treatment
neurodivergent people who deny psychiatric treatment (yes, including schizophrenic people and people with personality disorders)
trans people who want or don't want to medically transition (yes, including trans masc lesbians with top surgery and trans women without bottom surgery, yall are so weird to them wtf)
and if you can't understand that, then you don't get to use the phrase
The other day I told a friend of mine that I never forget to take my ADHD meds because I fucking love my ADHD meds. I'm in my late 30s, I didn't finally get a diagnosis and meds until less than two years ago, and they have changed my entire life.
And he raised his eyebrow at me. We'd been discussing addictive medications a few minutes before, like the Tramadol I finally got from the pain specialist to take once a week or so to give me a break from my chronic pain, so I reassured him that methylpenidate (Ritalin/Concerta) is not addictive (at least not in people with ADHD).
His response? To raise his eyebrow even harder and say "Well it sure SOUNDS like it's addictive!"
And I had to explain to this man - who works in a healthcare related job by the way - that just because medication makes you feel good and helps you, just because you look forward to taking it, that doesn't make it addictive or dangerous. And he wasn't convinced.
The simple fact that I was excited to take a daily pill that has literally changed my life, after decades of fighting to get that medication, made him think I shouldn't be taking it so often. That it must inherently be dangerous.
I'm not even in America, but I'm pretty sure this attitude began there and then spread over here to Europe. This Puritan idea of "if something feels good, you must beware of it. Pleasure is dangerous, it is sinful, it is addiction, it is evil."
I know too many people who subconsciously believe that pleasure = addictive = dangerous = bad. Joy is a slippery slope to hell.
So here is your reminder for today that you don't need to be afraid of feeling good. If something improves your life, use it. Even if it is addictive - learn what that addiction means, whether the addiction is inherently dangerous or not, and whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks and risks.
My ADHD meds are, in fact, not addictive. But I will take them every day because they make my life orders of magnitude easier. I will enjoy them every time I take them.
My tramadol is addictive. I will still take it. I will keep it on a schedule to avoid becoming addicted, primarily because addiction in this case would mean reduced effectiveness. But I am not afraid of my painkillers. They are life changing.
Take your meds, everyone. Don't let anyone scare you away from doing something that improves your life.
Advice if you love/care about an addict but they're not ready for abstinence. This is meeting people where they're at- the most important part of harm reduction
People on the internet treat autism like it's some cute, childish thing, but like, autism and the trauma that comes with it have literally lead me to severe alcoholism, anger issues and a criminal record.
This post goes out to autistic addicts and autistic people who have personality disorders and autistic people who have hurt people during meltdowns and autistic people who have been in trouble with the law and autistic people who have been diagnosed with every mental illness under the sun only to find out it was autism all along.
You are loved. Your trauma and your reactions to it do not make you a bad person.
just by the way, forced rehab is not harm reduction, it is a step below sending an addict to prison, forced rehab causes deaths, what you should be advocating for if you actually want to help addicts is needle exchanges, supervised consumption sites, affordable housing, universal basic income, support in escaping abusive relationships, disability payments that dont keep people below the poverty line, and free mental health resources. forced rehab kills and that is not an exaggeration, that is something i have witnessed firsthand.
relapse is not a moral failure. substance use and addiction are not a moral failure. mental illness is not a moral failure. disability is not a moral failure. you have a health condition. you are struggling. recovery is not mean to be perfect, and if you're not in recovery, surviving is good too. i'm glad you're here, and i hope life treats you better soon. please know this is not your fault. you do not need to feel guilty over your own health.
sick of people acting like there’s some kind of hierarchy of addictions, where caffeine is at one end and crack is at the other. different addictions are different. different substances work differently. but we’re never going to win by distancing ourselves from other addicts, and pushing other addicts under the bus
and this goes in both directions. I see my fellow alcoholics distance themselves from drug addicts, and dehumanise other addicts in the process. I also see my fellow alcoholics turn to people with “less extreme” addictions and undermine their suffering. we’re all stuck in this big long chain of who has it better and who has it worse and who deserves to be seen as fully human
someone who is addicted to an illegal substance will have different experiences to me. someone who is addicted to something very socially acceptable will have different experiences to me. but the point is that we’re all in this together, and we need to stop squabbling over the scraps of respect the non-addicts toss our way