I keep getting stuck trying to figure out what belongs to addiction and what belongs to my mental health. Some days I think the drinking or compulsive behavior caused the anxiety and depression, and other days it feels like I was trying to quiet those feelings long before things got out of control.
I remember sitting in my car after an appointment, feeling completely exhausted because I had tried to explain everything without knowing where one problem ended and the other began. It made me worry that I was using my mental health as an excuse, or blaming addiction for symptoms that needed separate treatment.
How have other people learned to tell the difference?
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@Michelle_Brown, I’ve found that I can’t always separate the two neatly. Sometimes the drinking made my anxiety worse, but it was also something I reached for when I already felt overwhelmed. Both things can be true.
What helped was tracking how I felt before using, right after, and the next day. I also brought those notes to appointments instead of trying to explain everything from memory. You shouldn’t have to prove which problem came first to deserve support for both.
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@Virginia_Banks, tracking how you felt before and after using sounds really useful. I’ve noticed the “before” part can get lost because I’m already focused on stopping the behavior or dealing with the aftermath.
Bringing the notes to appointments also seems less overwhelming than trying to explain everything perfectly in the moment. Did you notice any pattern in the feelings that showed up before you drank, like loneliness, panic, or exhaustion?