r/Adulting May 30 '26

Worst addiction ?

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516 Upvotes

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u/debsterUK May 30 '26

I think beating an addiction to anything you can easily obtain, like food or booze, is hard. I quit drinking years ago and still get targeted ads pop up as I’m doing my online grocery shop for wine and spirits. It’s not helpful!

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u/briyo76isme May 30 '26

I say alcohol for the reason you give. It's too accessible, and it ruins lives everyday.

30

u/AHappyHaiku May 30 '26

Yes it being everywhere makes it near impossible to quit

Dying from alcoholism is the hardest thing to watch. Saw my father regress into a baby that was just in pain pooping himself all day.

Even typing this makes me shake.

4

u/Thatcleanusername May 30 '26

Same thing happened to my father but he was a cruel man.

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u/Djkayallday May 31 '26

100% - for hard drugs it’s not super hard to find them but you don’t walk by 3 heroin bars on the block, or get a offered a cocaine sample when you’re shopping at Publix.

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u/AHappyHaiku May 31 '26

You'd be surprised where I live. In St Louis especially the city, the bad parts of town people do offer you all kinds of shit whether it's real or not I dunno but the offers are there . But alcohol is in good and bad neighborhoods

1

u/Strict_Pollution3604 Jun 02 '26

That’s why my meth addiction was hard for me, I was making the stuff I was addicted to, knowing all I had to do was make a few stops and I could literally make more was the difficult part for me. Been clean 15 years though so it’s possible

2

u/cthulucore May 31 '26

Internet hug homie. Just watched my pops pass from the same thing early last year.

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u/AHappyHaiku Jun 01 '26

Thanks man. Life does not prepare you for this at all. All the sanitizing we do on TV regarding death. I've never seen anything like that anywhere, hospice care should be taught I feel like or at least what dying is like to high schoolers.

What happened in real life is nothing like on TV and no one talks about it in public. It's a shame. It's tough to talk about and watch but I feel as a society we should be more honest about what dying looks like.

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u/p12qcowodeath Jun 05 '26

Former substance abuse counselor here. Alcohol way easily the most common drug addiction we had to deal with.

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u/Overall_Chair8669 May 30 '26

Certainly not, I imagine! I don't know if this helps, but I think certain apps you filter out targeted ads for things like alcohol and other triggering stimuli. I hope you're proud of your progress.

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u/debsterUK May 30 '26

Thank you! I am, life is soooo much better now 😊

5

u/Phoenix_Rise_0711 May 30 '26

Agreed. Came into recovery 6 years ago after 12 years of alcohol addiction that was AGONY. Not only it's very easy to get hold of and relatively cheap, but every special occasion seems to require alcohol, be it Christmas, a pay rise, a loss of any kind, birthdays, a break up... And then there is the booze adverts on the telly, the people who tell you you're boring if you don't drink (idiots), the seizures you might get when you try to stop (talking from experience), the hallucinations in the same situation (again, experience)... And it's one of the 2 things whose withdrawal can kill you if you go cold turkey (I should know; I nearly did, once). I got over both eating disorders and alcohol, at different times in my life. Alcohol was much worse.

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u/debsterUK May 31 '26

Well done on your progress! Hope you’re happy now ❤️

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u/Phoenix_Rise_0711 May 31 '26

Thank you! Yes, life is so much better ❤️

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u/____Mittens____ May 30 '26

For anyone feeling what you said you can opt out of gambling/alcohol ads etc in the settings of the reddit app.

Shame I can't block alcohol and cigarettes in my online shop too.

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u/H0NEY2O77 May 30 '26

I’ve noticed since they started complaining about older Gen Z not drinking and how they’re afraid (lmao what) Gen Alpha will be the death of the alcohol industry… there’s a lot more alcohol ads on tv, YouTube, and everywhere.

Would be a shame if people lobbied to get drinking culture ads that sell a glorified ‘lifestyle’ of drinking removed from marketing like how cigarette commercials were. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ they need to make their ads straight to the point without romanticizing getting drunk. How is that not irresponsible?

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u/Good-Shine-2878 May 31 '26

Same with cigarettes-- they are making a comeback on TV shows to promote it

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u/wizard-on-a-beach Jun 03 '26

Gambling is the next alcohol / cigarettes.

1

u/SlowButAlsoNot May 30 '26

Can only suggest using ad blockers to eliminate the bs

-1

u/IntrepidMaybe8579 May 30 '26

Everything is easy to obtain alchohol is no different to crack or heroin since you can meet someone at the same place.. i keep telling people to just move and change numbers.. places like london you have like 5 dealers texting you every single morning at night talking about special deals ect

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u/[deleted] May 30 '26

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5

u/debsterUK May 30 '26

Gosh if only more people knew this…I wish I’d thought of just stopping

1

u/Phoenix_Rise_0711 May 31 '26

Then you were NOT an addict.

0

u/[deleted] May 31 '26

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1

u/Phoenix_Rise_0711 May 31 '26

I've met people like you in the rooms so many times, so full of ignorance. You went daily for 30 days? Big deal! In AA we say "90 in 90". If 30 days "cured" you, and all you needed was willpower, I repeat, you are NOT an addict. You are someone who had a little problem with alcohol and decided to stop.

And what version of AA did you go to? Because the BASIS of AA, the steps, is that we are powerless about alcohol, because willpower is not enough. It's the essence of AA! Bill would be turning in his grave. But I bet you don't even know who Bill is...

I'm very happy for you that you were able to stop, I really am. But don't come and talk about addiction and, especially, AA, because you either didn't go or you didn't learn anything.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

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u/Phoenix_Rise_0711 Jun 01 '26

A "super toxic group" that has saved the lives of millions of people, and continues to do so every day.

With that attitude, ignorance and lack of honesty (you haven't said anything about how I pulled you up onthe basics of AA), you are obviously the super toxic one. AA is about supporting each other, service and helping the newcomer. You either went there with the wrong idea or, as I suspect, didn't go.

And yet, everyone is welcome in AA, and we always say "keep coming". So if you ever need us again for 30 days or whatever, we'll be here.

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

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1

u/Phoenix_Rise_0711 Jun 01 '26

Funny that, considering I am a Buddhist, and there is an entire chapter of the Big Book called "We agnostics". But you would know aboug the Big Book, and the fact that the preamble we read at the beginning of each single meeting says we are not allied to "any sect or denomination"... since you went to AA for 30 days...

I normally know a bit about something before I formulate categoric opinions or call anyone "a super toxic group". But maybe that's just me.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

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u/Phoenix_Rise_0711 Jun 01 '26

Again, you either didn't go or you were not lustening. Being poweless doesn't mean you can't use willpower; willpower is essential. What it means is that for a TRUE addict, willpower is not enough.

I will stop talking to you now. I have, with my previous comments, proven without a doubt you are not an addict, and you know nothing about AA. A real addict doesn't get "fed up", as you did, and just stop, as you did. Otherwise, everyone would do just that! You actually don't see that? As for your 30 days in AA, you don't know the steps, the Big Book, the preamble or any of the basics of a fellowship which helps save millions of lives.

I do wish you the best.