Advice on Seeking Professional Help

[robojeff]

Hello everybody, I am thouroughly addicted to my adderall prescription, and have been for about 8 years (I'm 28). So I am ready to end my prescription, tell my friends who also take it to get an f'ing safe for when i'm around, and eventually become myself again. The only thing is that I am going to need a mental health professional in my corner to help me with the fallout (depression, complete avoidance of self-care/all things productive, drinking, etc). Already moderately depressed so I think I will need to be prescribed something for that. Did/do you all have a therapist, psychiatrist, rehabilitation center help you? Been looking for a while now, and I feel like this is an uncommon addiction (or at least perceived to be). Any tips for finding quality help would be appreciated. 

[SleepyStupid]

hi @robojeff

welcome to the forums, and congratulations on your decision to quit! 

curious - is this your first attempt at quitting? it's a great sign that you're already planning to have a support network in place. in addition to healthcare professionals (or even more importantly), you'll want to make sure that you have support from family or friends - especially if you're taking time off from work or school.

of course it's a good idea to consult your doctor, but before engaging any of these parties I'd suggest just vegetating for a week or two - the initial couple of weeks you'll be too tired to do anything. once your out of the initial haze, you'll have a better sense of the kind of help that might be necessary. you mention some examples of help here (therapist vs psychiatrist vs rehab), it's important to know that each have a pretty different approach to treatment, especially because of the unique nature of Adderall addiction.

regarding rehab, there's both inpatient and outpatient. inpatient can obviously be quite expensive and probably unnecessary. outpatient rehab is certainly an option and would probably be structured like a group session, similar to AA or NA meetings (which is also definitely an option if you need a community support approach).

if you approach a Psychiatrist with this challenge and mention the depression, they will immediately look to medicate you and replace the Adderall with something else. it's not necessarily their fault - medication management is simply their bread and butter. they're not addiction specialists, so unless you specifically tell them the extent of your abuse and addiction they may even try to keep you on stimulants. your depression may be linked directly with the Adderall abuse, so I'd say give it a bit of time before rushing to medication. that said, many have found Wellbutrin to be a helpful aid in recovery, and it has helped me with depression in the past. of all the popular antidepressants, it is generally the most well tolerated for this purpose.

a good therapist with a background in addiction would probably be your best bet initially, as they can help you put into place the right mindset and routines to manage the early recovery process.

and.... this forum is also quite helpful! 10 years worth of success stories to keep you motivated. 

gl and keep us posted!

 

 

[robojeff]

This was just what I needed to hear. Thank you for that, really. I actually have an appointment tomorrow with a general psychiatrist that seems to check all the boxes.  Not dancing yet but relieved to get the ball rolling. Will keep you posted!.