Anybody else trade addictions?
- Thread starter KingsXJJ
- Start date
newholland
Roadie
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- 515
mm.. no, its just all manifestations of the same audio problem 
guitars, amps, mics, recording gear, other instruments, audio gear, headphones... sigh. one giant problem.
guitars, amps, mics, recording gear, other instruments, audio gear, headphones... sigh. one giant problem.
Jarick
Rock Star
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- 4,123
I think the same compulsive/ADHD traits in my brain that caused me to drink a ton are the same ones that have me eating too much and constantly shopping for gear. All I know is I'm happier and healthier without the booze! If I figure out how to control my brain I'll let you know lol
about 16 years ago. I exchanged it for a addiction of playing guitar 
KingsXJJ
Shredder
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- 1,970
Good for you man! I always enjoyed your contributions but now I think very highly of you as well! That’s a bunch of time doing very awesomely.
TSJMajesty
Rock Star
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How much time you got?
KingsXJJ
Shredder
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- 1,970
Just shy of 3 months.
norminal
Rock Star
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- 7,281
One day at a time man.
TSJMajesty
Rock Star
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- 6,862
That's not what I meant. I was answering the thread title, albeit, a little tongue-in-cheeky.
Sorry for the novel....
Addictions suck, and even if one has enough clean time to reset the brain's reward centers' ability to naturally produce the 'feel good' stuff we get in much larger quantities from drugs/alcohol/sex/shopping..., basically anything that triggers a dopamine release, to its normal modes of production..., we always carry that memory.
If shit/life-in-general gets too much to bear, we still know how/where we can acquire an "escape" mechanism.
I never had a problem with alcohol, and truly never really liked the taste. But I still can't even have a cold beer on a hot summer day after work, (which I do like, taste notwithstanding), because of how it will trigger my cravings for coke. I used to deny to it to my counselors, but eventually I learned that it is a fact. At least for me.
Guitar and gear in general isn't an addiction for me, because if I don't play for a few days, it doesn't start eating at me. But go without my morning latte, diet Pepsi, or some Reese's every few days, or, I hate to admit it, my cigarettes, and I'll be climbing the walls. But at least none of those come with the added bonus of a jail cell. Just cancer, diabetes, or stroke.
And the fucked up thing about the smoking is, I quit when I was in my early 20's, but picked it back up in my 40's after I'd gone to rehab, and was living in a halfway house, surrounded by 6 guys who all smoked! They gave us outdoor smoke breaks in rehab, and I was 1 of only 2 people there who didn't smoke.
A funny side joke..., at that rehab, they had tried to eliminate all forms of nicotine in the recent past, and people went absolutely nuts! They discovered a couple actually having sex out on a picnic table! (If you don't know it, opiates (a lot of people in rehab for heroin addiction) kill your sex drive, but after you detox, it comes roaring back!
)With what I know about myself, I think I have a natural deficiency in certain neurotransmitters. And as I gradually work to clean up my last few addictions, I struggle so hard with the underlying depression. Which is probably why I take to music and guitar playing so heavily!
My overall stance on drugs & alcohol is simple: Don't ever try them, because you simply don't know if you'll be the type of person to develop a full-blown addiction, or if those "lighter drugs" will end up leading you to the harder drugs that you really take to. Which is what happened to me. That, and breaking my leg really badly in 06. Yeah, I'm a mess. But much better off today than ever before.
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