Harm Reduction As Understood by pidgin

I'm not a psychologist
I fucking love alcohol
I've been an abuser of alcohol
It fucked up my life
Alcohol fucked me over the most and I stopped it
The fact is alcohol and drugs can cause harm

I got sober

I don't give a fucking shit what you do
I'm not trying to tell you what to do
I'll tell you what happened to me

The fact is you probably can't get sober
The statistics are [20]% of people who try to get sober actually get sober
However, harm reduction has a much greater effect and safer effect
The shit below could reduce your harm


1. Using
   In the long run, it's jail, institutionalization, death, or sober

2. Is your using causing harm to people you love?
   It might be causing harm to people you love and you don't realize it
   It's probably causing harm to people you love and you don't realize it
   It is causing harm to people you love and you don't realize it

2.5 Do you have symptoms of being physically addicted to alcohol?
   Everyone knows a normal hangover, thirst, headache, puking, etc
   When you don't have a hangover anymore after drinking heavily but you get restlessness in your legs or shaking in your hands the morning after
   When the shakes in your hands last for 2 days after your last drink
   Withdrawals come on the worth about 24 hours after your last drink
   If you can't hold a glass of water to your mouth to drink at that point its time to get help: google a detox facility and skip to 4.
   If you can't get help as above at that point, you can still help yourself: skip to Harm Reduction Detox
   If you are more down the rabbit hole than that, and if you feel like your shakes are going to turn into delerium tremens, you need to go to ER
   I've not had DT's myself but i'm told it could turn into seizure or worse

3. Why did you become an addict?
   Your brain makes you an addict
   You've rewired the dopamine receptors in your fucking head, retard
   Dopamine is more or less the brain chemical that makes you do drugs and alcohol
   Too much dopamine over the long term makes your brain's dopamine receptors less sensitive to dopamine

3. Do you want to stop using?
   If not fuck off.  It's death, jail, or institutionalization
   Is so, yeah it's going to be a process, and this is the first major step.  It's going to be dificult, but it will work
   You'll have to accept the fact that you'll have to make life changes

4. Deciding to detox
   You can generally detox in 3 days
   There are some fucked up ways to detox and some unfucked ways
   Depends on how much determination you have
   Hospital ER will detox you for 3 days in a very uncomfortable position with valium and will treat you like shit
   Sometimes your doctor can give you valium for the shakes, most might not
   You can schedule a time to check into a detox center, very expensive, but you'll probably have a room to yourself, maybe free wifi
   Harm Reduction Detox - this requires a separate chapter, its not easy, it could potentially work (and could potentially not), and you can do it yourself

5. The Dreaded Harm Reduction Detox
   It can be done, but it takes discipline
   If you don't have internal discipline this isn't for you
   Read these, decide if it is for you:
     https://pastebin.com/BtcAwHm4
     http://hams.cc/
     http://hams.cc/taper

6. After detoxing
   You most likely will get PAWS - Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome
   So you are now done with the acute withdrawal but now you have to deal with why you drank and how you have rewired your brain
   Your brain now has a significant lack of dopamine since you arent drinking
   You'll probably get terrible insomnia, depression, anhedonia (nothing is fun anymore)
   Rule of thumb is that you get PAWS for a month for every year you were drinking hard
   The symptoms will make you want to relapse, don't fucking do it
   On top of that, the things that made you want to drink in the first place will also come back in your head and make you want to drink, don't fucking do it
   Argueably, PAWS might harder than detox
   Options include:
     Group meetings
     Private councelor
     Naltrexone (injections work better than oral)

7. Making changes to not relapse
   [Still see your same friends as long as you dont relapse]?
   [Don't go to bars / clubs}?

8. Making those changes stick
   [No magic bullet for this step]?
   [The traditional interpretation is to get a house / job / significant other]?
   [Job will suck and wife will bitch but at some times she'll provide support and a wet pussy to fuck]?

9. Continuing living like that for the rest of your life
   [Takes commitment every day]?