So, after a pretty much life long drink problem I became very addicted a few years ago. Due to what happened in my life I just gave up. I've not been to a GP since before all this started. There are various reasons for that which I won't bore you with. At one point I used to sit in the park drinking wine from a bottle in the middle of the day, next to my big bag of booze to drink at home. The park faced the local GP surgery and I remember thinking how I'd probably never see a doctor again. It was all a bit bleak.

When I started tapering I took the approach of making deals with myself. If something was too hard or too overwhelming I just focused on what I thought I could do. Obviously I didn't get into that state overnight and I wasn't going to get out of it overnight. As long as I could improve I didn't focus too much on fixing everything.

Anyway I need to get checked out. I'd be very shocked if there isn't an issue somewhere or other. I've also just been constantly getting ill these last few months and feel really depleted. A life time of abuse and MH problems has had the effect of making me a pushover who can't self advocate very well. No self-worth etc. I've come a long way, but I'm still bad at it.

I think seeing a private GP might put me in the driving seat a bit more and that would make it far less of a big deal to go. Does anyone have any experience of doing this? Is there some sort of clinic option where people have experience of dealing with addiction?