Heroin

[igotaway]

I posted a while ago here about my 22 year old son in July.
He was diagnosed with depression and given mirzopine (sp)

He is getting worse and worse, the tablets don't do a thing for him, and he has being going back to the gp, who keeps upping the dosage and doing nothing much else, maybe because my son hasn't told him the severity of his depression - i don't know.

My son is very very tearful, he doesn't sleep for 3 days at time, then collapses with sheer exhaustion. He spends 45 minutes checking and checking the house at night.

He is at the end of his tether and so last night he confessed to injecting heroin.
Just so he could find some peace. He just wants to sleep and make his chaotic thoughts go away.

He doesn't take heroin because he needs it (yet) he takes it because it dulls his depression. He said he was suicidal, but wouldn't do it because of me and his brother, and couldn't cause us that much pain.

I am devastated, and I have to get him some help.
This morning I went to the gp who was like,,, so what do you want me to do?
I wanted some help, some support or a direction to take, to advise me.

He just said, send him in to see me this afternoon and we'll go from there.
I fully appreciate that the gp can't directly discuss my sons medication, but I expected a bit more help.

I don't know what to do

shebangsthedrum what is your opinion on throwing the young person out of the house? I have been told often that my son will not want help unless he reaches rock bottom and that will only happen if he stops being supported by us. As said above the drugs started as self med to get rid of anxiety etc. so there is the extra issue of throwing out a young man who is very vulnerable due to his mental health and could no way look after himself. We have not been able to do this as could not forgive ourselves if anything happened.

lazymum99 That it the one question that you can only ask yourself. Addicts will use their vulnerabilities to play on your emotions and from my experience can turn on the tears in a heart beat. Sometimes rock bottom is the only place where an addict can truly decide to take themselves in hand, yet rock bottom is different for everyone. As many others have suggested you need to get in touch with CDT (community drugs team) if you haven't already and he should be on a methadone program. One solution for him could be to ask him to move out and to give you space, but at the same time stay close both physically and emotionally. Your last sentence struck a chord with me, WHATEVER HE CHOOSES IT IS NEVER YOUR FAULT. Help him the best that you can but remember that you have a life too, also remind him that MH and drugs do not mix and his MH problems will just get worse until he gets clean. One other bit of advice, arm yourself with knowledge about drugs and users, speak to parents of other uses or former addicts the more you know, the better able you are help him and yourself. good luck xx

Well ladies here I am again.
After the diagnosis it was a day of tears tantrums and hope.

The hope came from you ladies,

The tears from the realisation of what he has shouldered all these years

The tantrum because I hadn't done anything about it sooner, and it was left to him to source relief.

I think I might move over to the teenagers board,so as to keep it all in one place.

shebangsthedrum, like lazymum99 I have been advised to let him go, but I can't take the risk now. I would never sleep at night.

See you in teenagers