Am I overreacting?
Somebody supporting another with cannabis addiction
Long post, apologies in advance….
Most of last year was consumed by worry about my 21year old son’s use of cannabis (and other substances). It came to a head in September when he became borderline psychotic.
This terrified him, and over the following weeks/months he amazed me with his strength & resilience in overcoming this, recognising how he wanted his life to be fulfilled & not governed by substances.
Just in the past few weeks I have really felt like we were getting some normality back.
This came crashing down yesterday, when my stepson told us that he knew he had smoked weed the night before. He recognised the signs and my son admitted it to him.
I confronted him, trying to maintain a calm approach (somewhat successfully). His reasoning was wanting ‘to test himself’, experimenting whether he enjoyed it and was in control, rather than it controlling him.
I cannot wrap my head around this ludicrous & risky ‘test’, that compromised 5 months of progress. He seemed to think I was overreacting, and couldn’t comprehend that this is exactly how addicts behave. I have had to make it clear that I cannot return to the existence of last year, where I laid awake at night, worrying if he was driving his car high, and expecting the police at my door. I explained that the choice is his, but if he wants to go back to using, he will need to find somewhere else to live. He says he isn’t planning to continue smoking, however I am aware we found out by accident, not from his honesty. He has agreed to take urine tests, something that doesn’t sit comfortably with me, but I need to know what I am dealing with.
Am I overreacting?
Most of last year was consumed by worry about my 21year old son’s use of cannabis (and other substances). It came to a head in September when he became borderline psychotic.
This terrified him, and over the following weeks/months he amazed me with his strength & resilience in overcoming this, recognising how he wanted his life to be fulfilled & not governed by substances.
Just in the past few weeks I have really felt like we were getting some normality back.
This came crashing down yesterday, when my stepson told us that he knew he had smoked weed the night before. He recognised the signs and my son admitted it to him.
I confronted him, trying to maintain a calm approach (somewhat successfully). His reasoning was wanting ‘to test himself’, experimenting whether he enjoyed it and was in control, rather than it controlling him.
I cannot wrap my head around this ludicrous & risky ‘test’, that compromised 5 months of progress. He seemed to think I was overreacting, and couldn’t comprehend that this is exactly how addicts behave. I have had to make it clear that I cannot return to the existence of last year, where I laid awake at night, worrying if he was driving his car high, and expecting the police at my door. I explained that the choice is his, but if he wants to go back to using, he will need to find somewhere else to live. He says he isn’t planning to continue smoking, however I am aware we found out by accident, not from his honesty. He has agreed to take urine tests, something that doesn’t sit comfortably with me, but I need to know what I am dealing with.
Am I overreacting?
1 reaction
1 reply
Somebody supporting another with alcohol and cocaine addictions
No I don’t think you are over-reacting x
I think this also might be a common pattern that they want to still pursue these things but under their terms rather than come to terms with needing to give it up completely.
I think this also might be a common pattern that they want to still pursue these things but under their terms rather than come to terms with needing to give it up completely.