I failed repeatedly to get sober. It wasn't until I found a rehab that dealt with both my addiction to alcohol and my multiple mental health disorders that I finally found success. They absolutely fed each other and needed to be treated together. Just celebrated 6 years sober :)

I really loved what you said about treating addiction and other mental illnesses simultaneously. It bothers me so fucking much, also in Euphoria that Rue is being send into rehab where she gets clean but not threatened for her other illnesses and traumas. And of course she’s relapsing over and over again, because how should she stay clean without therapy?! And as you said, that’s a problem social services and medical institutions need to understand and change.

just wait till you see part 2 of the special, its all based in a therapy session, might be worth reacting to it

the writer and creator of the serie Sam Levinson was an addict himself too so he writes a lot of the parts based on his experience.

i really appreciate you talking about addiction candidly, i used to be (i mean it never really goes away) addicted to alcohol but didn't feel like i could reach out due to stigma and fear. you're making a difference man! 💖

I was chatting to my friend (who comes from an Ethiopian culture) about their definition of mental health and how it is different from the Western idea. Her culture sees it as a transitionary feeling rather than an identity to get absorbed in and define yourself by (very western). In her culture, it isn't "you have depression caused by grief", but "you have grief, let's tackle that" and they tackle it with social inclusion and community and I think we could do more of that in Western medicine

i actually wouldn’t mind if u watch every single episode imma be here for it

Ooh I had compassion focused therapy for my eating disorder, it was the thing that finally worked! I always hated CBT, could never get on with it, felt patronised and would just end up agreeing to things I had no intentions of doing. Then eventually had eating disorder specialised compassion focused therapy and the ideas really helped, went from hospital threats to a basically normal relationship with food in 6 months. I can see why it would be perfect for substance use disorder too.

“If you can’t love yourself, how can you be expected to love other people?” That resonates with me. I’ve battled depression most of my life and at the same time with low self worth. Part of me growing into a nicer person, I think, was when, 5 or 6 years ago, I came to the realization that what I said could hurt or help others. I mean if you don’t value yourself, then logically, why would you expect to have an impact on others? Of course, others only have what you say to them, they don’t have that intervening discounting thought that’s in my head. It seems even less logical as I write it out, but man, when you’ve got unregulated depression and it takes everything you have to work and be with family, there’s not a lot of bandwidth left over for introspection.

You should react to my mad fat diary! The main character has binge eating disorder and depression/suicidal thoughts

love your analysis and reaction!! You should react to a film named "words on bathroom walls", which is about a teen that's been diagnosed with schizophrenia, loved it💗

Love It! Waiting for The Jules special episode 😍

I *like* this sponsor. He's great. I love how he was using as Dr Elliott says, evidence based concepts to help her turn her thinking around and better define things to herself.

This is my favorite episode of any show of all time,it really helped me empathize with real life drug addicts

I was wondering if you could do something on how chronic conditions might affect mental health? Maybe something like Special on netflix, but I can't remember if it had anything explicitly covering mental health, so there might be better choices. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just before Christmas and even though I've never had any real mental health issues in the past, the last few months have been kinda difficult.

This episode was my favorite episode up to this point in the show.

This is my favorite episode by far. I had to spend my Christmas time in the hospital for mental health issues in 2020 and there was a great therapist and an other inpatient who I would have conversations like that with. Even though I didn't get to spend that Christmas with my family and I spend most of my times alone (covid restrictions in hospital) it was still one of my favorite ones so far.

When I was in inpatient, we had AA meetings every week where a guest alcoholic would tell us their story. None of us were there for substance abuse but every single story was more than about just the usage of drugs. They always had a background they wanted to run away from or I got the sense that all of them in their darkest moments needed therapy, but instead they chose alcohol. I'm glad I got that insight into it as someone who had to deal with an addict in her young life. I appreciate videos like these as well. Really informative!

Love all of your reactions and insights on them! You should definitely check out Shameless U.S there are some amazing portrayals of bipolar disorder and addiction in it.

great video! love your euphoria episodes

Omg you just keep nailing it in this video. When I was 15, I wanted to get mental health treatment, but first they wanted me TO GO TO DAMN REHAB because I drank like 5 times and smoke weed like twice. All that rehab did for me was teach me how to use other drugs and what they feel like. I felt so worthless. They labeled me as an addict, again, AT FIFTEEN, and threw me to the metaphorical wolves.

I love this, the most important thing for me in recovery has been to realize that I have power as long as I don't pick up that first drink or drug, once I start using, I become pwerless over my addiction

I can’t wait until you react to season 2 (particularly episode 1 and 5)!

I jump for your Euphoria analyses ! This show is the epitome of mental health analysis

Interesting that you can’t use the mental health act for substance use disorder but you can for eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia etc. The mechanism seemed extremely similar to me, same compulsively, same lack of insight, same ambivalence about recovery, and both essentially mental health issues with physical effects which drive the addiction. Is there a specific reason for the mha not being applicable? I completely agree about the way the system works in the uk - when I was younger I got ping-ponged around mental services none of whom were willing to treat me because of comorbidites: iapt wouldn’t take me because of my anorexia, then eating disorder services wouldn’t take me because of my mental health and wanted an admission, crisis dumped me back with eating disorder services who agreed to treat me but sent me to outpatient psychological services too who sent me for an autism diagnosis and so on and so on. It’s ridiculous and so unhelpful and often means that there’s a subsection of people who aren’t sick enough for inpatient, but are also too sick and too high risk for anyone to actually treat on an outpatient basis.

I need to watch this series! I think it might help me to see addiction in a different way.

if you could react to episode 5 and 6 of euphoria season 2.. it shows withdrawal and the hardships of addiction.. i think it was depicted in an excellent way... love your videos a lot

I really loved this reaction! You should watch the next special.

Thank you. Please, part 2 of the special!!!

Absolutely love your videos!

I really love your reaction videos. I think "this is going to hurt" would be a great show to watch!! :)

I would love to see you react to other aspects of the show or other episodes and other characters, especially Nate, I'd love to hear your opinions of his character and even in season two when we learn more about him and his father. I think you'd have a lot to say.

I love your channel. You’re one of my favorite people on the internet

I loved this! That therapist was GOLDEN.

This is so interesting. These special episodes seem better than the rest of the show tbh.

Most of the people who I knew who abused drugs were self medicating. There was horrific abuse happening in my family from my father and my mother thought that it was funny. She enjoyed the drama. Me and my siblings were not allowed to acknowledge the abuse. I wasn't allowed to cry while my father was hurting me and I certainly wasn't allowed to get angry in return. I wasn't allowed to talk about it and I was taught that my father wasn't doing anything wrong by abusing us. I was told by my mother that my father got angry and violent, because he had PTSD from the war, which made it ok. My father wasn't just violent. He was sadistic and hateful. I don't know if he sexually assaulted my siblings, but he got ahold of me regularly. He got off by causing me pain and fear. The only way for me to escape, was through pills, alcohol. The only way that I was allowed to express anger, frustration and other intense unpleasant emotions, was through self harm. I am certain that my siblings were self medicating as well. I don't think that I have ever met anyone who I knew was using drugs, for purely recreational purposes, my information is anecdotal. I am always happy to hear from a mental health care professional.

These are just too short! I really enjoy your analysis

The section mentioning NA reminded me of another series that you might find interesting, Midnight Mass. One of the main characters has a discussion about a secular alternative to the 12-step program and which is better. The series would also be a good exploration of the impact religion can have- for better or worse- on one’s psyche. PS: Just out of curiosity, are 12-step programs as common in the UK as they are in the US?

I reall liked this too. The episode and your insight on it. Totally felt the challenging coming from the counselor. It can be hard, but important. I don't have substance abuse issues, but a severe eating disorder and depressions (beyond others). I absolutely agree on the problem (or lack) of simultaneous treatment. I guess this is even more relevant in substance addictions, but I still really felt it. My mother though has PBD and does/did abuse medical drugs and alcohol. Which makes me agree on another point you mentioned, a really tricky one: The question about these struggles being a real disease and the responsability coming (or going) with that fact. SO hard to find the right position somewhere in between both views. (Again, similar in eating disorders, and even the medical workers stand really different positions) About the therapy accompanying the detoxication: there are possibilities in my country (not sure how good they really are. Rather bad for eating disorders when I was there as a teen), but my mum chooses not to engage in them. Thanks again for your very well lighted videos.

i love your channel so much

I don't know if you have already but would you do a video on Fleabag? I've been loving your videos, they've helped me stay calm in a recent period of extreme stress with my complex PTSD, and reassured me that the counsellor I'm seeing is a good one

I really hope you’ll do Jules special episode which is the next one! :)

I’m glad you said that about treating whatever you’re abusing (or not in my case). I have been diagnosed with several things throughout the years and hit a pretty bad spot a few months and ago and made an appointment myself to see a mental health specialist. They drug tested me and the guy who did my drug test asked if I was expecting to test positive for thc and I was confused. I talked to the therapist lady and she told me they wouldn’t be able to help me without treating my “cannabis use disorder” first. I don’t use cannabis. I take delta 8 on occasion because it helps me sleep 🤦🏼‍♀️ and she wanted me to go to a group therapy with people who were alcoholics and doing things like benzos and meth…. So I went somewhere else

Another excellent video! Really interesting points about AA style programs and also the law relating to substance use. For me personally, it's really concerning how tied religion is to addiction programs. I'm religious myself, so it was fine for me, and they say on paper that a "higher power" doesn't have to be God, but I've been on the ground in AA for my own problem drinking, and in practice it's so Christian god heavy it's ridiculous. Especially somewhere like the US where it might be the only affordable option, that super sucks. In terms of the law covered in this one, it's tricky. I have to say I agree in principle with the lack of defense for voluntary intoxication. Someone choosing to get drunk is part of that chain causing just some horrible stuff, and practically, if you could intoxicated yourself before crime and get a defence from it, that would be a serious perverse incentive. As with a lot of law, it's a good underlying principle that simply needs to catch up with modern medicine and acknowledge that a lot more things we consider free choices aren't.

I love this! also off topic can you react to killing eve?

I find euphoria triggering sometimes and often uncomfortable to watch, so watching these videos instead and the reactions is a good sum up and the analysis is also really interesting.

When he said "ask and you shall receive", I thought he was talking about the turtleneck lol.

The actors in this series are SO good.

Is that Ru smacking tf out of Asia behind you!?! xD

I just wish these videos were a little longer!

dude this show is amazing oh my god, im gonna catch up tonight

What you said about the NHS failing at comorbidity is so true. My partner has EUPD and the response is here have antidepressants. But that isn’t going to help with the EUPD and the causes of the depression such as abandonment and impulsive behaviour 😪

I needed behavioral therapy to give up drugs. I really did. All the partial inpatient, gaslighting and lies, and telling one young woman that because she had one beer, she was an alcoholic did nothing for me. Speaking to a mental health specialist and not an addict who took psych classes made the difference. The therapist (in group) asked me: "Give me a number from 1-10 - how much do you want to quit?" And I said "Well there's a difference between "want to" and "think I can." So he said, "Well, tell me both," and for the first time I conceptualized and vocalized that my desire to quit was a 7 or 8, but my belief that I could quit was a 3 or 4. So we worked on that, and one day I just stopped doing drugs. I literally woke up, lifted my head off my pillow, and said "I can't keep doing this." And I haven't. I went to AA for a year so I'd stay away from alcohol because I knew it would be a gateway to relapse - I'd be less inhibited. 10.5 years clean and sober. Worth it! Even if I had to deal with expressing my beliefs (lack of belief in the supernatural) only to have the next several people talking about "hitting their knees and praying to JEEZZUSS," or telling me not to worry, that "You'll find your higher power someday." About a year in, I found an atheist group, which was helpful, but the lack of empathy and understanding from the previous year made it hard to go back. And then I heard that they were gossiping about me in one of the weekly meetings, and I was done. Clearly, I have resentments to work on. And that's why I see a therapist.

Literally just watched this episode 5 min ago!!!

Yeah exactly, the services really need to learn that all sorts of mental illnesses and issues a person has are normally linked and yeah they all need to be treated at the same time.

You should react to some Star Trek episodes. (I've always suspected Diana Troi's credentials aren't up to snuff) The episode _Hero Worship_ from The Next Generation is on the top of my recommendation list.

Euphoria let's gooooooooo

You should react to Monk!

I will say this coming from experience, no you can’t successfully get clean off drugs until you want to, but sometimes you aren’t able to realize that you’re even capable of surviving without drugs until you start that process. At least that was my experience, I started trying to get clean a year and a half ago and I never actually intended on staying clean until the past several weeks when I started getting treatments at a ketamine clinic that I actually realized I could live a happy life without heroin. When I first started this journey, I was deathly sick kicking fentanyl and a close friend told me that I didn’t have to commit to a life without drugs right away, all she wanted from me was that I give it at least one chance and I held on to that chance for a lot longer than I ever expected.

Would love for you to react to episode 5 or episode 6 of season 2 from euphoria

You should react to girl interrupted

could you react to an episode of the good place? maybe season two episode 5 "the trolley problem" or episode 4 "existential crisis"?

can you enable the subtitles to the shows you’re commenting on? sometimes it’s really hard to listen the more hushed lines when not wearing headphones

Would you consider reacting to the Degrassi episode surrounding Cam's suicide (I believe it's called Bittersweet Symphony), I thought it was a really interesting way of telling this particular story.

He’s good looking!.!.

I have ADD and a butt load of mental illnesses. This episode made me appreciate my life again and I want to threat myself. NA and this all or nothing shit is confusing for me too, for me personal I need a resolution.

Season 2 episode 5 is really intense and emotional to watch. Pleeeeeeease react to that episode I'm dying

I don't know if this is true, but I've heard that drug addiction is less due to developing resistance and so needing more to get stimulation, but as a result of it reteaching the brain or some shit.

when someone who has bipolar and stops their meds, cause side effects are horrible for example, there are alot of people who say that if they go into pshychosis it's their own fault, and i just don't see it like that. so sad :(

I am going to request a reaction to Being Human it has some interesting takes on addiction and response to stressful events

I don't think your take is controversial at all, it's actually quite nice to hear a dr speak so candidly on comorbid disorders. I've been sober for two years - and they have been the two most miserable years of my life, because my physical and mental health (which were already bad before) have progressively gotten worse, and I've never gotten proper help for my MH, and tx for my physical health has been awful as well. Obviously the pandemic has a lot to do with it. But to be quite honest, the only reason I'm still sober and alive is because I don't have money for it anymore. I've had times in my life before, when my physical health wasn't as bad, where I was sober and really proud I was sober. But sadly, that isn't reality anymore. It's interesting that you talk often about how tx in the UK isn't the best. As long a I can remember, I've always envied my friends who live in the UK and get tx there, because (at least from a MH perspective) it seems so much better than here. (S2, episode 6 of Euphoria briefly brings up how poor tx is here for addicts.) Also love that you bring up the very important shades of grey between powerlessness and being empowered. I've never felt any help from AA/NA (I know a lot of people who do get help from the program, and I don't ever want them to put them down for it, it just doesn't work for me). I really enjoy SMART recovery - more scientific based, and a lot more open to the grey areas. Anyway, I appreciated this review, and look forward to your react to Jules episode!

💖

And it’s not impossible for non-religious people to find a higher power to have faith it. In the beginning my higher power was just my psychiatrist, he had potential solutions to my problems so I chose to put my faith in him and that he would make decisions with my best interest in mind. And it worked out

iIm phnysically addicted. like opiotes,. took heroin. but like it was never the top. never so bad that i broke some rule. and liek im actually pretty.. like i fear the idea of losing control. I want to numb my feelings bit not so much that i get fun black outs. had that dont want it again

"Ask and you shall receive." So when shall we receive a reaction to an episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? 👀

Please check out the movie Beautiful Boy!

My dad drank wine everyday, at it's peak it was about 2-3 bottles a day, he drank it to cope with his pain, his mental pain of depression and anxiety, and as it turned out, biological ones too, thanks to the alcohol, we missed his brain tumour, and we only found it after it was too late. This is why drugs is harmful, because of why it's 'good' not just why it's bad

i like watching these shows this way because it feels less voyeuristic like the show feels like. I dont like the idea of drug abuse shows and other trauma things for entertainment and putting an “awareness” and “representation” bow on it. It is great you are using your credentials to make it educational. Otherwise it feels severely exploitative sometimes because real life people (unlike the actors and characters) deal with these tough life issues everyday and they dont get a paycheck for it like the directors and cast.

react to euphoria 2 x 05 episode

I m,ean.. holy shit but yes. taking heroin is the reason I havent killed myself. im happy I think I left that place. but i was there for a long time.

Co-morbidities: ADHD!!

Dr. Elliot your too cute,the big pillow lips are gorgeous.

The thing is, if you actually watch the show, she does actually believe in God. You're not going to ask God to not let you die if you don't believe in him, which she did in both the first & second seasons. My guess, is that she's angry at God.

I hate euphoria, but I love your videos! Your analysis is always interesting.