Opiates and love

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Love is the one thing I think all human beings strive for and true love is one of the greatest natural highs if not the greatest.The drug family that most closely resembles the feeling of being loved or atleast being held and cared for is the opiates,especially good heroin.I think that is probably the reason human beings can so easily crave these substances.

SWIM started getting heavy into opiates when a girl he was with for five years and loved with all his heart finally left him and he needed something,anything to fill the void of not having her.

I'm curious if any SWIY's love opiates because it so closely mimics the feeling of being loved?

[Forthesevenlakes]

SWIM doesn't really get that type of feeling from opiates, but he can see how that would work for some people. The feeling of opiates is literally pure pleasure, and manifests itself in some people as a complete joy in doing anything, no matter how mundane the task. If you're in love, a similar feeling could definitely be had. SWIM wouldnt be surprised if there was an increased amount of endorphins/enkephalins being produced in the brain of someone who was feeling the sensation of "love". SWIM has read at least one study where it looked at couples in love, and they had higher dopamine activity in reward centers as compared to control subjects, but SWIM thinks endorphins could factor into this as well.

As a tangent to this topic, SWIM thinks that for some people, opiates can make the feeling of love for another person easier to express. SWIM is pretty good at expressing his feelings for his girl and his friends while sober, but when he's using opiates, he's noticed that he will tend to praise them in very novel, concrete, and poetic terms. His girl has noticed this too, and in the past, SWIM has made some pretty silly phone calls while under the influence, where he ends up confessing his love to just about every female friend in his phone book. The same thing happens to SWIM with ecstasy, so it may not be opiate-specific, it may be more how the person interacts socially to begin with.

But SWIM definitely thinks that SWIY's theory holds some weight.

[Dr.Jones]

Many things could be the cause. Just remeber opiates kill pain. Even emotional pain. Some people eat alot when they go through a bad break up. Its just a way of trying to 'feel good'

I don't think opiates feel similiar to love. I think MDMA (empathogens) and other seratonin active drugs are closers. Opiates are more of "I stayed home from school today when I was 9years old and my mom took care of me and fed me ice cream while I cuddled under a blanket".
Or the feeling you get on the weekend ~9:00am to 12:00 when you sleep in and stay warm under your covers and just fallin and out of sleep with nothing to do. As a matter of fact, it feels EXACTLY like that

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Perhaps SWIM simply tried to see their effects in a more poetic light or simply wanted them to have that feel.What am I trying to say here?SWIM was using mind over matter in a sense?SWIM always tried to look at life in a very romanticized and poetic way,I think thats part of what got him into trouble with opiates.Looking at the way old poets looked at them and not looking at cold,hard facts of addiction and self harm.

[Donmeka]

SWIM has never dipped into H before but he believes with some oxy or hydro every ocne and a while is a life brightening experience

[Alicia]

There is nothing romantic about being addicted to opiates.

Opium was originally used by poets and writers back in the dim dark dark days however they were not all addicted to it.
It is possible to use opiates with out falling into there addictive pattern although not easy depending also on the psychological state of the user.

Swia understands where your coming from , however with her its usually opium that creates that desired "love" feeling she cannot compare to being loved as in partner love, although when she is rising so to speak on opiates that "love feeling" is there. Heroin for swia is for her to forget her issues or when she likes to feel detached or to sink away..

[Forthesevenlakes]

Originally Posted by Alicia

Opium was originally used by poets and writers back in the dim dark dark days however they were not all addicted to it.

But most of the famous ones were addicted to it, however in many cases it was legal at the time and didn't always have the social stigma attached to addiction that occurs now. Baudelaire, de Quincey, and Coleridge were all addicted at one point or another, though.

But SWIM would agree theres nothing romantic about addiction. He has noticed that some people paint a romantic picture of addiction, as if its something to aspire to, or emulate in terms of appearance...these are also the same people who have never been addicted to anything, let alone opiates. Anyone who has been addicted to opiates knows that there's nothing fashionable or idealized about it, its completely awful to have that kind of love/hate relationship with a substance.

At the same time, there is a remarkable capacity to view the use itself (but not the addiction) in a romanticized, poetic way, at least for some people. As the OP says, this usually goes along with refusing to think about the ugly truth that these drugs are addictive.

[Klaus]

ftsl >But most of the famous ones were addicted to it,

Yes and without those chemicals most of the great poetry/music would not exsist.

[BANGINCOLOR]

Originally Posted by Orchid_Suspiria

Love is the one thing I think all human beings strive for and true love is one of the greatest natural highs if not the greatest.The drug family that most closely resembles the feeling of being loved or atleast being held and cared for is the opiates,especially good heroin.I think that is probably the reason human beings can so easily crave these substances.

SWIM started getting heavy into opiates when a girl he was with for five years and loved with all his heart finally left him and he needed something,anything to fill the void of not having her.

I'm curious if any SWIY's love opiates because it so closely mimics the feeling of being loved?

Unfortunately, just as in your relationship, too much of a good thing doesn't feel so good anymore. Like taking opiates every day, just doesn't feel the same any more. Same reason you guys broke up, the fire was gone (at least for her).

Now, she'll meet a new guy and fall in love all over again. Then she'll get tired of him, break up with him and find a new guy/drug. That's basically what it is. She's addicted to the love "high" people feel when they first fall in love.

[Dissociative]

Swim never felt the feeling of being loved without actually being loved. His girlfriend who he loves dearly anyway, has always been with him when hes done them. But, he does however, feel a very strong love for her, that is overly enhanced on them. He often sends her long love messages when he is on them. Then again, he becomes more sociable with opiates in general.

[Spare Chaynge]

To the original post swim started taking heroin,fentanyl,oxycodone,hydromorphone when ever he could get them for a girl that left him. whats funny is swim got back together with girl for 4 years after that and then eventually lost her because of heroin. Swim ran off to find a hit of heroin or anything at a music festivle in machester tn. about 100,000 people

[Dr.Jones]

I know you don't litterally mean it feels like love.

It feels like, I love this so much I want to feel like this for the rest of my life .

[Orchid_Suspiria]

SWIM has always been a very emotionally frail,easily hurt,and romantically thinking person.Perhaps that is one of the reasons SWIM fell victim to opiates so easily.Any thoughts?

[Spare Chaynge]

I agree completely, i mean swim loved the high off opiates and that high is basically a numbing of the emotions. Now that i have brought up the subject again i clearly remember swim started taking opiates because swim had to go through a class with her. Large dosages of oxycontin and hydrocodone at all waking hours ,was swims reaction. because of this swim really does not remember shit swim deams it effective. This becomes the easy way out and pretty soon swim is snorting h and fentanyl saying fuck those ppl i have my precious. after all who needs sex when swim is doing heroin 4 times a day.

sad but true from the eyes of and x addict

[ironmics]

I understand what the poster is getting at, but I believe the opposite and that stimulants make one feel that same way. Your breathing never slows down when you're being held by someone you love. At the same time though love is very relaxing....so maybe xanax haha.

[Bajeda]

Originally Posted by Forthesevenlakes

But SWIM would agree theres nothing romantic about addiction. He has noticed that some people paint a romantic picture of addiction, as if its something to aspire to, or emulate in terms of appearance...these are also the same people who have never been addicted to anything, let alone opiates. Anyone who has been addicted to opiates knows that there's nothing fashionable or idealized about it, its completely awful to have that kind of love/hate relationship with a substance.

Well, addiction certainly seems like something romantics - in the truest sense of the word - would romanticize. There is something about struggle and cyclical patterns in general that appealed to the artists and historians of romantic thought.

You can certainly draw great insight from such psychologically impacting experiences as addiction, relapse, and withdrawal. Still, I think its better to simply appreciate products of the synergy between creative energy and experiences with addiction, and leave the romantic perception of addiction to abstract contemplation rather than experience its harsh reality.

I feel the same way about war, though you generally don't find people in the midst of carnage romanticizing their plight, whereas people with drug problems have strange rationalizing views during their struggle that differ greatly from what they feel after recovery.



As for drugs and the feelings they can invoke in people, I'd say MDMA has the greatest capacity to enkindle true feelings of love in a person.

For swim, opiates induce effects he would relate to an aura of content and pleasure, rather than of love. Context of use and one's history of experience with a substance could greatly alter the way one feels about a substance and bring particular connotations to the effects though I suppose.