I’m suffering from anxiety after coming off of drugs. Is it a bad thing to skip some things, like the youth group meetings?
Question:
After prolonged drug use, I have in some ways developed social anxieties, to say the least. I have been sober for almost four months sounds like nothing, but I'm only 18 and I was not sober pretty much every day of high school). The area I live in has harmful influences. I was delivered from my addictions pretty much immediately, but I seem sort of scarred from my past. I have been going to church and at first, I didn't care about anything because I just knew I needed to go, but after attending for these past months I feel I have been forcing myself. I like church on Sundays and Wednesdays, but I go to a youth group on Thursday. The youth group is where I have trouble going. It almost seems detrimental (not the teachings) because I have such bad social anxiety and you're just kind of thrown in with a bunch of younger interactive groups of really kind Christians. Would it be wrong to stop going?
Also, one more question are you familiar with psilocybin at all?
Answer:
Psilocybin is the psychedelic compound in a number of mushrooms. Its effects are similar to LSD. The user has a hard time distinguishing between reality and fantasy and it will produce panic attacks. "Users with a history of mental illness should not take hallucinogens, including psilocybin, because they can trigger or aggravate conditions like schizophrenia, mania, or depression" (Brown University Health Center).
I don't know if this was the only drug you were into or not. Some drugs are easy to overcome, others have very long-lasting effects. So depending on what you've been on, four months may not be long on the road to recovery. Also, remember that you took drugs during your developmental years, so things that most teenagers learn to manage at a much younger age, you are just now facing because you were avoiding things while high.
Dropping out of highly stressful events, like the youth group, isn't a bad idea. But I am concerned that you'll spiral and isolate yourself too completely. Then you'll be vulnerable to attacks of depression. You need friends among Christians who will watch out for you and keep you from going into your shell.
