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According to the 2023 United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 48.5 million (or about 17% of) Americans aged 12 and older battled a substance use disorder in the past year. 10% had an alcohol use disorder, 10% had a drug use disorder, and 3% struggled with both.
Addiction impacts all aspects of life, including physical health, mental health, personal relationships, and career. It wrecks lives not only of those who succumb to it, but also the people around them.
But it’s possible to ruin everything even without taking a sip or a hit. Reddit user Think_County_5850 asked the online community to share stories of people making life-changing mistakes while sober. Here are the most memorable ones we found among the thousands of replies.
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#1
I had more credit card debt than I could reasonably pay back. One of the credit card companies sued me.
I was able to file a consumer proposal, which caused the lawsuit to be withdrawn. For five years, I paid back an agreed amount every month. I successfully completed the consumer proposal and all debts were discharged.
The only credit card I have has a $50 credit limit, I use it to pay for parking on machines that don't accept debit, etc. I can't dig myself into another hole with such a small limit.
I don't have any overdrafts on my bank accounts because I don't want to be tempted to use them. I am determined to do better.
Cindy Brick 1 month ago
Good for you!!!! Congratulations on facing your bad mistakes -- and successfully dealing with them.
RELATED:
#2
I worked at a private art college as a fabrication director in the Sculpture Department. My co-director, 55ish man, had it made. Married to a an architect, had a 10 year old son. They had two houses…an incredible brownstone in Chicago and a custom built home on the east coast of Lake Michigan. He “fell in love” with a 23 year old grad student who had a crush basically and played with his wiener a few times. He ended up divorcing his wife to be with her. The wife was not sympathetic. She left, took the son with her, and wanted nothing to do with him. He was NOT the breadwinner in the home. After all of that (of course) grad student finished up school and moved on with her life, without him naturally. Totally blew up an enviable life for a year of lust with a student. Pretty sad.
#3
I've seen plenty women ruin their life over some guy they love. Or some people that have children too early and get stuck in poverty.
As sad as these stories can be, people are often more likely to regret the things they didn't do than the things they have done.
According to a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults split evenly by generation, between not speaking up (40%), not visiting family or friends enough (36%), and not pursuing their dreams (35%), those missed opportunities add up.
Throughout their life, Americans average three missed chances to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip, four lost opportunities to ask their crush out and six instances of not having the perfect comeback in an important argument.
#4
Apprentice baker at the restaurant I worked at managed to get a copy of the office key. Went in one day, took a bunch of paychecks out, laid them out on her prep table, and proceeded to mobile deposit about a dozen checks in her bank account. All on camera.
To this day I have no idea what she was thinking doing that, how she thought she wouldn't get caught. Pretty open and shut case. Got nailed with felony embezzlement and a litany of other charges. She was 19 and in college.
Ended up getting kicked out of college and went to prison for a bit. No idea what happened to her after that (it was a while ago, I assume she's out now) but darn was that stupid. Torched her entire life and career in a few minutes.
Excited Panda 1 month ago
You hear it, but it bears repeating: Most criminals are stupid. Maybe they watch Ocean's 11 and figure "Hey, I could do that!" But no, SO many things have to line up just right. And you're not the first person to think of doing that; someone is probably watching for it. All it takes is one s***w up; and it could happen years later!
#5
My mother is currently dying of cancer that was treatable for years. Why? Because she believed rightwing conspiracy bs that told her doctors were evil and she could cure it herself with veggie shakes and Jesus.
Laserleader 1 month ago
My mother is the same...and when she dies of a treatable ailment I will accept she did it to herself. She still believes that EMP from wires in her walls is why she feels achy, run down, has hair loss and can't do very much rather than the fact she is 75 and obese. So, she sleeps with a knit hat lined with aluminum foil.
#6
When I was in uni, I worked at a largish grocery store as a cashier and then a night packer.
The front-of-store day supervisor, who'd worked there for a decade, got caught stealing over $100k from the various cash registers. All the cashiers used to have to count their float to make sure it balanced at the end of their shift, and then she'd recount it to make sure they were correct. What she used to do was palm small bills so the tills were slightly out, but it didn't get noticed.
If the cashier particularly annoyed her, she'd take larger notes until the cashier got fired. They were all teenagers so it just got put down to them making mistakes when giving change.
The reason she got caught was she got into a long running fight with the front-of-store night supervisor and tried to pinch part of their float to get her accused of stealing and fired. The problem was the night supervisor suspected this was happening and kept meticulous records and clued in the store owner who later caught the day supervisor with cash in her locker.
To make things worse, it turned out that the store manager not only knew about all this, but was having an affair with the day supervisor.
They both got fired and divorced, the day supervisor got charged and I think she got some jail time.
Ange Marsden 1 month ago (edited)
This exact same thing g happened to me in my first job. I got two warnings for my till balance being out and quit before it happened again and I got fired. Turns out the supervisor who gave me the warnings was the one stealing money out of our tills- over $110,000 and God knows how many people fired
The top actions Americans regret doing include spending money or purchasing something (49%), fighting with friends or family (43%), and making an unnecessary comment (36%).
Over the years, Americans also regret an average of five angry text messages and two break-ups.
In fact, nearly one-third (32%) of baby boomers have a regret that spans three decades and still crosses their minds an average of three times per month
Only 11% don’t have regrets. So maybe it’s not about messing up, but how you mop it up that matters.
#7
Had a family member spend her and her husband's entire savings and retirement on cancer treatment...she didn't put it through insurance because she didn't want her husband to find out that she had cancer and worry about her. He ended up developing his own health issues and not being able to work anymore, so they're now financially completely dependent upon their adult children.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 month ago
Is this the wonderful American healthcare system we keep hearing about? The one the Reform party want to adopt in the UK?
#8
My Dad. Trusted someone who was brilliant and corrupt to the core. He but up the money to start a business and lost everything-including the house because he wouldn’t declare bankruptcy bc he thought it was dishonorable. He started from scratch at 53 and rebuilt his career but never attained the same level of material success. He was a positive force for good no matter his circumstances and I miss him everyday.
Wang Zhuang 1 month ago
"He started from scratch at 53 and rebuilt his career but never attained the same level of material success."... that's okay. To rebuild your life at that age and still achieve some success is a win
#9
Me- having anorexia for 12 years from 16 to 26 years old. My early 20s were hospital visits for passing out and psychotic episodes. Parents and friends didn’t know what to do with me anymore because at 85 pounds, I didn’t want to be seen outside.
Ruined my social life, diminished any opportunities I had, completely broke my sense of self and it felt like waking up from a coma ever since I started recovery. Idk what it didn’t take away from me, it took everything away except my life but sometimes that feels more pathetic than claiming I survived. 4 years into recovery while my mind is clearer and better than it’s ever been, wasting my youth to an illness is something I’m still mourning for and experiencing the consequences of to this day.
Nota Robot 1 month ago
I'm feeling pretty snarky today, but in this case I can only say I'm glad for OP that they are on the road of recovery. They still have a huge opportunity for nice experiences ahead of them, in spite of the time they lost.
#10
My dad refused to get a colonoscopy and is now dying of colon cancer. Colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers via colonoscopy.
Bob Jones 1 month ago
Here in Australia we get free bowel cancer screening every 2 years as many people die of it and usually by the time you get symptoms it is too late. Yet many people refuse to do it because they find it too gross to scrape a tiny piece of p*o with the stick they provide and put it in the bottle they provide
#11
Friend of mine stole and sold a Japanese Katana his father brought home from WW2 to buy an Atari 2600. his father found out and forced him to get it back. The person would not give it back because the kid refused to give the money back so his father filed a police report on his son. Left him with a record at 18 and messed with his attempts to join the military.
Laserleader 1 month ago (edited)
I agree with the Dad. Not a person who should be in the military. He would gladly steal while on duty.
#12
I had a lawyer blatantly slander me during a civil case that didn’t really involve me (my husbands ex sued him, she has mental health issues. Long story.) He had never met me or even seen me in person. The judge allowed it but the State Attorney Generals office caught wind of it and now pretty much everything he and that judge have been involved in is being brought into question.
#13
Full ride scholarship to college. Tanked their GPA their first year due to just not trying at all in class. Lost the scholarship. Dropped out to start working manual labor and got his girlfriend of a couple months pregnant.
#14
I worked for a guy who was very entrepenureal but very stubborn. At one point he realized he had about 2 million is assets if he factored in his house and all, and I said hey, you should retire, you're already 55 so enjoy it. Nope. Dude sunk all of his money into a new venture instead.
It was an arcade. The city he built it in didn't allow arcades. He dug in his heels and decided to fight "the man."
Lost the building, his investment, his house to creditors, and last I heard had to move in with his girlfriend and her mom. Hope he bounced back, buuut I doubt it.
#15
I know someone who got in very deep with an MLM. She completely bought into the false positivity, the fake it til you make it and portrayed a completely false account of what was going on. She earned trips, claimed to be making thousands every month, living the dream, going to retire her husband someday soon. Eventually it all unraveled, she was deeply in debt that she had been keeping from her husband. She had been ordering tons and tons of product to keep her status and rank and had rented a storage unit to keep the product in. She had also gotten into her children’s savings accounts. Ended up divorced, destitute, and somehow her husband ended up with all her product in the divorce. I have no idea what he did with it.
#16
My father hurt his family including me, he terrorized us because of his own unprocessed trauma. Now he’s in his 80s and is going to die estranged and alone.
Luke Branwen 1 month ago
Reminds me of my grandfather who I've never met and who divorced my granny before I was born. He was a cheating tyrant and my granny always considered Friday 13th a lucky day because it was the date their divorce was finished. And I'll never forget that cold apathy in my mom's face (and she's a VERY emotional person) after she read the letter informing her that he died.
#17
A guy I know was in charge of a city department. He spent his days gambling his daughters college money away. It all came out when people started complaining that the city truck that he was driving was parked at the VFW all day long. He got fired from his easy job and had to tell his wife what he had done. She divorced him. I never heard if his daughter ever forgave him.
#18
Had three buddies fresh out of high school decide to build home made bombs and blow up ports-potties. All of them were very smart and college bound. ATF found them after the third or fourth explosion. One buddy turned on the other two and got to lead a good life. The other two went to prison for a couple years. Absolute waste of what they could have done.
#19
This one’s a doozy, as it’s not just one life ruined, but three with collateral damage.
I worked with a guy in retail who used to be a med tech taking care of patients in long-term comas. He wound up quitting that job because of an incident that messed him up so bad mentally that he couldn’t return to work. He was assigned to a 21 year old patient with massive head trauma who wasn’t expected to wake up anytime soon, if ever. What had happened was that the guy was chatting with a girl he met online who told him she was twenty. The first time they met in person he immediately realized that she was much younger, and immediately broken things off when she confessed to really being sixteen. Except Miss Sixteen took rejection… badly, and paid a friend of hers a hundred bucks to beat Mr. Twenty One senseless with a baseball bat. They got caught very quickly, and both were handed fairly hefty sentences. ( This was before the recent trend of ultra-leniency for minors.)
Three young lives, utterly destroyed in a matter of minutes, because one guy did the right thing.
Beak Hookage 1 month ago
Beaten to probable death for doing the right thing. What a rotten world.
#20
My dad told me one of his coworkers when I was a kid. In the 70s, she won the largest payout from a slot machine in Vegas history at the time. She was in the papers, grinning from ear to ear, holding a giant symbolic check. However, my dad told me that, in order to win this record-breaking amount, she had gambled away her life savings, house, car, relationship with her husband and kids (divorce and kids wouldn’t speak to her), and more than the amount she eventually won. Maybe that’s why to this day, I don’t like to gamble.
Ryan-James O'Driscoll 1 month ago
I gamble a little, but it's a game to be made only with money you are prepared to lose. If I buy a lottery ticket, I am spending that money not investing it. If something comes back, bonus.
#21
This took place in NoVA about 30 years ago. My roommate drove me to the auto parts store early one morning. On the way back, we were waiting at a stop light as the first ones in the left lane of a four lane road. Dude comes tearing up to our left followed shortly by a cop with lights on and siren blaring. They both turn left at the light into a neighborhood. A few seconds later, the guy comes back into the intersection and does a short spin out.
Cop pulls up, pulls out his gun and orders the guy out of the car. Guy gets out and puts his hands on the roof of the car. As the cop starts to put the cuffs on the guy, the guy turns around and starts hitting the cop. The cop pulls out his stick and hits the guy a couple of times. The guy gets the stick away from the cop and starts hitting the cop. Finally the cop pulls out his gun and shoots the guy twice. The guy died on the way to the hospital.
I read the newspaper the next day. Turns out the guy had a warrant for unpaid child support. He had been sitting in his car in a parking lot when someone reported a suspicious person. When the cop pulled up to investigate, the guy took off.
Dead in a matter of minutes over unpaid child support.
SheamusFanFrom1987 1 month ago
Sorry, but I'm more inclined to believe that it was his dumb decision to start assaulting a cop which led to his untimely demise rather than the unpaid child support.
#22
My brother. He was adopted from foster care as a baby and the beloved only boy in our family. We lived in a small town where he was treated like a little king. I'm not exaggerating, all the little old ladies on our street would keep his favorite snacks on hand for when he rode up on his bike to say hello. He was so empathetic and sweet as a kid but the moment he hit puberty, he changed.
Between the ages of 12-22 he, in chronological order:
-shoved our baby sister into a fire ant mound
-started using the N word (we are a white Hispanic household)
-stole lunch money and field trip fees from little sister, resulting in her not eating lunch regularly and missing field trips (she had to sit alone in the library while the rest of her class went to a theme park once).
-got accepted into a prestigious boarding school for gifted kids only to get kicked out for smoking and stealing several of the parents credit cards, racking up bill ordering food, and then blaming the one black student in his dorm.
-dropped out of school to become a professional video game player (that didn't last long).
-got a girl pregnant and once he realized the family would only provide childcare if he treated us with basic human decency, he stopped trying to have any relationship with husband kid.
-called my Asian American husband slurs and said he wasn't a real man bc he doesn't work with his hands (my husband is a vet but whatever).
He's ruined his own life. He's now a lonely, radicalized young man who isn't invited to the family Thanksgiving a half hour away from his apartment.
#23
My friend got pregnant at 13. She kept the baby, but lost most of her friends, couldn’t do after school activities or hang out on weekends. Teenager, top of her school, now a mom who is lucky to get a minimum wage job.
Beak Hookage 1 month ago
Guess why certain people want this sort of thing to happen as often as possible, at least to people who aren't rich like they are.
#24
Local guy in my town had a great life. Multiple kids, lovely wife, he was an ex Olympian who had transitioned into a new career after he retired from sports. I knew his kids. In the aftermath of his Olympic career, he had started an investment firm, mutual funds I believe. He got a decent number of initial investors, including a very close childhood friend of his, and that friend’s aging parents. Something went wrong, and he lost a bunch of money, and instead of coming clean, started essentially running a Ponzi scheme. Years went by, possibly decades, and then I guess it all caught up to him. He wrote confession letters, sent them out to all his victims, and then hopped on his bike and disappeared into the woods. At first he was just missing, and everyone was confused and concerned, but then the confessions started to come to light, and people realized he had done a runner. It was a massive scandal in such a small town.
Then 2 years later, he showed up again and turned himself in, served his time, and is back out now living a relatively normal life. It was a major bit of news at the time because he had essentially stolen/lost millions, and that money included the entire retirement fund of his former childhood friend AND friend’s elderly retired parents. That guy was furious.
Bartlet for world domination 1 month ago
He should at least have Ponzi'd his friend's parents out.
#25
One I heard of second hand in the 80's.
An evening manager at a service business that dealt with the public. They frequently worked late to make sure the cash journal for the day balanced. Never took vacations.
Eventually took a week off, and a customer came in with a question about their invoice.
The cash invoice they had and the one on file were off by $20.
The manager had been adjusting and reprinting invoices for cAh transactions and keeping the difference.
The money was all spent as soon as they had it. No assets, no savings and no job.
No charges were laid because the owners decided that this person in their 60s had done enough damage to their own life already.
Hippopotamuses 1 month ago (edited)
This seems surprisingly common. Seriously. If you're going to embezzle, don't take time off, people!
#26
Trusted the wrong person no matter how much evidence we presented as to why he couldn’t be trusted.
Lost her money, her home, her relationship with her children, her relationships with family and lost her hold on reality. He became her world as he stripped her of everything.
Edit: She got to keep her job because one of them had to work to fund the lifestyle of his choice.
#27
Someone I know lost everything he had financially and went into debt trying to make money in crypto. He was obsessed, really obsessed. Like there were times when I was around him and he would barely acknowledge my existence because he was looking at the market.
Luke Branwen 1 month ago
I find it hard to feel bad for crypto-bros and tech-bros in general when their "100% next big thing" blows up. Remember NFTs? How they smugly brandished their ape pics that cost like a new car, absolutely sure it'll make them filthy rich?
#28
A lot of people do this by getting pregnant with someone or getting the wrong person pregnant.
#29
A dude in my neighborhood was a big name in my town. He was on our HOA board, was a coach of his kids soccer team and was active in the PTA.
When COVID happened and everything was on lockdown the guy got exposed.
Turned out he had another whole family in another state.
I have no idea how the guy found the time to juggle all of that.
#30
Me! I did the “smart kid”/ADHD burnout challenge run and basically sought to see how far I could get without being properly medicated and exercised. The answer is 22 years between a misdiagnosis of anxiety/depression and an actual breakdown. :).
Laserleader 1 month ago
After 25 years I'm almost willing to go get rediagnosed for ADHD, and possibly Autism, but I still dont know if medication will help.
#31
Yup, guy with his dream job, but refused to get a COVID vaccine. Lost his job, doing something well beneath his skills, mad and drinking.
SheamusFanFrom1987 1 month ago
Pretty sure these anti-vaxxer suffer from a disease I like to call Moron-orrhea. Side effects being making bad decisions leading to a not-so-great place in life... -_-"
#32
Myself. Self sabotage and imposter syndrome.
Hippopotamuses 1 month ago
You need counselling to work through these issues. Otherwise you'll be burdened, to some degree or another, with them for the rest of your life.
#33
College roommate. Mom was in the military so he pretty much had it made, free rides to anywhere in the world, GI bill covered his tuition. He worked at blockbuster for spare cash. Got fired for stealing dvds. Then stopped attending classes so got kicked out of school. Not sure what he's doing now.
Beak Hookage 1 month ago
Some people just don't realise or appreciate how good they have it, sigh.
#34
Cousin got pregnant right before her and her ex broke up. She kept the baby despite him not wanting anything to do with her or the baby, and her being broke. She doesn't have parental support, either.
She is a smart person, and I believe she would have found her way into a stable career and marriage if she didn't get pregnant unexpectedly. Now, she's a single Mom on welfare with a special needs kid living in a tiny town in Northern Arizona.
#37
I married the wrong person.
If you have to ask, the answer is no. The breakup will be less painful than the marriage.
#38
Had a client who lost nearly half his 401K in housing crash of 08. Tired of seeing it go downwards he pulled all $250,000 of it out and put it in his checking account, really right when the market was at the bottom. Come tax time he paid about half of it in taxes(including a 10% penalty for early distribution). Today he lives on Social security alone. Had he just left it he'd probably have $1.5 million and would have a much more comfortable retirement.
Dog Mom to Zoe 1 month ago
The ONLY reason I was able to purchase my home was due to the crash of 2008. However, I had a heck of a time trying to find a place to live. I worked for a very large Bank and I COULD NOT purchase a home if the home was in foreclosure by that bank. After about 6-7 months, I was able to put money down on a condo. The house was not in foreclosure so I jumped on it. 2009 I moved and I hope to have it paid off by next year due to the very low purchase price. I do feel for folks who lost their homes during that time
#39
I've been watching my ex wife do it for years. She is consumed by bitterness and resentment, primarily because we had two disabled children. She never goes to the doctor and has given up on taking care of herself. She looks like she will have a massive coronary any day. Former model and only 54 years old.
#40
Marrying a terrible woman who is out to rob him in a divorce. So ugly I can’t tell you. My friend is in such desperate trouble.
What do you think ?
Paul C. 1 month ago (edited)
Sad story, my best mate, at a very young age decided to support Manchester United. I know, I know, it's a terrible mistake but other than that he is a normal functioning human being.😛🤪😛
Beak Hookage 1 month ago (edited)
My jerk neighbour suddenly disappeared and was later spotted living in low-income government housing while his wife stayed in the house. Learned from her that she'd caught him red-handed gambling their money away at the casino and sending more money to some girl he was seeing back in their birth country. So that was the end of him. Unfortunately life has now provided me with two new neighbours who are ten times worse than he ever was. I keep hoping they'll just go ahead and mvrder each other so I don't have to hear any more of their 10,000 decibel fighting at 3am when I have work the next day. 🙄
Chich the witch 1 month ago
Used to work with a guy. Nice fellow, did good work, was married and was making his way up through the ranks. Then they found CP on his laptop.
Earonn - 1 month ago
Glad they found it and he got exposed for what he really is.
Load More Replies... Paul C. 1 month ago (edited)
Sad story, my best mate, at a very young age decided to support Manchester United. I know, I know, it's a terrible mistake but other than that he is a normal functioning human being.😛🤪😛
Beak Hookage 1 month ago (edited)
My jerk neighbour suddenly disappeared and was later spotted living in low-income government housing while his wife stayed in the house. Learned from her that she'd caught him red-handed gambling their money away at the casino and sending more money to some girl he was seeing back in their birth country. So that was the end of him. Unfortunately life has now provided me with two new neighbours who are ten times worse than he ever was. I keep hoping they'll just go ahead and mvrder each other so I don't have to hear any more of their 10,000 decibel fighting at 3am when I have work the next day. 🙄
Chich the witch 1 month ago
Used to work with a guy. Nice fellow, did good work, was married and was making his way up through the ranks. Then they found CP on his laptop.
Earonn - 1 month ago
Glad they found it and he got exposed for what he really is.
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