[The Purple Theory]

Is it common that Nines aren't so into drugs or substances that make them lose control?

I'm not sure if it's a Nine characteristic or it's just a personal preference of mine. I'm not into drugs or alcohol. I drink but it's very very infrequent. I don't have anything against people who are into them. It's just that I don't like the feeling of losing control.

I stick to caffeine and nicotine since they don't really alter my judgment.

I just want to know if it's related to being a Nine. It'll be awesome if you'd discuss the reason behind your answer.

 

[alionsroar]

I don't take any thing. I might drink a cup of coffee once every one or two years. And a sip of alcohol if people around me are having it...
hmm. I've never been drunk before. Or had more than one cup of coffee a day. I don't really hang out with people who are drinking alcohol or smoking since I feel left out or that I'm creating conflict?

I think one reason is that I paid too much attention in health class in primary school so the 'don't take alcohol or smoke and caffeine is a drug' message got into my brain. I'm not really sure how to unite those opposing ideas that on one hand we are told not to do alcohol/smoke/caffeine and the other hand we are.
My parents have always been anti-smoking/drinking to excess.

I think I might associate those things with bad things. Alcohol=violence, pissing and vomitting.

It might also be true that I don't like the idea of losing control... I can't stand the idea of taking illicit drugs and having my mind altered.

 

[Sonny]

I drink, that doesn't mean that I lose control.

I've been quite drunk on many, many glorious occasions in life but only ever lost control twice. I am a control freak. I am the "responsible one". I am the one who pulls back in a second after something serious happens that needs sobriety. I am a wing 8. xD

I don't do drugs, for a few reasons, one is with alcohol I can see the limit coming, I don't drink spirits just beer and wine so it doesn't hit too quickly too fast and there's always time to slow down consumption or stop all together, spirits and especially illicit drugs have a quicker more unpredictable hit, one moment you can be fine, the next you're compromised. Do not want.

 

[Kwaran]

I drink and smoke weed because I enjoy it, not to lose control. I like how it loosens me up, but I hate it when I lose control (loss of coordination, memory loss, doing/saying things I normally wouldn't).
As long as I stick to beer I know my limits, but when liquor is involved I should be more careful. Every bad/stupid drunk thing that has happened to me involved liquor. But nothing too serious so I can laugh about it now. :happy:
I must say I quite like being drunk. :tongue:

With weed I don't feel like I lose control, I'm only slower and hungrier. :tongue:
Although on a few occasions after i smoked certain weed strains I felt a paranoid, which was certainly not enjoyable. I avoid those weed strains now.

 

[swifty3]

As a 9, I've always suppressed my emotions, especially anger. In the past I have struggled with alcohol and food addictions in an effort to pacify myself.

I had an interesting experience a few years ago. I was at a retreat and a lot of subconscious anger towards my parents came up to the surface. One night I got in the car and screamed for about an hour in order to express all the anger. What happened next surprised me. The next day I no longer craved any unhealthy foods. I stuck mostly to fruit and salads. I dieted a lot up til then but I was never successful. But this time I lost 40 pounds in 3 months and it was completely effortless.

 

[spikyface]

Lost control is the right word looking at it from the point of view of someone who's never experienced the effects drugs can have on the brain/body. This doesn't necessary mean illegal drugs because sleeping pills and "happy pills" (prescription mood altering substances) can be just as dangerous/addictive

Typically people who always need to be in control can have bad experiences when taking any drug that allows them to slip out of their normal egoic point of view. For someone who associates their identity completely with their ego/control, losing touch with it can feel like dying/the world is falling away beneath their feet

I would think that any type with an unhealthy trait towards numbing would have a predisposition towards substance use but realistically, it's probably far more basic than that; if you were able to push a button and it made it feel good for a few hours, all your worries just washed away, would you press it?
Pretty much anyone would in the right situation and if the consequences were negligible/non-existent

 

[Tyche]

I do not like to lose control and only have a few times. Most drugs don't affect me in such a way that I feel out of control. I try not to do too many drugs, but I've experimented a little. Currently, I smoke weed to help me sleep and to numb out a little after a long day. Sometimes I drink, but I don't let myself get really drunk. Sometimes I smoke cigarettes to relax as well. But I'm careful of addiction and dependency because I know I could easily rely too much on drugs to make me feel better.

 

[nottie]

Although I drink frequently, I never get past a buzz. I've always retained self control, and never made any decisions that I'd attribute to drinking. (Questionable choices, sure, but because of my own faulty reasoning, rather than alcohol's influence.) It's fun to be a little tipsy, but control is the most important thing.

The choices I make are all I have, and they're who I am. I care deeply about how I present myself and keeping composure. I would never want that to be overpowered by anything. Even my freakouts have been contained to the right times, in secluded areas.

I also have caffeine, but infrequently and only when I need to wake up.

if you were able to push a button and it made it feel good for a few hours, all your worries just washed away, would you press it?

I would not, because it wouldn't be real. I figure my worries exist for a reason, and I spend enough time avoiding them, anyway.

 

[GoodOldDreamer]

I have never and will never use intoxicants, whether that's alcohol, drugs, whatever. It's not because I'm a 9. It's because I'm not a moron. I grew up around drunks and drug addicts. Ain't been one good thing from any of it that makes it worth it in comparison to all the death and destruction it brings. >_>

 

[Alaya]

Nope, I don't take any substances. I have in the past, but not necessarily to lose control but more for experimentation.

 

[Pillow]

I take/have taken an assortment of drugs but I hate loosing control. If I'm taking something I haven't tried before I tend to stick to very small doses and work my way up so that I don't surpass my limit. The only drug I have lost control on is alcohol, and that was mostly because it was the first real drug I tried (ie not caffeine) and I was finding my limits.

I try to avoid physically addictive drugs, being addicted to nicotine for a while was bad enough. I hate the feeling of needing some non-essential thing to live (I don't even like that I have to eat food 3 times a day!).

 

[spikyface]

The choices I make are all I have, and they're who I am. I care deeply about how I present myself and keeping composure. I would never want that to be overpowered by anything. Even my freakouts have been contained to the right times, in secluded areas.

I would not, because it wouldn't be real. I figure my worries exist for a reason, and I spend enough time avoiding them, anyway.

I'm the opposite, I couldn't less what most people think of me, their opinion of me is worthless. There is a difference for people who I work with or whose opinion of me can have a real measurable impact on my life, but for everyone else, who cares what they think. They're free to think whatever they want of me and I'm free to ignore it

I don't lose control when drinking, I loosen up, dance in a way that I can't when sober and look at the world/life differently for a while, usually long enough to left most of the day's stresses and worries drift away. The real problems will still be there in the morning and I'll deal with them, but for an evening, I want to have some fun

 

[nottie]

I'm the opposite, I couldn't less what most people think of me, their opinion of me is worthless. There is a difference for people who I work with or whose opinion of me can have a real measurable impact on my life, but for everyone else, who cares what they think. They're free to think whatever they want of me and I'm free to ignore it

I don't lose control when drinking, I loosen up, dance in a way that I can't when sober and look at the world/life differently for a while, usually long enough to left most of the day's stresses and worries drift away. The real problems will still be there in the morning and I'll deal with them, but for an evening, I want to have some fun

I respect the first part of what you said, and I wish I functioned that way.

That's exactly how drinking is for me, though. Enough to free my mind, but never so much that I'd need help or make colossally bad errors.

 

[Cloudlight]

I drink alcohol, smoke, and drink enough black as pitch coffee for it to be considered a drug.

When I do drink it is reserved for festive occasions and I do not end up drowning in my own vomit by morning. I secretly pride myself on knowing how much strong drink is enough. tragically, smoking cigarettes has become similar to breathing for me. It is a dampener or muffler of sorts. The caffeine is something that courses through my veins at all times. I am probably more coffee than I am human at this point.

None of these drugs encourage me to "lose control." I find that drugs only aid me in numbing and forgetting, not necessarily as a means for catharsis, which is exactly how drugs function for many. I did smoke weed with my SO last night (4/20 seemed sacred to her) and I realized that I regretted doing so. I did not regret smoking, though I did regret feeling the way I did for so long. Being mentally altered can be nice feeling but it has always felt inauthentic to me. Generally, drugs are not for me.

 

[Quin Sabe]

I ingest a ton of caffeine, coffee, energy drinks whatever, it doesn't bother me. Its not so much for the effects as I like the drinks, I will admit sometimes I'll to even more excessive limits to avoid sleeping and allow me to work longer or avoid some of the inertia that builds, but those are rare. I smoke not because I'm addicted to nicotine, I'll go days and weeks without it, sometimes to feel the withdrawl, but most of the time it's because I just don't need it. The primary times I want a cigarette is to quiet my mind, to take a few minutes and zen out, or to numb loneliness. Another big factor is for friendship, if you smoke, you can walk up to any other smoker light up and chat about life and troubles. When the cigarettes out you can go about your way, after sharing a moment with a complete stranger, sometimes they become friends. I drink to become more lucid, I expose myself more while intoxicated, I feel I share and do things that in the end show me who really is a friend, all of this is subtle of course, I'm not talking about picking fights being an complete ass, just opening up a bit more than normal. Speaking up for something I like instead of letting it go because it's not worth the trouble. I like experiencing and exploring altered states. I drink alone for the most part, to just loosen my grip and numb out life or thoughts. THC, is just nice to me, it gets me tingling and happier, it makes feel better about life. I also have the ability to break dance in the company of friends while intoxicated or just dance to club music while high. A state of feeling much harder to replicate without the aid of substances.

 

[MBTI Enthusiast]

I drink alcohol occasionally (like 2 drinks a month and one tipsy night a semester) and I drink coffee about 3 times a week, depending on how much sleep I get. I agree that one of the reasons I don't do other drugs is because I don't like losing control. I think 9s are already able to calm ourselves quite well, so unless it becomes one of our "routines", then we won't feel the need to delve into drugs and alcohol too much.

I might be different, though. I am very much anti-drugs as a whole, and it's because they really scare the crap out of me deep down. I must have had something happen to me when I was young. Even when I was very little, I'd tell people smoking cigarettes, "Bad habit!" I also have cousins who are alcoholics and drug addicts. When they'd come to family gatherings high, the way they acted so unpredictably freaked me out.

I try not to judge people who do them, but I definitely try to ignore. :-/

 

[LotusBlossom]

I have taken all the substances listed above in the past, but presently I only consume caffeine (via tea and Coke Zero) regularly. Not because I don't want to for the drugs, but it's difficult to obtain where I live and the penalties for its possession is harsh. As for alcohol, I simply don't care for the taste and I don't like how it makes me feel.

Were they easily available or legal to me, I probably still won't take them, because I don't trust myself to not develop dependency on them, and the idea of being psychologically/physiologically dependent on a substance(s) is extremely repellent to me.

 

[Ylajali]

only drugs I am afraid of are the ones that may reveal my true nature to myself (psychedelics), because I am afraid that what I find will be ugly, overwhelming, crazy.

I don't like the comedown on stimulants because it tends to be very dysphoric for me. Otherwise, drugs are real kool (with moderated use).

 

[Echoe]

I drink coffee and take adderall (by prescription) from time to time. They make me feel more in control, o space-cadet that I am.