Coffee to bring me through days after rough nights with the little one. I sleep more whenever I can, in order to avoid a heavy dependency.
Alcohol as a kind of ceremony, usually on Fridays - the week is done. Sometimes a couple of beers within the week. I can use alcohol very consciously as well. When something really heavy happened and I'm basically in shock and the emotions do not come out, I get wasted, dance like a maniac, get crazy in order to reach catharsis. Luckily, that hasn't happened in a while.
Work is a great drug. A friend once said: "For hurt of the heart, work is better than whiskey." To which I replied (being in a bad emotional situation back then): "So, both is best?"
The pain itself is a drug. I really try not to avoid pain. I was great in pushing it into the back of my mind, until I exploded. Now, I see pain as a propellant of growth, to find new ways to deal with life and what it throws at you. I might even be looking for it, somewhat provoking it, I haven't thought about that. I was always fascinated by the idea of "productive unhappiness" vs "unproductive happiness" that Hermann Hesse wrote about in "The Steppenwolf". That said - I'm in a very comfortable and stable social situation now, so I can afford that drug.