Home | Computer | Data Recovery
What is a dry drunk, and the 'dry drunk syndrome'? as it is sometimes called? It can best be described as someone who fits one of two conditions. The first is someone who has given up drinking and using drugs and not made any internal or emotional changes, they stay the same but the substance use has stopped. Or in the second case what was once somebody abstinent and on a progressive path of recovery has slowly returned to chaotic and impractical thinking. Being active in your dependence sets up many trains of thought, attitudes, feelings, and actions that are problematical. Just removing the alcohol or drugs without changing these underlying matters will make a dry drunk syndrome. The dry drunk in fact refers to a condition and not the individual. It is imperative to recognize a reversion back to our old ways of thinking and acting, or lack of progress in moving forward in recovery. The dry drunk can be a forerunner to the beginnings of relapse, the AA Big Book describes this condition as being "restless, irritable, and discontented". This set of attitudes can apply to anybody who is chemically dependent, or even those were not. Here are some of the mind sets ordinary with the dry drunk syndrome. Grandiosity - Grandiosity in essence means a return to a self-centered, the world revolves around me attitude. In 12 Step literatures this is the concept of being "self-centered in the extreme". It does not have to necessarily mean that I believe I am the best; it can also be seeking attention through playing the victim or sitting on the pity pot. Impulsivity - A ordinary attitude or visible behavior of individuals with addiction problems is poor impulse control. We tend to do what we want when we want, with little regard for self harm or hurting others around us. Impulsivity can be linked with grandiosity to connect in behaviors intended to make us the center of attention. Being judgmental - This is a very destructive attitude for people in recovery. When we judge a person as being better than or less than, we are setting up a condition where we inflate our egos feeling better than other people. On the other hand if we judge ourselves to be on the short end we can feel bitter and generate low self-esteem. Being judgmental is a low self-esteem generator. Complacency - This is not only an attitude of somebody in dry drunk syndrome, but is a red flag warning sign of somebody who is well into the relapse process. An vital facet of being in active recovery is just that, being active, and moving forward. It is not how fast you are going but rather the direction in which you are headed. If you become lazy or disinterested and stop being practical about your recovery, the natural to a propensity is to fall back into addictive behaviors. Your re-engagement in them is just a short step away. Once you are lured into any of these attitudes, they begin to affect how you think. Once your thinking is affected and you start to buy into self-centered thoughts, odds are you'll engage in the actions stemming from these self-centered thoughts. Here are some unhelpful patterns and actions that can result from dry drunk thinking: 1. We get restless and irritable and discontent. 2. We get bored, dissatisfied, and with no trouble distracted from productive tasks. 3. Our emotions and feelings get listless and dull, not anything excites us any longer. 4. We start to the connect in the euphoric recall that is yearning for the good old days of active using and for getting the pain and shame of use. 5. We begin to engage in magical thinking we get on realistic and fanciful expectations and dreams. 6. The last thing we want you is engaged in introspection to improve ourselves. 7. We start to get unfulfilled and have the feeling that not anything will ever satisfy our yearning or fill the hole in the sole. Looking back at the list of mind sets and thought distortions listed above, it is simple to see how the dry drunk syndrome is merely not anything more then reverting back to the way it was when we were active in our use. If you are starting to notice some of the mind sets discussed creeping back into your life, is target time to start paying notice to the possibility of relapse and start turning your life in sobriety and recovery around. The dry drunk syndrome is a bright red flashing warning sign for relapse.
Article Source: http://www.onlinearticlessite.com
Learn More About alcohol recovery What Can You Do For alcohol recovery
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
