The term dry drunk or dry drunk syndrome is a term coined for someone who fits one of the two following conditions:
1. Someone who has stopped drinking alcohol or taking drugs but has not undergone mental or emotional changes. In other words, apart from stopping substance abuse they remain the same.
2. Or someone who became abstinent and began a process of recovery but who has lapsed into unrealistic and chaotic thinking.
An addicted person develops problem behaviors, thoughts, feelings and attitudes. Abstaining from drugs or alcohol without dealing with these issues leads to a dry drunk syndrome. The term ‘dry drunk’ refers to a condition rather than the individual and is a warning sign that a person is in danger of relapsing.
Dry drunk syndrome can trigger the first stages of relapse, often identified by a person becoming “restless, irritable and discontented.” While people who are not chemically dependent can experience these attitudes, when they are present in people who are currently or have been in the past addicted to drugs or alcohol they indicate a potential risk.
Dry Drunk Symptoms
Complacency – Not only is complacency a common dry drunk symptom, it is also a warning sign that an individual may be relapsing. An essential element of being in active recovery is, not surprisingly, actively moving forward with your life. When we are complacent we can ignore important warning signs and actually fall back into dangerous habits.
Impulsivity – Poor impulse control is common with individuals dealing with addictions. There is a strong tendency to do what we want when we want to do it, irrespective of the consequences to ourselves or others.
Being Judgmental – Judging others can lead to over inflated egos if we assess that we are better than them or low self esteem if we feel we don’t measure up. Either way, this attitude takes our mind off our own game and leaves us vulnerable to relapse. Low self esteem can actually hasten the process.
Each of these characteristics is self-centered and will influence your thinking and your decisions. Destructive patterns and behaviors can arise from them, some of which include:
1. We experience restlessness, irritability and discontentment.
2. We are easily distracted from our responsibilities and goals and feel bored and unhappy with our lives.
3. We feel listless and uninterested in life; our emotions become blunted.
4. We begin to yearn for the ‘good old days’ when we actively used and conveniently forget the pain and shame that results.
5. We let our imagination run riot and begin to focus on unrealistic and even outrageous dreams and expectations.
6. Self examination and personal development are the last things we want to do, yet they are essential to our recovery.
7. We begin to feel empty and unfulfilled and start to doubt that our needs will ever be met.
When we consider this list of characteristics, it is easy to recognize the attitudes common to active use. In other words, dry drunk syndrome is actually reverting to the attitudes we experienced during active addiction. It is an urgent warning sign that we are heading towards relapse. Don’t ignore the danger.
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