Originally Posted by
daisy2 
I don't feel a compulsion to drink, but I am starting to feel really depressed over life. It's not that anything is horrifically wrong, but nothing is great either. I feel mostly dull, and trapped, and am having a really hard time finding things to be happy or excited about, and like my life is going nowhere.
Everyone has a different experience, but I found that once I stopped drinking
my life got worse first before it got better.
This is why - especially for high(er) bottom alcoholics - it is very difficult to quit drinking. We don't get the immediate improvement in how we are feeling that some low(er) bottom alcoholics do.
I used alcohol to medicate my feelings of fear, stress, feeling lost, etc.
But, after 1 month, things started to change. I realized that the alcohol was just covering up my life issues. I began to see that by working on the root causes of my addiction, I would not only be happier but I would stay sober. This created for me what I call "positive life momentum". It is really cool to watch it now at work after 9 months.
Please know that what you are experiencing is normal - you just need to give it some more time sober.
But, you also should begin working on the new life skills that you will need, as while you are abstaining from alcohol now, you need to focus on recovery.
These two are different concepts. You can't recover without abstaining, but without recovery steps, eventually (in my experience), you will relapse.