"Abstinence (e.g. dry drunk) is not drinking and feeling bad about it.
Recovery is not drinking and feeling good about it."
I usually say this as.....: Abstinence is not drinking and feeling bad about one's life. Recovery is abstinence (not drinking) and feeling good about one's life.
I don't use the term 'dry drunk.' I find it used (mostly) by AAer's (although it's used by others more and more) who like to define the terms sober/sobriety/recovery/recovering/recovered for, not only themselves, but others also.
If there's one thing I've learned in my recovery it is that there are lots of terms that I only get to define for myself; these terms would include the terms above...: sober/sobriety/recovery/recovering/recovered. I don't get to define these terms for anybody else. If a person is abstinent (and no other changes in his/her life), and he/she is happy/content with his/her life, regardless of what others may think, that person has the right to call themself sober/in sobriety/in recovery/recovering/recovered, and nobody has the right to deny them that, even if those others are not happy with this sober (....etc.) person's life.
There's another old saying.....: take the alcohol out of an alcoholic horse thief and what you have left is a sober horse thief. Usually this saying is used in a derogatory manner, but as I see it.....as the saying says.... even tho still a horse thief, he is sober. period. not dry, but sober.
Of course, all the above are just my opinions...and ps, I may not agree with others' definitions of sober/in sobriety/in recovery/recovering/recovered for myself, I just leave those others to their own..........
NoelleR