Originally Posted by
AnthonyV 
My program is based in SMART Recovery, but I also attend AA for the fellowship. My issue with the term "dry drunk" is it is often used by people in 12-step programs to discount the sobriety that others outside the program have achieved. And just to be clear, I am not anti-AA. I'm glad both SMART and AA exist.
I too have found that the term "dry drunk" is often used to discount the sobriety of people who utilize recovery pathways other than 12 step, including SMART Recovery and other mutual aid groups. I think this is a shame, and wholly unnecessary. To the extent that it occurs, I'm afraid that the folks over at Stinkin' Thinkin' have a point.
With that said, the idea behind the "dry drunk" is quite simple, and means only that a person can be physically sober, but emotionally unhealthy. I have seen examples of this among many people who were formerly addicted to alcohol and other substances, and I have not noticed that AA members are any more or less prone to it than anyone else. Neither AA nor any other recovery group or path has a monopoly on recovery or on emotional health.
To my mind, the avoidance of the "dry drunk" syndrome means simply that after we're sober, we do something useful with ourselves and our lives. Some of us become more involved in our families and communities. Some of us go back to school, and further our careers. Some of us develop interests and hobbies, become politically involved, volunteer for causes we believe in. Some of us need to do some serious reconstructive work in therapy or otherwise in order to become useful members of the human race: others do not. It varies a great deal, as we are not all the same, but in the end it all boils down to being a decent, and reasonably well adjusted, human being.
OTT