Nice phrase in this article. 'chronic malcontent.'
My RAH has actually been reading! I still see signs of him trying to reconnect to life. He is on book 2 and has ordered another book. It is so odd to see him reading, but it does indicate his brain is capable of comprehension and sustained concentration as a form of entertainment.
He also is now regularly volunteering at church. In the past he would never have committed to more than a short one time brief event.
Emotionally he is wearing a suit of armor and when I get irritated I fire arrows at it... He could be depressed. He could just be emotionally immature. He could be a lot of things, but I really have never felt the term dry drunk fits in his case. It indicates to me one who is not progressing in their recovery. But the signs are often very small and not very reassuring. I mean am I supposed to clap when he reads a book?!
Overall though it indicates his brain might not be so wacked. I of course am impatient and think 'we' should be further along. So I try to balance time for his recovery against my own desires for my life against the value of having a father in the home for DS. It makes me nauseous to agree that 5 years is a likely realistic recovery timeframe. And he is closing in on 17 mo sober.
Too bad a liver pill is not likely going to fix things as this article suggests...