Originally Posted by EndGameNYC

As extreme our behaviors often are while we're drinking, our conscience also experiences a kind of rebound effect in that we're appalled at the things we did after we put down the drink. Guilt cries out for punishment, and people who actually have a conscience put ourselves through the ringer once we've put down the drink. What you've described need not be a permanent condition, and subsides after we've worked through who and what we become and what we did while we were drinking. As Carl suggested, if we can learn from our struggles, then we have a good chance to both move on from them, and then not repeat them.