Originally Posted by AlericB

It can't be nice feeling that you're loosing optimism and may even loose it altogether but I wonder what this means. Do you think it may be like the feeling you might get if you've been released from prison, a hypothetical one of course! I imagine there would be a sense of relief that the prison spell is over and optimism for the future. But then no doubt reality will soon begin to bite and you'll find that you're still faced with the same problems that you were before you went in and that everyone else also has - how do you find work, love, fun! I wonder whether the loss of optimism you are feeling is no more related to the fact that you've stopped drinking than an ex-con's gradual loss of optimism is really to do with him leaving prison. Or isn't it more the case that the fact he's out of prison will always be a simple positive in his life and any difficult feelings he has from this point on are just part of normal life? By he I also mean she of course!