soberbrooke

I am having trouble connecting with my emotions. I have almost 8 months of sobriety and I can't put my thoughts into words.

I don't have any idea if I am happy, upset, sad, etc... Is this normal?

It is almost like my emotions have been turned off. Has any one gone through this? When did you get back in touch with what you were feeling??

Sapling

Hey Brooke...I guess for me it was somewhere during the ninth step....Things started to come together for me around then....I needed the solution.

Che

It sounds stupid, but sometimes the reason we have trouble putting our thoughts into words is that we just don't have enough words. The words 'happy' and 'sad' are so general that they hardly mean anything. It might help to learn new words, to read a good book and look up every word you don't know. You might be surprised how precise words can get. There are qualities to emotion that will always be ineffable, but with imagination and a good vocabulary you can come pretty close.

If you really feel like a blank slate, neither happy nor unhappy, you might just be content in your routine. Contentment can lead to boredom, so perhaps try changing some things in your routine and trying new things to bring some excitement back to your life.

Try these things before worrying about if you have a mood disorder or not. The more paranoid about disorders you are, the more susceptible you are and to creating them... I think it's something very common among alcoholics whose constant concern with themselves can lead to foolish self-diagnosis.

With such a general description and not knowing anything about you, these starting points are all I can offer you. I have gone thru times of total numbness, but on the whole I'm very prone to caprice with my emotions running all over the place. So you can take that as a grain of salt in my advice, since I have nearly the opposite problem.

bbthumper

Amen, Sapling.

Id venture to say that 99.9% of the problems we have in early sobriety can be lessened or solved by working the steps.

2granddaughters

Certainly, it's not what it used to be but recovery is a continuing growth that will continue until I die .... or quit (which would likely be closely followed by dying). I still have those periods. Today they are minutes or hours long, not months/years/decades.

Quitting drinking is just the beginning, the tip of the iceberg. That's why I attend AA meetings regularly.
I have a daily reprieve.

All the best Brooke.

Bob R

ReadyAndAble

Hi, Brooke.

I know when I was drinking, I could feel really intense emotions about anything at all. I could just put a song on, and trigger any kind of emotion I wanted. But it was an exaggerated emotion, and when the booze wore off, so did the feeling. Now my emotions are more reality-based, I guess is the way to say it. My life isn't very dramatic right now (thank goodness), so the emotions are much more level... but also more real, more genuine, if that makes sense.

Have you thought about talking to someone trained in these things? Not every issue is an addiction issue... Just a thought.

Congrats on 8 months; that's fantastic.

Deserto

Great advice, Che. Reminds me of that quote from Arthur Scargill: "My father still reads the dictionary every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words."

CarolD

This may sound really odd....but do you have a cat or dog?
Just might get you started on giving and receiving
unconditional love.

Funny movies are also a good way to express yourself
Laughter is always healthy...

soberbrooke

Thank you all for your wonderful replies. It is through you all that I find myself.

I am only on the 4th step, a lot has happened in the past 7 months!

Sapling

One thing I found out about the Big Book....If you follow what it says to do...The results it promises come true. Set yourself some time to write and pray everyday and work on that fourth step....This is what the Big Book says happens when you go over it in your fifth step...It happened for me. It will happen for you too. Keep moving forward Brooke.

We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past. Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. The feeling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly. We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.

pg 75