Catareta

When a person goes through the physical stress of medical detox, is it normal to be so down?
My RABF is struggling with boredom & insomnia.. We have spoke to the alcohol liaison team who are getting him on mindfulness & relapse prevention but wont be til new year.

Any tips to keep him stimulated? We do loads of walking due to the physical complications of withdrawal. Go to town almost daily. Starting a social froup isnt easy as we are both visually impaired.

Any tips re insomnia?

TiA

LexieCat

Mainly, you just have to wait it out. Boredom and insomnia are both extremely common. And so is "feeling down." Best is to have someone who knows what it's like, to talk to. If he's willing to consider AA, someone can come to see him and talk to him.

He's the one who should be asking for help for himself, though. You really shouldn't be managing his recovery for him. That's going to put you in a very difficult position, because then he can blame you for not doing "enough" for him.

happybeingme

Sorry to hear he is going through this but all of it is normal. Just tell him to be patient. For insomnia it's just the normal things.

No caffeine after 3.
Warm not hot shower before bed
Glass of milk and some crackers 30 minutes before bed.
Lavender scent

It will get better

NYCDoglvr

Oh yes. When I got sober 23 years ago I cried every day for the first few months. Then there's anger at loosing anesthesia and having to be present for your life. Is he in AA? The fellowship is a huge support, I wouldn't have been able to stay sober without it. I recommend Alanon for you..........

Recovering2

14 days is very very very early out of detox, and his body is still grappling with the withdrawal of alcohol from his body. It is normal to have no energy, feel down, etc. Insomnia is normal as well. He would really benefit from an AA group, people who have been there and can help him understand what's going on. Like Lexie said however, be very careful about planning his recovery for him. He needs to find support and manage this if he's going to be successful.

Catareta

He is trying the Relapse Prevention & Mindfulness Courses first. I will be going to family support (was on tonight but BF very down). He doesn't want AA - as is Atheist (& as am I). It's the location thats a problem - visually impaired & government benefits being sorted so hardly any money. ( with christmas & all ).

Catareta

Re the support for recovery - all I was saying was that I was involved in the care plan & it was agreed that that was the best thing due to visual impairment, locality & his needs.
Just wish I could tell hin it will be okay.

LexieCat

I know plenty of atheists and agnostics who do just fine in AA. A "higher power" can be anything you believe is more powerful than you are. I know people whose higher power is the power of the universe, the power of nature. The idea of the higher power is to give up the idea that you can control everything yourself. Nobody can control the weather or natural disasters, right? There's no requirement in AA that you believe in anything religious. The Big Book, AA's main text, defines a "spiritual awakening" as a "personality change sufficient to recover from alcoholism." It doesn't mean being "born again" in any religious sense.

If he were open to AA, chances are very good that men in the group would give him rides to meetings. That's what people do in AA, because people do care that much about helping another suffering alcoholic.

I think he should consider it, personally. It would also be good for him to get out and around other people.