ZeroNowhere570

I'm still taking strides at becom in g sober, but I've noticed rushes of mixed emotions when I think back on my time spent drowning myself with alcohol.
It's like all the emotions & feelings I've drowned out for so long come back to hit me at once. Years of regret, frustration, sadness, desperation. Is this a fairly common thing?

thomas11

Yes, the feeling are you experiencing are genuine emotion. Not something buried or numbed by alcohol. Just my 2cents.

Madmartigan

Yes, very common. As your brain starts to function normally this will hapoen. But it's a good thing! You are supposed to feel emotion. They get less intense as you adjust to your brain working the way it's supposed too.

Soberwolf

Early sobriety is like a roller coaster of emotions its very common to feel this way know that it will balance out in time & is helped with things like acceptance, meditation, journalling & gratitude lists

Having a plan helps

Tc4ever

That was me.

Fly N Buy

Indeed our feelings are raw - we start to feel unmasked emotions again or maybe for the first time.

I started to gain some emotional sobriety as time elapses. Part of this process for me is accepting myself for who I am. My experience is that the truth is we are not nearly as bad or as good as we think. We discover we are somewhere in the middle, not that special........just another bozo on the bus!!!

Don't drink, keep posting and love yourself along with others. Life will begin again.......

Thanks for the post!

blueberry2015

Yes def same for me I was emotionally up n down for a bit, its much better now tho x

zerothehero

This was beyond true for me. It took me months before I started realizing that numbing emotions and trying to cope with stress in my high school years were large parts of why I started binging in the first place. From my mom's health and divorce and alcoholism to the death of a close friend (and the trauma of being a witness to that death), I just didn't know what else to do. When I quit drinking I seemed to have to go back and process all that once and for all for the first time in a sober and purposeful way. Watch it, though. The intensity of emotions in early sobriety can trigger relapse. Jack Kornfield says, "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." I learned to surf; you can, as well.

SoberInCLE

Totally.

kinzoku

Yeah.

teatreeoil007

MmmmHmmmm...totally get it!

Wastinglife

Yep, I want to go back in time and beat the crap out of people that wronged me. Then I want to be diplomatic. Then apologize and hug them.....

Rio97

Yep, this is always what has gotten me in trouble in the past. The waves of emotions of every event I've never thoroughly dealt with because of alcohol hit me. Learning to process emotions sober is hard to relearn, especially when you've made a habit of using alcohol to deal with every emotion out there. Great thread.