Anybody else emotionally dead?
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Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 16
Anybody else emotionally dead?
I've been sober for over 2 years now. Not one slip up, I don't even really want to drink now. However I feel completely dead inside. When I was drinking, I felt joy, rage, love, hell everything. Now, I don't feel much of anything. I just go through life completely dead inside. I was wondering if this is normal or if it's just me. Thanks.
Welcome, Rorschach!
Congratulations on two years of sobriety!
I feel that I have made spiritual progress since I quit drinking, but I kind of work at it. Have you tried anything like AA meetings, therapy, or church?
Congratulations on two years of sobriety!
I feel that I have made spiritual progress since I quit drinking, but I kind of work at it. Have you tried anything like AA meetings, therapy, or church?
Hi & welcome Therorschach81
I definitely had to work on being happy as well as being sober.
I had a lot of 'underlying reasons' that drove me to drink in the first place.
I had long term depression and anxiety, but I got help.
I wonder if you've seen a Dr about this?
the end result for me was that I really feel now - not the fake chemical joy/euphoria of being drunk for example but real joy....I hope you can discover this for yourself
D
I definitely had to work on being happy as well as being sober.
I had a lot of 'underlying reasons' that drove me to drink in the first place.
I had long term depression and anxiety, but I got help.
I wonder if you've seen a Dr about this?
the end result for me was that I really feel now - not the fake chemical joy/euphoria of being drunk for example but real joy....I hope you can discover this for yourself
D
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Congrats, 2 years is great
Is it truly "dead" (something like depressed?) or more that the lack of highs and lows, emotional extremes, feel a bit flat for you? I was definitely far, far more extreme as a drinker and experienced emotional amplitudes all over the map. I never experienced roller coaster even vaguely similar to that sober. What I feel in sustained sobriety is a much more even mood and inner peace with fluctuations that I can manage fairly well. I am just bringing this up because there are often discussions about people feeling bored in sobriety and it seems often it's just not knowing what mental peace is, or not knowing how being able to regulate how we respond to moods and emotions feels. But of course that is a very different state from genuinely feeling dead...
Is it truly "dead" (something like depressed?) or more that the lack of highs and lows, emotional extremes, feel a bit flat for you? I was definitely far, far more extreme as a drinker and experienced emotional amplitudes all over the map. I never experienced roller coaster even vaguely similar to that sober. What I feel in sustained sobriety is a much more even mood and inner peace with fluctuations that I can manage fairly well. I am just bringing this up because there are often discussions about people feeling bored in sobriety and it seems often it's just not knowing what mental peace is, or not knowing how being able to regulate how we respond to moods and emotions feels. But of course that is a very different state from genuinely feeling dead...
Just something to think about.
Hope you feel better -- two years is fantastic!
Ther,
2 years is amazing.
I have bee sober for almost 20 months.
My offering...
I feel good sometimes...I feel great sometimes. Never dead anymore...
I felt dead sometimes in the first year or so.
I work out 4 to 6 days a week and I eat too much sugar sometimes.
I would rather feel dead inside than be a drunk though.
I learned here that when you are in need to give. The more you give, the better you feel.
Even a kind word makes both persons feel better.
Thanks.
2 years is amazing.
I have bee sober for almost 20 months.
My offering...
I feel good sometimes...I feel great sometimes. Never dead anymore...
I felt dead sometimes in the first year or so.
I work out 4 to 6 days a week and I eat too much sugar sometimes.
I would rather feel dead inside than be a drunk though.
I learned here that when you are in need to give. The more you give, the better you feel.
Even a kind word makes both persons feel better.
Thanks.
Hi, Rorschach,
First, congratulations on two years of sobriety. That is no small accomplishment. You have much for which to be proud.
I'm sober 3.5 years. With time, I've come to see how much alcohol artificially created emotions for me. Drenching myself in a depressant ...
No one should feel dead, but I know what it's like, too. From my perspective, it's your soul telling you it's time to get help. I began getting help for depression earlier this year. It's made a big difference in my life.
First, congratulations on two years of sobriety. That is no small accomplishment. You have much for which to be proud.
I'm sober 3.5 years. With time, I've come to see how much alcohol artificially created emotions for me. Drenching myself in a depressant ...
No one should feel dead, but I know what it's like, too. From my perspective, it's your soul telling you it's time to get help. I began getting help for depression earlier this year. It's made a big difference in my life.
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Join Date: Nov 2016
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I've been sober for over 2 years now. Not one slip up, I don't even really want to drink now. However I feel completely dead inside. When I was drinking, I felt joy, rage, love, hell everything. Now, I don't feel much of anything. I just go through life completely dead inside. I was wondering if this is normal or if it's just me. Thanks.
The human brain needs time to heal after we've saturated it with dopamine from all the booze we've ingested over the years. And let's face it, alcohol has a way of amplifying any emotion, good or bad to the Nth degree. Give yourself a bit more time. You're not abnormal, just going thru recovery growing pains.
Like a sober zombie maybe, The Walking Sober. As adults, we are always personally responsible for taking care of ourselves and improving over time, and that goes way beyond not using/abusing alcohol. So yeah, I'd say get proactive and start doing something to remedy that situation.
No, in fact, just the opposite. I was certifiably emotionally dead when I was drinking. I just stopped caring, destroyed a serious, actual adult-type long term relationship because I felt so bad about myself, and lost my confidence and self esteem. I was completely hollowed out... a shell. As I got sober, I began to care about myself and others again, and I rediscovered the ability to love.
I felt that way when I was on anti-depressants. I slowly got off them UNDER A DOCTORS CARE. I put this is caps BC I tried to do it myself before and always ended up in a relapse or psych ward, very dangerous to do alone. I've got more of my feelings back but do feel emotionally numb a lot.
Alcohol heightened my emotions, while other drugs numbed them. I think I got so used to the highs/lows brought on by drugs that I kinda forget what "normal" emotions are like. My therapist says I am quite disconnected after so many years of using drugs/other behaviors in an attempt not to feel. She says like anything you can learn to connect with your feelings again.
Alcohol heightened my emotions, while other drugs numbed them. I think I got so used to the highs/lows brought on by drugs that I kinda forget what "normal" emotions are like. My therapist says I am quite disconnected after so many years of using drugs/other behaviors in an attempt not to feel. She says like anything you can learn to connect with your feelings again.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 16
Congrats, 2 years is great
Is it truly "dead" (something like depressed?) or more that the lack of highs and lows, emotional extremes, feel a bit flat for you? I was definitely far, far more extreme as a drinker and experienced emotional amplitudes all over the map. I never experienced roller coaster even vaguely similar to that sober. What I feel in sustained sobriety is a much more even mood and inner peace with fluctuations that I can manage fairly well. I am just bringing this up because there are often discussions about people feeling bored in sobriety and it seems often it's just not knowing what mental peace is, or not knowing how being able to regulate how we respond to moods and emotions feels. But of course that is a very different state from genuinely feeling dead...
Is it truly "dead" (something like depressed?) or more that the lack of highs and lows, emotional extremes, feel a bit flat for you? I was definitely far, far more extreme as a drinker and experienced emotional amplitudes all over the map. I never experienced roller coaster even vaguely similar to that sober. What I feel in sustained sobriety is a much more even mood and inner peace with fluctuations that I can manage fairly well. I am just bringing this up because there are often discussions about people feeling bored in sobriety and it seems often it's just not knowing what mental peace is, or not knowing how being able to regulate how we respond to moods and emotions feels. But of course that is a very different state from genuinely feeling dead...
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 16
no, I haven't. I've actually lost whatever shred of faith I had. I don't see the point anymore.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 16
no, I haven't. I've lost whatever shred of faith I had. I don't see the point anymore.
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