Dry Drunk?
 

Can anyone explain what this is? Is it just giving up one addiction to be replaced by another, like giving up drinking to then start compulsively gambling? Just curious.

I don't use the term myself - but this is a reasonably interesting round up of what most people mean by the term

Dry Drunk - Dry Drunk Syndrome

D

somewhat. IMO almost every person wants to substitute their "bad addiction" for a "good addiction". What you posted might be substituting a "bad" for another "bad" addiction. A "bad" for a "good" substitution might be stopping an addiction to alcohol, to an addiction to a recovery program. It is still addiction. I am looking at the cause and cure for the root cause of addiction.

A dry drunk may be one who has just using willpower alone stopped drinking yet still exhibit signs of the disease of addiction. Hope that helps.

Simply put dry drunk is someone who stops drinking and changes nothing or little else in themselves, e.g. their thoughts, feelings and emotions, it is a very apt expression if you have lived through it i can assure you;-)

From what I know it's usually an AA term. I don't use it..

From what I do understand of it though, it means that someone has quit drinking but not worked on anything else in their life to 'recover'. Abstinence is not recovery, now I do believe in that for sure.

Quotes from:

Dry Drunk

..your simply bored..nothing wrong..
..gotta find something to do..:ghug2

put the plug in the jug

and

nothing

else

many state this leads to an unhappy existence because we can't escape & cope well without alcohol.

we never learned how, that's why we drank in the 1st place.

with a formal program of recovery such as AA, a specific & distinct way of life is available to grow spiritually becoming patient, tolerant, kind, loving, understanding and compassionate.

Free of anger

Happily & usefully whole

From both experience and the BB defines it clearly, a dry drunk doesn't stay dry. A dry drunk drinks again. For me I can stay dry for a month and a half max without working a program as my history shows. I was able to hold off for that month and a half until I broke cause I couldn't deal any longer.

From my experience and those of many close friends, a dry drunk may also stop drinking but like you said gamble compulsively. Yeah they may be "dry" but they are seeking out the escape/high in other forms. I have seen it with alcoholics using pills (benzos/opiates) or acting out sexually. So by the general definition they are "dry" but still seeking out that high in just other forms.

What ends up happening too is that they get addicted to the gambling or drugging and the habit gets just as bad. Or they return to what they loved, the drinking.

.it is amazing what people will advise!!
..lets' be frank..{by the way, my names not frank}
..what do you really think? keep postng..lol.Oz..

Thank you everyone - it's a term I heard growing up and I read it in a post on hear. Wasn't sure exactly what it meant - so thanks for clearing it up.

I really do not like the term, but I see it a lot, especially in the rooms. I thought it was strictly an AA term as well, but yesterday when this thread popped up I did some net checking and it does appear to have started in AA, but it is now also being used by some addicition specialist, I found some articles written by doctors describing it as a "Syndrome".

The descriptions by the doctors ran right along the lines of what I have heard and observed in the rooms of AA, in a nutshell it is basically a sober alcoholic who has done nothing but stopped drinking, they have not worked on thier personality traits at all or very little. They are still angry, anxious, resentful, egotistic yet at the same time feel feelings of being less then others, they still blame others for thier problems, they have very little going on in thier lifes except not drinking, they are bored & unhappy. Not all of these things show up in all of them.

There is one guy I know that has been in and out of AA many times over the past 10 years, he has had up to one year sober and then wound up staying drunk for 2 or 3 months and then comes back in. He whispered to me in a meeting one time after I had shared about how great I felt after doing my 5th step that he wished he could bring himself to working the steps. I whispered back "You have never taken the steps?" He said "Nope". I asked him if he had a sponsor, he said "No, just never seem to get around to asking some one" I said " Don't you think a sponsor could help?" he said "Yea, I guess.". I have not seen him in at least 3 or 4 months since then. Needless to say I pray for him and worry about him.

im sure my wife will be able to define it perfectly..

After lots of dry periods in the beginning.....cant say i noticed ..it was just everyone else...!!

i believe the majority of alcoholism centres in the mind.....so take away the booze and im left with the mind of a chronic drunk.

not nice to be around.....but i didnt notice it much because my whole life is about ME anyhow...lol..

and then the day comes after trying everything else to fix my..discontentment.
when i pick up my booze and around we all go again..

A dry drunk is a drunk person who isn't wet. Dry drunks are prepared for all sorts of precipitation. Slickers, umbrellas, and waterproof shoes are part of their outdoor wear. I hope this helps.

I don't use the term, or even really recognize it as a logical term.

When others use the term I assume they really can't formulate what they are trying to say in real words.

First... a person stops drinking.

Then... they may or may not begin 'recovery'.

But... if they're not drinking, it is impossible for them to be 'drunk'.

And... not drinking is a HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT, huge, enormous.

Everyone has character defects, some act out on them more than others.

My highest congrats go out to anyone maintaining an alcohol free lifestyle.

All just my own opinion(s). :)

A dry drunk is a mythical creature..they don't exist yet a description of them do. My daughter loves unicorns...she has read about them and has seen many pictures of them yet there are none at the zoo. LOL Ridiculous at best.

I had some issues, emotional issues when i stopped drinking who doesn't and that attitude may land you a name like this, it is almost a slang term for pissed off AA guy. Whatever, people can say whatever they feel but being sober is something better than a drunken mess with no care to change.

Thank goodness you got the information you wanted before the usual daft posts came in! Take care:-)

I'm with Taz in that I don't like the term, although I hear it sometimes in meetings. I especially don't like it because it's judgemental, and we in AA are supposedly not judgemental. It presupposes that anyone who gets sober but fails to work the AA program is something of a lesser human than someone who does. We somehow forget that Bill Wilson is the one who said that AA has no monopoly on sobriety.

I'm a member of AA and the program has saved my life. I was able to attain physical sobriety and maintain that with the emotional sobriety learned from AA. But that's me. I could never disparage anyone who has achieved the same results without AA. I do not like the phrase "only a dry drunk", and I too often hear it from addiction counselors - those who, if no one else, should never use it.

I have read pretty much everything AA has published over the years, but that's not to say I accept everything as though coming from the burning bush. The discussion of the term Dry Drunk, originally published in GRAPEVINE, is one that I take issue with. Not because I disagree with the points made in the article, but with the implication that total sobriety can only be achieved through AA.

Thank you Joe...your message of hope rings clear...others wish to speak not with individual thought but with judgement based on others opinions.
I hope your post does not get labeled daft. LOL