MemphisBlues

I think we all get those drinking and using dreams, but with a few months over three years sober now I wanted to share that I've noticed a new trend in my nocturnal unconscious musings: Clean dreams.

When I first go sober, I would find myself in a dream wither that ubiquitous joint in one hand and a beer in the other, and a nagging thought would pop into my head, something like, gee, what is this joint? I thought I was sober?

Well, my dreams have morphed into a new phenomena where whatever the strange situation I am in -- and my dreams are technicolor weird, friends -- whenever I am in a dream where there is drinking and drugging involved, and most of them do since those are the situations I was in for 40 years when awake, I'm sober, and whatever awkwardness that involves is usually in terms of wondering how I explain to so and so I encounter in this dream that I just don't drink or smoke anymore.

I think that at three years now, the obsession with alcohol and drugs has been removed, even in my dreams.

It does get better, SR friends.

LiaAc

Same here. I used to dream about pills nearly every night in some form or another. Then I'd wake up and the pills would be the first thing I would think about. Now I'm sober and my experience parallels yours.

Addiction really does take over every aspect of your life.

Thepatman

I'm early in recovery. I did have a freaky dream this week, I was hidding to drink beer. Neve had while active.

I felt weird when I woke up. I was a bit disappointed that my unconscious mind does not appear to wan't sobriety. Weird to explain

KateL

I still have them now and again. It's always nice when you realise it was just a dream.

MemphisBlues

Alcohol or drugs seemed to play a prominent place in my dreams, and why not? That's what I did for decades. It was just a natural act for my state of being. If I was dreaming, of course there was a beer or a joint being consumed by me.

I'm just marking it up as recovery progress that over the past few months my dreams, of course, still involve alcohol and pot, but my state of being in the dream is sober, and the circumstances in the dream are of me being cognizant that I am sober and I am someone that doesn't drink and smoke and -- wham -- I'm not drinking or smoking in the dream.

Even unconsciously the who I am is finally sober instead of slipping into the default state of being someone who drinks as I dream.

Thought it was interesting.

I've seen many posts of newly sober people freaking out over having a using dream and commenting on how it was a trigger or how the had remorse during the dream and were glad to wake and realize it was what it was.

There's hope, I think.

girlsearching

I'm glad I came across this. The other night only 20 days in I dreamed I got drunk and it was similar to my old ways. In my dream I was ashamed and disgusted with myself and how was I to explain this to the SR folks... lol. I also remembering telling myself my "day count" had to start back at one and I was so disappointed. I woke up in a cold sweat but so happy to wake up and realize it was just a dream. This has only happened once, but damn if it didn't feel so real.

EndGameNYC

After being back for more than two years, I still have drinking dreams virtually every night. They don't bother me in the least, and my drinking or trying to find a way to drink is only one of many overlapping narratives in my dreams. Yet, for me, when it comes to my dreams, attention must be paid. It's more about my moods in my dreams, and less about the manifest content.

One perspective tells us that dreams are about both wishes and fears, an offshoot of Freud's formulation that "Behind every wish is a fear that the wish will come true." I've learned that this also works the other way around...Behind the fear is the wish.

I'm sure I have a little bit of both, and I'm good with that.

SnowDawg

I was actually gonna post something about drunken dreams I'm so glad to know that they subside in time I hate waking thinking I have to face another hangover!

happyperson

As I understand it, dreams are merely a process during which your brain processes the input you experienced. I don't think there's an unconscious mind that doesn't want sobriety for you. It's simply your brain sorting through things. You think about sobriety, so your mind processes that. Even if you've been sober for 20 years but log in here regularly, you're bound to dream about it.

Thepatman

Makes sense happyperson, thanks!