Handling Emotions
Even without the problems that substance abuse brings, life can be a real struggle for an individual that is unable to handle their emotions. Without emotional maturity, it is virtually impossible to find real happiness. Adults who don’t mature emotionally are also more likely to engage in substance abuse. They turn to chemicals as a means to escape the pain caused by their emotions. It becomes a catch-22 situation, because addiction arrests further emotional development, and they become stuck.
When an addict decides to enter rehab facility and finally gives up alcohol or drug use, they will need to once again focus on their emotional development. If they fail to do so, they will struggle to build a comfortable life away from their addiction.
Emotional sobriety doesn’t mean that the individual escapes unpleasant emotions; it means that they are no longer a victim to their emotions. People develop emotional maturity through living life and facing problems. But many addicts begin to abuse alcohol or drugs while they are still young, so they fail to mature emotionally.
Emotional Sobriety
Emotional sobriety can be described as the ability to deal with feelings positively. An emotionally-sober individual not always be bursting with joy, but they will no longer be such a victim of their emotions. This type of sobriety can be defined as the ability of to “feel their feelings.” The individual who is emotionally sober no longer has the urge to escape their feelings by climbing into a bottle or sticking a needle in their arm. They are willing to deal with whatever comes their way, because they have a deep inner strength that they can rely on. Emotional sobriety is closely linked to serenity, an unshakable sense of inner peace that recovering substance abusers can find in recovery.
Physical vs. Emotional Sobriety: The Dry Drunk Syndrome
When people are sober but have not achieved any level of emotional sobriety, they can be described as a “dry drunk.” Alcoholics Anonymous talks about people who have not touched a drink in years but have still not managed to get sober. Those in the midst of a dry drunk syndrome find life without alcohol to be similar to serving a prison term. They may be full of anger and resentment, and their behavior can be almost as bad as when they were abusing alcohol and drugs.
Recovered Substance Abusers Who Have Not Achieved Emotional Sobriety Will:
- Hardly live in the present moment
- Struggle to regulate their own behavior, which means that they do things that harm themselves and other people
- Have difficulty with the challenges of life and may resort to negative coping strategies, such as work or exercise addiction
- Become a victim of their own emotions
- Feel like they are living on an emotional rollercoaster
- Experience a great deal of negativity
- Find it hard to develop healthy relationships
At 12 Palms Recovery Center, one of the most important tasks of early sobriety is to assist a recovering substance abuser to develop healthy coping strategies in order to learn to handle his or her emotions. Our experienced and emotionally-sober counselors utilize a variety of tools that encourage an individual to focus on the present moment and observe how emotions rise and fall away again. Emotionally immature individuals begin to understand that their emotions aren’t permanent, and that they have a choice to react differently to them – that they are no longer a victim of their emotions.
If you or a loved one are ready to move past a reliance on drugs or alcohol to cope with emotions, take a positive first step toward serenity, emotional maturity and sobriety–call 12 Palms toll-free today at 1-866-331-6779.
