When you are under detox and initial stages of recovery, your body goes through a series of physiological and psychological changes. In the first few days, you may feel worse. Some may even think why they decided to De-addict!
However, as days go by, you start feeling good, then better, and then you are almost on a sobriety “high”!
You love your new sober life. You attend all AA meetings in Ohio. You spread the message that meetings are super beneficial for recovery. You are on cloud nine.
However, according to psychologists, you are on “pink cloud” and they call this “pink cloud syndrome.”
It’s normal to be excited about something new happening in your life. Yet, experts warn not to do anything on an impulse at this stage. For example, you might want to quit your current job. Or move to a new place. Or spend a huge chunk of your savings in celebrating your newfound sobriety.
Don’t do it…yet.
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So what’s the best way to deal with sobriety “high”?
Wait and watch, say experts.
According to psychologists, this is a passing phase. Refrain from getting carried away by it. Avoid making any big decision at this time, such as a job change. You might want to rethink changing your job later.
The “high” may exist for a few weeks or months.
The good thing about the “high”
It keeps you motivated in your journey of sobriety. This, coupled with the use of the Sobriety Calculator tool, encourages you to continue being sober and fight all temptations that threaten to break your sobriety.
For somebody who thought life would never be fun without alcohol, the sobriety “high” proves otherwise.
The bad thing of sobriety “high”
It can make you take actions that you might regret later. That’s why experts advise waiting until you make any big change in your personal or professional life. You are sober is a big change in itself. Embrace this.
Overconfidence can make you feel you would never relapse when the truth is: almost every recovered addict has a chance to relapse. One cannot neglect this truth.
Attending AA meetings may make you feel on top of the world or that you have won over alcohol. Getting carried away with this feeling and hanging out with your alcoholic friends can be a mistake. You may not realize, but your brain is still recovering. It can instantly recognize the familiar “smell” of alcohol, bringing out those memories, and producing a strong craving.
You could end up creating a recovery disaster.
Give your brain time
The human brain physiological and psychological is a miraculous organ having neuroplasticity. It means it can learn and unlearn things, and then re-learn new things. During recovery, your brain undergoes all these processes.
Studies show within weeks of starting the recovery program and attending an AA meeting, the brain gets busy repairing itself.
It is smart to wait for a while until your brain recovers fully and your cognitive abilities, which had taken a beating due to alcoholism, revert to their full form.
