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Emotional Soberiety

Lark

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Jun 21, 2009
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I've worked with a lot of kids who've been profoundly effected by alcohol or substance abuse and addiction issues, first in their parents behaviour and most of the time eventually in their own behaviour, I've also experienced this first hand in a lot of family members too.

However, I've begun to think that its not simply a problem with alcohol or whatever the fix happens to be, even when these individuals are sober and free of any sort of intoxicification there's a really pronounced emotional reactivity. Has anyone else experienced this or would you agree or disagree from thinking or theorising on the topic?

It isnt simply a matter of being high or low in mood, it is more a tempestuous emotional state which does not well tolerate a lack of stimulation or unstimulated state, the whole pattern of cognitive-emotional responses to others or problem solving seems to lack perspective or proportionality.

This state of being I think is as problematic, if not more, than the reliance upon intoxication which could be considered symptomatic of it in the first place. What do you think?
 

nolla

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I guess that makes sense, since alcohol is a numbing substance. So, if you drink a long time, the body might try to compensate and boosts up emotional reactivity. Then you don't drink but the body is still in the "boost" mode. Is this condition permanent or does it get easier later on?

Edit: Of course, this would be a different type of situation with kids whose mothers were drinking and who themselves don't drink. Then the damage will be permanent and more severe.
 

Lark

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I guess that makes sense, since alcohol is a numbing substance. So, if you drink a long time, the body might try to compensate and boosts up emotional reactivity. Then you don't drink but the body is still in the "boost" mode. Is this condition permanent or does it get easier later on?

Edit: Of course, this would be a different type of situation with kids whose mothers were drinking and who themselves don't drink. Then the damage will be permanent and more severe.

Well there could be a physical or biological dimension in discussing dependency but its the instability in moods or emotions which I've found creates a problem, whether you're "sober", ie not using a substance or narcotic stimulant or not you're still pretty unstable emotionally.
 

Stanton Moore

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I see addiction as 'flight from', as a withdrawal from emotional pain. So it makes sense to me that when the substance is removed, a person's real vulnerability shows itself in often quite chaotic and emotional behavior. There are probably no addictions without antecedent tramatic injury of some kind, and this is what you see when the 'escape valve' of numbing out through substance abuse is removed from the equation.
 

nolla

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Well there could be a physical or biological dimension in discussing dependency but its the instability in moods or emotions which I've found creates a problem, whether you're "sober", ie not using a substance or narcotic stimulant or not you're still pretty unstable emotionally.

I meant that the emotional reactivity you are talking about is a change in their hormone levels or brain, permanent or temporary. A bit same as the thing with recovering heroin addicts: Some of them have to learn to walk again, since the brain got used to being stoned all the time and adapted to that condition, so now that they are back in the normal state the brain is not functioning as it should.
 

Santosha

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This is like the chicken or the egg question...
what comes first,

do unstable emotions create dependency
or does dependency create unstable emotions

What I know, is that I've worked with many addicts and known a few personally (very close)... generally... the people that SEEK outside forces to alternative to their mood, be that alcoholism, drugs, food, etc. do have emotional instability to begin with.

Are they constantly seeking stimuli? No. I've known many alcoholics that lived for years in mediocre states. But perhaps they were looking for something more.

Regarless of what came first, I can flat out say (currently knowing a severe alcoholic, quite a few ex-alcoholics, and a few ex-meth addicts) that whether that point began prior to addicition or not, AFTER an addicition, it remains. There are certain things that you should never do. It's like dropping a bunch of snickers bars on some kids from ethiopia... they would have probably been better off to NEVER have known the taste that could exist, because now they will always long for it. Same goes for drug addicts.
 
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