"Anecdotally, the occurrence of drinking and drug-using dreams is a known phenomenon among people in recovery, but very little is known from an epidemiological standpoint about the prevalence of such dreams, their relation to relapse risk, and how they decay with time in recovery," says lead author John F. Kelly, PhD, founder and director of the Recovery Research Institute. "Given that these dreams can be deeply unnerving, more information could help treatment providers, those in recovery and their families know what to expect going forward."
Recovery from every kind of substance use disorder -- alcohol, heroin, cocaine, cannabis -- has been characterized by dreams that follow a common pattern: in the dream the person has a drink or ingests their primary substance. They experience disbelief and are overcome with fear, guilt and remorse until they wake up, relieved to realize it was only a dream.
Dreams Of Drinking
Among a nationally representative group of more than 2,000 people who had resolved a significant alcohol or drug use problem, around one-third reported having experienced relapse dreams after entering recovery. The frequency of such dreams lessened the longer an individual was in recovery.
Reports of relapse dreams are so common in clinical and recovery support service settings that Kelly and co-author M. Claire Greene, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, were surprised that the majority of those studied reported never having experienced one. Those who did tended to have had more severe substance use histories.
"The association between the decreasing frequency of these dreams and the length of time in recovery suggests that, as the body and mind gradually adapt to abstinence and a new lifestyle, psychological angst about relapse diminishes," Kelly says. "REM sleep and deep wave sleep undergo important changes, even long after people enter recovery, and these relapse dreams may be indicative of the healing process and brain-mind stabilization that occurs with time in recovery."
There is no single explanation for the reason or function of dreams. Some experts claim they are just random images created by the brain in response to things we have seen while we are awake. Others suggest they are a way of preparing us for future stresses, almost functioning as a practice run. In this article we look at how alcohol really affects your dreams, and what it means for you when changing your drinking habits.
However, as your blood-alcohol level drops, the reverse happens. Sleep is shallower and waking up is more frequent. This means more dream recall and more REM sleep, which can cause vivid dreams and nightmares. It is also the reason that you often wake up earlier after a heavy night of drinking. Poor sleep makes you tired, which can make you more inclined to drink again the next night in the hope of better sleep.
Alcohol Rehab says that dreaming of drinking could be a result of Incentive Sensitisation theory. This means that if you previously used alcohol as a reward, you might still have a subconscious drive to use it in this way again. Drinking dreams might also occur simply because alcohol used to be a large or important part of your life. It is understandable that these memories will continue to influence your dreams, even after quitting. It could also be due to a stressful situation or changes in your life, causing you to dream that you are using alcohol as a coping mechanism.
However, it is important to realise that such dreams are a normal part of changing your drinking habits. Alcohol Rehab argues that they can even be seen as a positive thing. It has been suggested that relapse dreams can be beneficial in a number of ways. This is particularly likely if you wake up feeling discomforted by the dream. This reaction is evidence that you value your new (more) sober life, so there is no need to feel guilty. It can be a good reminder of what might lie in store if a relapse really does occur. It could motivate you to redouble your efforts, and this is always going to be a good thing.
Being drunk in a dream may show that you feel irresponsible or out-of-control in waking life. It could represent careless behaviour, a lack of awareness, or not thinking clearly. Being intoxicated could directly reflect a problem with drinking too much, or indirectly mean something else about your day-to-day life. If you used to drink alcohol to relax, or still do, it might mean that you are feeling stressed or over-worked. If drinking means celebration to you, it might mean you are going through a major life event. You may also need a break or some relaxation.
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night covered in sweat and filled with fear because you had a dream that you were using drugs or drinking alcohol again? As you caught your breath and reminded yourself that it was just a nightmare, did you wonder what that dream meant? If so, you are not alone. Research shows that dreaming about relapsing is common among people in recovery.
Some people believe that relapse dreams, or recurrence dreams, mean that they are inclined to fall back into old habits. But the data behind that theory is split. While some studies show that those who have frequent relapse dreams are more likely to start using again, others show that individuals with recurring relapse dreams are more likely to stay sober. Because of this, experts say that the frequency of dreams is not as important as how an individual reacts to them. Having a clear perspective about these nightmares can ease your mind and help you stay on track with your sobriety.
Many people know that drinking alcohol can raise your risk of cancers like liver, breast and bowel cancer. But it can also increase your chances of developing cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx or oesophagus.
The two-day program is designed to educate students, parents, and the community about the serious issue of underage drinking and driving, by providing a realistic experience and encouraging them to make positive choices. The presentation is held before the school's prom, an occasion on which teenagers are most likely to consume alcoholic beverages.
Shattered Dreams, targeted at underage drinking and driving, involves the dramatization of an alcohol-related accident staged in front of the school. While the entire student body watches, police, fire, and other emergency personnel will respond to the scene. The victim students will be transported by ambulance and helicopter (PHI Air Medical and Careflite) and to local hospitals (Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Centennial and Medical City Frisco), while the deceased student will be transported by Turrentine Jackson & Morrow Funeral Home. The drunk driver will be arrested and transported to the Frisco City Jail for book-in and arraignment.
I'm clean and sober for more than 12 years. But I still have what we call "drunk dreams." Here's a recent one. Although I'm not a follower of hip hop, I dreamed that I was hanging out with the famous rapper Snoop Dogg. I waited all day for him to pull out his stash of drugs. At the end of the day he put out some big fat lines of cocaine and offered me one. I took it in like a like a dirt dog lapping up a few licks of morning dew off the desert floor. The smell was so fresh and it made me feel more alive than I'd felt in years. My heart opened. I loved my life and everyone in it at that moment. In my mind I remembered that I was an addict in recovery. But I couldn't reconcile the question that arose in my dreaming mind, "How could something that feels this good cause suffering?"
This wasn't my first drinking/using dream and it won't be the last. They're quite common for people in recovery. Yet many of us feel shame, remorse when we have them. When I woke up from this one I felt the usual confusion. But thanks to deep work in the Dharma and in the 12 Steps, I have tools to understand that this is an expression of the addict brain and mind on different levels. One such tool is something I was taught many years ago: the notion of these being part of the process of recovery.
In the treatment center in Fall 1984, our counselor told us not to be alarmed if we had dreams of drinking and/or using drugs. He referred to this necessary part of recovery as a "flushing of the psychic toilet." When I got my 30-day sobriety coin at a meeting I talked about my own drunk dreaming during the hospital stay. An old-timer shared that he'd been sober for decades and still had them too and that it was OK. What a relief! I'd worried it was because I wasn't serious about my recovery, as if these dreams revealed some secret desire to get loaded. But I really did want to stay sober, which made the dreams very confusing.
During my first decade of sobriety I always woke up from drunk dreams with a feeling of gratitude that it was just a dream. But the feelings seemed so real. From the cold droplets on the brown beer bottle fresh out of the freezer where I used to chill them up, to the life giving rush of a blast of cocaine, the experiences were totally convincing. I always feel a little doubt about the commitment to recovery when this happens. But I'm normally relieved to wake up and realize I'm really still sober.
When my Huff Po editors asked me to write about something related to sleep and recovery, I wondered how my fellow recovering people experienced dreams about using. I asked them to send me some dream descriptions by email. Here's a sample of what came through. Gender and length of sobriety precede the descriptions.
In the dreams we often have a sudden realization that we've just altered our sobriety date! This is a source of anxiety, which for me leads to nightmares with a sense of panic and disturbing imagery. Many dream that they have to keep the "relapse" a secret as they plan to continue attending meetings. Some dream that they've been using all along and that they've been "sober frauds" for years, as noted above.
Not everyone in recovery reports ongoing drunk dreams however. Several people with over 20 years failed to respond to my inquiry at all or reported that they no longer remember any dreams. In my psychology training I recall being taught that everyone dreams even if we don't remember. The REM studies are fairly definitive in this regard. But nearly everyone I've discussed this topic with has reported having drunk dreams at some point in their recovery. For some they go away and for some they don't. 2ff7e9595c
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