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nightmares of relapsing

confusedmoma
confusedmoma
last night i had one of those all too realistic nightmares. I dreamt i had woken up to a hangover. the kind where u want to hide under a rock and never be found. the kind of hangover where you are absolutely mortified, shamed and crippled in fear of what you may have done in your black out stupor. in my dream, i tried going to a meeting the next morning, but was dissappointed to find that i knew no one in the room, and no body would talk to me. This was a terrifying thing. I didnt know where else to turn, so i resigned myself to a life of drinking..thinking i would just stay drunk until i died from it. it felt sick, disgusting and heartbreaking. THANK GOD it was just a bad dream. THANK GOD for the ever welcoming doors of A.A.... give a shout out if you agree! :) Happy sobriety everybody xox
m8bear
m8bear
Isn't it good to wake up from these?

I like to think of them as my HP reminding me of what life was like. Great today is not anywhere like that.

Btw, have you been actively working on your sobriety? Maybe your HP is also telling you that you may be moving away from the fellowship? Just a thought that pops out from your share.

Hope you sleep peacefully tonight.
confusedmoma
confusedmoma
thanx m8bear... i think it was definately a reminder for me to be thankful for today. I have been working on my step four and have been completely honest with myself and my higher power. as for activeness, youre right, i need to make it my number one priority... will get working on that :)
deleted_user
deleted_user
I always feel that drinking dreams are a good thing even though they are unpleasant. I read somewhere that latest research says nightmares are our subconscious mind sorting our coping mechanisms for dealing with difficulties or danger. Maybe, maybe not.

It always assists in a kick up the backside to check if I am living in the solution today and every day. One of the things I remind myself of daily is : "The spiritual life is not a theory; we have to live it." from the BB.

In general, I can read and agree and take comfort from all sorts of motivational or spiritual writing and inspirations but what happens next is far, far more important. Do I put the book back up on the shelf and forget about it 5 minutes later or do I literally take the action it suggests?

I don't think drinking dreams are a premonitionary - if they were I would have had to have a few new sobriety dates by now! Lol.
deleted_user
deleted_user
confusedmoma,
Hi, I used to have a lot of drinking/drunk type dreams ...
and I was always worried about relapsing & stuff.

One thing I was doing wrong was I would sit around &
worry & think about staying sober ... it made it hard & didn't
work so well ... even when I was clean I felt uptight and nervous.

When I quit focusing on BEING SOBER ... and started
focusing on ... the THINGS THAT KEEP ME SOBER ...
everything got easier ... I not only managed to stay sober, but
also enjoyed the process & wasn't always waiting to fail.

Service work, meetings, chairing meetings, Big Book work ...
work on what keeps you sober ... NOT on being sober.
That's what works for me.
Wishing you the best,
Jack / j
billwfriend
billwfriend
this topic has popped up many times here and in meetings....I think of the drunk dream as a free pass....I also feel terrorized by some of them myself....so free pass to terror? Friday the 13th? Halloween? who knows but the thing is we also wake to gratitude that we are sober as well. I still have drunk dreams 16yrs into this recovery of mine. hugs bill
CoogeeMum
CoogeeMum
I had dreams surrounding step 4 as well. There was a lot of change going on and my conscious and subconscious were getting overoaded with the rollercoaster of emotions. They got less and less and I just used them as a reminder of where I don't want to go. Keep persevering and best of luck with Step 4. It was a turning point for me.
stickywick
stickywick
I have had a few of those. Last one last night!
I don't feel like its any premonition of anything but its a really GOOD reminder of how I'd feel (but worse in real life) if I were to drink.
LindaJean
LindaJean
Only after I truly stopped drinking did I have drinking dreams. I was so upset in my dreams and felt quite badly about myself - then so relieved when I woke up to find it as a dream.

I think those dreams are about your subconscious telling you that you have truly made the decision that you want to be sober much more than you ever want to drink again. I think it is a great sign!!
deleted_user
deleted_user
Good point LindaJean. They only seem to happen when we are improving our efforts to achieve sobriety!
deleted_user
deleted_user
Good going on being grateful it is only a dream!

These dreams can be disturbing, but they are only dreams-not signposts of doom, if we don't let them be.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I always feel this gratitude once my head has cleared a bit after waking from one of those dreams. Yep, thank god they are justs dreams and I don't have to actually live those nightmare ever again if I don't want to.

They (drinking dreams) remind me not to take sobriety for granted and become complacent in recovery.
deleted_user
deleted_user
In early sobriety, I used to get a lot of dreams like this, I think it was part fear of going backwards and losing all the joys of my new life because I felt nothing but relief when i woke up. Maybe it was partly a reminder of what will happen if I go back there....always good to wake up from it though!
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