Dry Drunk – A Favored Phrase But What Does It Mean?

Direct from the upper reaches of the US of A, Minnesota;

Dry Drunk Syndrome

I’ll give ya’ a small portion…

Conditions;

• grandiosity
• judgmentalism
• intolerance
• impulsivity
• indecisiveness

Leading to the following:

a) Mood swings, which are unrelated to the circumstances to which one tries to link them. Alcoholics zero in on what they want others to think is the cause of the mood swing, when it isn’t that at all. More often than not it is something much deeper than the reason given. Inversely it can also be something totally insignificant with no substance at all (e.g. the sugar is too sweet or the donut is too round). Any excuse will do.

b) Unable to demonstrate emotions freely, naturally and without constraint. No emotional spontaneity, no genuine spark.

c) Introspection. A very healthy thing to do is difficult if not impossible for the “dry drunk”. It means to look inward to one’s examining each thought and desire, which is linked directly to one’s attitude.

d) Detachment. Become aloof, display indifference, don’t care one way or the other, no special likes or dislikes, they withdraw.

e) Self-absorption – with a tendency to call attention to whatever they have attained. Narcissism which is quite simply self-love. They become pompous asses.

f) The inability to appreciate or enjoy themselves – nothing satisfies.

g) Evidence of disorganization, is easily distracted, complains of boredom, and nothing seems to fit.

h) A nostalgia sets in, a kind of wistful yearning for something of the past, such as freedom from care associated (falsely) with drinking, bars, drinking associates, and friends; the music, blue lights, and tinkle of the ice cubes in a glass in the neighborhood saloon.

i) There can be a kind of romanticism, which includes unrealistic valuations of lifestyles and character traits which can be and usually are objectively dangerous to one’s sobriety.

j) Escapism. Fantasizing, daydreaming, and wishful thinking are very much in evidence in the dry drunk syndrome as the individual slips farther and farther from reality.

Hmmmm – I know some pompous asses, do you?