Addiction Solutions Geelong Inc.

19/02/2025

Al Pacino - 47 years of Sobriety .

Al Pacino has been sober since 1977 .

He has always been open about his addiction struggles.
He remains inspired to encourage others to seek help.

How did Pacino become sober?
Pacino started drinking when he was 9 and smoking ma*****na at age 13.

He began to experience blackouts at a young age.

He recognised that he was using drugs and alcohol to cope with his sudden fame and negative reputation.

How has sobriety changed Pacino?

He's embraced a healthier lifestyle.

He's become an advocate for mental health awareness.

He enjoys spending time with his family and friends.

He focuses on his health.

He's said that he feels more connected to himself and the people around him.
What has Pacino said about his sobriety?

He acknowledges that the journey to sobriety can be long and challenging yet also rewarding.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/al-pacino-details-struggles-with-alcohol-and-road-to-sobriety-in-new-interview/NAYR5C546FHKRGEI6COWG5NQ3U/ #:~:text=Al%20Pacino%20had%20a%20%E2%80%9Cterrible,blackouts%20following%20his%20booze%20binges.

He's said that he's grateful for his new life.

12/01/2025

Dry drunk -loss of emotional sobriety
Dry Drunk Syndrome - applies to addiction to drugs too.© Copyright.
[7 to 10 minute read. Save by pressing the 3 dots above]


⚠️ Dry drunk syndrome is a term that refers to someone who is not drinking or using drugs but they have already relapsed emotionally.

⚠️ If someone is a “dry drunk” it basically refers to the fact that they are not actively working on their recovery, and therefore they might just as well be drinking or using – although they have not technically done so yet.

⚠️ So basically: Dry drunk = relapse mode.

⚠️ It is often characterized as being “restless, irritable, and discontent.”

⚠️ Anyone who is in this state of mind is headed for trouble unless they can somehow pull themselves out of it before they pick up a drink or use.

⚠️Symptoms include being angry a lot, being over anxious, never happy, always judging others.

Identifying dry drunk syndrome

⚠️ It all starts with self awareness.

⚠️ This is critical because if we simply storm through your life and our recovery without paying close attention to our own emotional state then chances are good that we will at some point be knocked off balance and thus risk relapse.

⚠️ So we have to pay attention to our own emotional state and occasionally take action to correct it.

⚠️How quickly do we always recognize when we are getting restless, irritable, and discontent?

⚠️You might think that we can identify these states instantly but they can creep up on us sometimes.

⚠️Therefore we must make a conscious decision to recognize these emotional states and “catch ourselves” when we think we are going there.

⚠️ There are some things you can do once you realize you are sliding into this emotional state but if you never even realize it in the first place then these things will do you no good.

⚠️ Be aware of when things start sliding out of control.

⚠️ How can we practice this? By simply paying attention.

⚠️ Become aware of it and watch it happen in yourself. Notice it. This is a huge part of the solution and in fact it is almost the entire solution.

⚠️ Simply become more self aware and tune in to your own emotional state.

⚠️ Recognize where you are at throughout the day.

Strategies for overcoming dry drunk syndrome

1) Self awareness - Like we mentioned above, simply increasing your self awareness is a huge part of this process and can work wonders. The more mindful you can become of your own emotional state, the more protected you will become against becoming overly off balance.

2) Networking - If you are restless, irritable, and discontent, find someone who is even worse off than you are and then help them through it. This might sound ridiculous but it absolutely works.

One of the best ways to do this is to regularly work with newcomers in recovery. When we reach out and help others we actually help ourselves.

When we reach out to others and calm them down emotionally we are actually calming ourselves.

When we teach others the way to emotional balance we teach ourselves.

When networking with others in recovery becomes a habit then this creates a safety net.

This is why 12 step programs recommend daily meetings. If you are “plugged in” to this type of networking every single day then it can help protect you from becoming too far off in your emotional balance.

3) Action based recovery – one of the worst ways to fight dry drunk syndrome is to do nothing. If you don’t do anything to try and actively correct your emotional state then you run the risk of letting it progress into a true relapse. Essentially a dry drunk has already relapsed emotionally and is one step away from the bottle/pill/sniff or hit/fix. So the key is to pull yourself out of the emotional relapse. How can this happen?

Action. It is purposeful action that will make a difference in this case. Don’t think that you can sit around and wait for the solution to come to you. It won’t. You have to get out there and create your recovery.~

Remember that it is our natural state for addicts and alcoholics to be using drugs and alcohol. This is our “normal” behavior and we will return to it eventually unless we take action to do something else.~

For us, that “something else” that we need to do in recovery is to create a meaningful and purposeful life of sobriety. This doesn’t happen while sitting on a couch. You have to have vision and you have to chase your goals and you have to get out there and do stuff.

Find your passion and take action.~ Action items – what you can do:-

1) Tune in to your emotional state – so that you are aware if you are acquiring dry drunk syndrome.

2) Make a habit - of helping others in recovery as protection against relapse.

3) Focus on action in recovery – don’t do nothing.

© Addiction Actually.

07/01/2025

"Making a decision to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get my head on the pillow tonight drug and alcohol-free allowed me to catch my breath and begin the process of recovery!" - Jason Bowman - ASV Rehab at Home Program 2025.

https://www.addictionsolutionsgeelong.org.au

05/01/2025

Congratulations Harry, great job on the 14-year recovery milestone, keep up the good fight!

If you or someone you love is challenged by addiction, call Jason on 03 8374 7648

28/11/2024

Robert Downey Jr. refers to the loss of control that happens with the first drink...

11/11/2024

Eminem, - sober now for 16 years since 2008, has spoken openly in the past about his addiction to Vicodin, Va**um and alcohol. "My addiction didn't start in my early days when I was coming up," he explained in a piece of writing for XXL in September
2022. "My drug use started at the beginning of that first album."

Earlier this year in April 2024, the 51-year-old rapper took to Instagram showcase his black and gold recovery chip from the 12 Step Fellowship Narcotics Anonymous. The chip included a graphic of a tree, and three words in a circle that read: “Recovery, Unity, Service.”

Inside the black and gold circle, there was a triangle around the number 16, which symbolises the number of years that the father-of-three has been sober.

Narcotics Anonymous is a worldwide organisation, open to everyone - face to face and online. It is free and is proven by multiple robust research studies to be as effective, if not more effective at times as most other ways of quitting and finding recovery.

https://ukna.org/
https://meetings.ukna.org/
https://namaine.org/virtual-na-meetings-worldwide/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcotics_Anonymous

02/10/2024

03/08/2024

Kristen Davis. Addiction Actually
I’m a recovering alcoholic,” she says. Davis first began drinking when she was a teenager in South Carolina. Her parents had divorced when she was little, and she was awkward and insecure. “I’m kind of shy normally, so I felt like I needed help.

One thing led to another and I was drinking.” Soon enough, her grades began to plummet. She desperately wanted to be an actress, but after she started showing up to her acting classes badly hung over, she realized she had to choose between her passion and her addiction: “I thought, It’s going to be one or the other. I can’t really have both.” After a stint in rehab, Davis quit, and she has been sober for more than 20 years. Still, she feels a relapse can occur anytime. “Sure, sometimes I miss it,” she says. “Every once in a while, I’ll be with friends and they’ll be drinking red wine and I’ll think, in a really innocent way, Oh wow, that’s such a wonderful glass of red wine. Wouldn’t it be fun to drink it? Maybe it would be fine, but it’s really not worth the risk.”


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31/07/2024

Despite his achievements, Bateman has battled addiction and almost lost everything, but managed to find sobriety and get his career back on track.

23/07/2024

16/07/2024

“Calling ASV & completing the rehab at home core program was the best decision I have made in a long time” - Jake 2024