I come from a family of Alcoholics. Some members have been sober for years and others are recovering and having a whole lot of trouble doing it. One particular person in my family has been to rehab more than five times and still hasn’t accomplished anything.

Over the years of growing up around Alcoholics I’ve grown to know a bit of the “lingo”-I guess you can call it that. One term in particular I have heard many times-The dry drunks. Until recently I never even thought about what it meant. My mom mentioned it, concerning my sister and so I finally asked what it was. Her definition was simple…you act drunk when you haven’t drank.

Dry Drunk Syndrome occurs when an Alcoholic returns to their old way of thinking and behavior as when they were still drinking, but they never take a drink.

The term “Dry Drunk” contains two significant terms for an alcoholic. “Dry” refers to the person no longer drinking. “Drunk refers to the pathological condition that resulted from the prior alcohol use. Dry Drunk simply means intoxication without Alcohol.

I understand a lot of things, but Dry Drunk Syndrome and Alcoholism in general is so hard for me to understand. No matter how much I have had to deal with it and no matter how much I research it…I still don’t understand it. Maybe someday some part of it will make some sense.