The Chief Cause of Post- Recovery Alcoholic Depression

Note: Through the meditation technique discussed here the author has 'medically" (under medical supervision) eliminated the need for antidepressants Effexor, Wellbutrin and Lexipro as well as other medications. He has fully recovered from clinically diagnosed depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, colitis, diverticulitis, alcoholism and drug abuse as well as sugar addiction and overeating.

Most alcoholics don’t actually fall asleep. They pass out. For the recovered sufferer without a dependable method for handling stress, this can be true long after they have first recovered and been abstinent.

There isn't much that is sadder than a self-described "recoverING" alcoholic, dry as a bone, brandishing bronze sobriety medals, sitting in church basements still feeling batshit crazy, even after decades of abstinence, inventories and meetings.

Once again, the Twelve Steps provides a spiritual tool to fit the bill. Unless those tools are utilized properly, depression, anxiety, PTSD and even bi-polar symptoms that ruled the alcoholic's life prior to recovery do resurface. Then it's back to the doctors, the head shrinks the therapists and to the pharmaceutical solutions that only treat symptoms and never treat causes.

World affairs, news stories, family troubles, relationship difficulties; sometimes it seems that there is nothing but negativity afoot. It can feel as if their is a dark veil of gloom over the head of the alcoholic, even one who doesn't drink anymore.

Never-mind what your therapist has told you. "Counselors" haven't got a clue and have been mis-educated on the subject of "substance abuse" and alcoholism.

The single cause for all post recovery depression has but one root and it draws out of forces the alcoholic does not understand.

Lack of resiliency against these forces are the reason for depression. Natural disasters, 9/11, serial killers, criminals getting away with abominable crimes – all such atrocities seem to exist for no other reason than to cause worry and spread resentment.

Alcoholism and depression is a combination of maladies that can be even more deadly than either of the two standing alone. This is a common co-morbidity that kills millions each year.

As observed by William D. Silkworth, Medical Director of the now infamous Townes Hospital - historically one of the most highly regarded hospitals in the world to treat alcoholic and drug addiction:

“They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks . . .” (“Alcoholics Anonymous, ‘The Doctors Opinion’, p 26)

The familiar expression "restless, irritable and discontent” describes how an alcoholic feels and are some of the clearest, typical signposts of depression. These symptoms are not complete. They are only part of the whole picture, since they depict merely the effects and not necessarily causes.

Filling in around all of these pockets of depression are the inane, personally irritating incidents that each of us experience privately: The untimely glob of mustard dripped off of a corned beef sandwich onto the floor, a mosquito bite, an itch; an ache, a pain, a fart in church; a missed elevator; all of these unpleasantries we encounter each day come in a continuous stream of personal affronts that never seem to stop. They never will.

The more sensitive we are to them the more negativity we take on and the heavier the load to stuff into our craw – into our psyche.

Each and every day that we go to bed at night we fall asleep having repressed a day’s worth of resentments. They move us closer and closer toward the next first drink and they pull us farther and farther away from conscious contact with our Creator.

That is, unless they have a way of dealing with the din of negativity that is simply life as we know it. This is where Step Eleven comes to the rescue. It can save the practitioner from the imperfect handling of stress throughout the day. Step Ten is designed to do it in real -time - but how many of us execute even near perfect adherence to their daily practice of principles? Precious few. "We are not saints"

If you fancy yourself a Twelve Step practitioner but have not got an effective way of dealing with stress all the day - you will let up on the spiritual program of action delineated in your Step Ten procedure (84:2) - you will be headed for trouble and the first sign of that trouble will be expressed in a very busy Step Eleven inventory at night. You would be lucky to stay awake long enough to complete it. It might get so bad it will start to resemble a Fourth Step inventory, with columns and in depth analysis - something Step Ten is not designed to be nor is necessary if truly practicing these principles in ALL affairs.

Whenever we make allowances for the negatively charged influences around us and suffer the cruel, unfair and offensive situations and the people who cause them, they no longer affect us negatively.

The simple attitude of patient neutrality is what real grace is. It prevents resentment from getting inside.

Then resentment remains on the doorstep to our psyche never gaining entry to serve as food for the ego-self. We remain graceful and unmoved; free to use our impartial, dispassionate vision to move naturally without struggling to make decisions. And ego remains hungry, subdued and right sized.

This is an essential element in being able to forgive. If you are depressed it is only because up to now haven't been able to. You have lacked grace. Give up resentment and grace is automatic; depression vanishes.

The sample meditation technique at the top of this page is very special. It will not replace your mind's stinking thinking with phoney thought substitutes and "my" will. I am not a hypnotist. What it will do is clear your mind of "your will" allowing Gods will to take over.

That clear vision, His vision, will afford you the clarity to see resentment before it penetrate you, before it crops up inside you and overtakes your thought processes. It will allow you to effortlessly separate the unforgiving you from the forgiving you.

When you do that, depression anxiety almost all forms of mental obsession and pressure of conscience will let up. Soon it will go away.

Peace & Love,

Danny S – RLRA

Real Live Recovered Alcoholic

http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com