I am finally sober so why are my emotions still so discombobulated? The haze does not vanish overnight unfortunately. The brain, in fact, is the slowest part of our bodies to recover from the savageness that we inflicted while we were abusing our chosen substance. Many people joke about it, but there are many brain cells that destroyed during our addiction. The sad part is that our bodies don’t produce new cells, but it has the ability to rewire itself and that takes time.
The determination factor on the emotional and intellectual symptoms that you may end up experiencing will vary according to the drug or drugs you used, how long, how heavily they were in taken, and lastly how well your brain responded to the withdrawal from them.
It is normal for people in recovery to feel that their emotions are very unpredictable, and they may have mood swings from end of the spectrum to the other. Some of those may be: depression, anxiety, and panic. A rule of thumb is one month of haziness for every year of drinking/drugging. However, that is not always the case due to our bodies and other factors.
Short-term memory may have diminished, and you may experience lack of concentration. These symptoms are typically universal, but they will diminish over time. For some it is within the first 4 months of sobriety, while others it is around the six-month mark.
Lastly, take it all in stride because if not you could possibly be setting yourself up for a relapse. Take it one day at a time, and one battle at a time.