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Addiction is a chronic and progressive disease that requires long-term maintenance to recover. Unfortunately, substance abuse affects millions of Americans each year. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 48.7 million people had a substance use disorder in 2022.[1]
The first step in recovering from drug addiction or alcoholism is attending a recovery program. Most people overcome their withdrawal symptoms in medical detox and then receive services in an inpatient or outpatient program. Even if you complete these steps, your work is not done.
To have a full and happy life in sobriety, you need to continue working at overcoming triggers, learning to regulate your emotions, fixing broken relationships, and finding out who you are without substances. Sometimes, doing the work can be hard, leading you to suffer from “white knuckling.”
When you are white-knuckling sobriety, that means you are dealing with negative emotions, behaviors, and outlooks without working to recover from them. Instead of getting better, you are simply surviving. White knuckling might also be referred to as dry drunk syndrome.
In this article, you will learn:
- What white knuckling is
- The risk of white-knuckling in recovery
- 5 signs that you are white-knuckling sobriety
What is White Knuckling in Recovery?
White knuckling is the act of staying sober simply on willpower alone. Instead of recovering from the root causes of your addiction and lessening your urges to use, you are hanging on to sobriety for dear life. While white-knuckling might keep you sober for some time, it increases your risk of relapsing substantially.
To develop healthy habits in addiction recovery, you need to engage in activities like support groups, medication-assisted treatment, and evidence-based treatments like therapy. You also need to reach out for support during times of need. If you were white-knuckling your sobriety, you would not be engaging in these activities and simply trying to stay sober by ignoring your underlying issues.
While not using drugs or alcohol, white-knuckling means you’re still struggling with the same emotional and behavioral issues that you were while in active addiction. To sustain sobriety, you have to commit to the recovery process by trusting your support system, going to regular meetings, engaging in therapy, and using the tools you learned during an addiction treatment program.
5 Signs You Are White Knuckling Sobriety
If you are worried that you might be white-knuckling your sobriety, look out for the following signs:
1. Euphoric Recall
Euphoric recall is a term that refers to remembering some aspect of your addiction in a positive light. If you find yourself romanticizing certain parts of your substance abuse, you might be white-knuckling your sobriety.
Instead of thinking about the positive parts of addiction, you should be remembering all of the negative things it brought into your life. Framing your substance abuse as a negative experience will help you improve in your recovery journey and prevent you from going back to drug or alcohol use.
2. Complacency
Did you finish your detox program and believe all your work was done? Maybe you feel like simply attending a drug and alcohol rehab program means you are finished with the recovery process.
Unfortunately, this type of thinking leads to complacency. Instead of continuing to improve, you will be stuck with all of the negative emotions, behaviors, and underlying causes of your addiction. This is a clear sign that you are white-knuckling your sobriety.
3. Experiencing Anger
Do you find yourself getting angry about the fact that you have to stay sober? Maybe you are mad that other people can drink alcohol and do drugs without experiencing the issues you suffered from. If so, you could be white-knuckling your recovery.
Over time, your anger at needing sobriety could manifest into blaming others for your problems and harboring resentments. Having resentments towards others and failing to accept blame for your substance abuse can increase your chances of relapsing and get in the way of maintaining sobriety.
4. Staying Sober for Other People
If you are staying sober simply to appease other people, like a partner or a parent, you are probably white-knuckling your recovery. To truly recover from addiction, you need to want it for yourself. If you are only staying sober for other people, you are less likely to engage in the healing processes that help you make lasting changes in your life.
5. Terminal Uniqueness
“Terminal uniqueness” is a term that is commonly used in recovery communities. It refers to flawed thinking that many people struggle with during early recovery. For example, if you believe that your situation with addiction is unique to you and other people are not experiencing similar issues, you suffer from terminal uniqueness.
This failure to recognize that addiction often causes similar struggles among other people will prevent you from getting the support that you need. As a result, you are more likely to white-knuckle your sobriety instead of truly recovering.
Find Help for Drug Addiction and Alcoholism
If you or a loved one struggles with a substance use disorder, it’s time to seek professional help. At the Mandala Healing Center, we help our clients recover from the root causes of their addiction, preventing anyone from feeling like they have to white-knuckle their sobriety.
Contact us today for more information on our drug and alcohol rehab center.
References:
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): HHS, SAMHSA Release 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Data
