Even a sip of rum can be playing with fire for a recovering alcoholic.

The dreams of addicts present a special case.  Dreams of relapse among addicts and alcoholics are common.  They can be unsettling and require careful attention.

Dear Carolyn,

I spent too many years drinking too much.  I guess my story is typical in that it took the deterioration of friendships, loss of close relationships, and the near-loss of my job to wake me up.  I went into rehab and turned my life around.  I've been sober for more than six months now and the world is a different place!  So you can imagine how disturbing it was for me to dream of drinking again!

In the dream I am in a mall pushing a shopping cart.  Everything around me is white.  The walls are white; the floors are white; the shopping cart is white – everything I can see is white except a glass of rum.  (I was not a rum drinker.  Mostly, I drank wine to excess.)  In the dream, I would take a sip of rum and then ask myself if I had to reset my “birthday.”  That’s the date of my sobriety.  It marks the beginning of a new life.  After the first drink, the answer was “no.”  So I had another drink and asked the same question, “Do I have to reset my birthday?”  Again it was “no.”

Then, I seemed to know I was dreaming.  I could see that I was going to get drunk and to hurt myself, to have to start over.  With that, I woke up.  Even though it seemed almost funny when I woke up, I felt relieved to leave the dream behind.

Signed,

Scared of a Relapse

Dear Scared,

Researchers suggest that dreaming of an addiction during recovery is indicative of the depth of work an addict is doing.  In other words, you are working on your rehabilitation during your waking hours as well as during your dreams!

The fact that you became lucid during this dream, that moment when you stepped back during the dream and were able to see what was happening from an objective viewpoint, is further evidence that you are not only working on your sobriety, but you are able to observe your own process fairly effectively.

Your dream is set in a sterile environment, all white, and may speak to an experiment that you (and any addict) might be mulling over.  You were not a rum drinker, but in the dream you begin taking sips of rum testing whether you become drunk and have to start the process of sobriety over.  In other words, you ask, “Could I get away with a careful sip of alcohol?”

Beware of this Dear Dreamer!  Some research suggests that dreaming of relapsing can weaken a recovering addict’s resolve.  Hold fast to this admonition from Summit Behavioral Health experts in Princeton, NJ:   You do not have control over what you dream about, and what you dream about does not have control over what you do.

Sweet Dreams to You!