The road to recovery from addiction has many challenges, but the intensification of dreams does not have to be one of them. The return of one’s dreams is normal, a good sign, and can be an ally in processing the upwelling of emotion that occurs during the recovery process.
Those who vow abstain from using their addictive substance of choice face many challenges in the early stages – cravings, loss of a familiar way of coping, boredom, periods of emotional intensity and a need to shift away from familiar habits and social patterns that went along with their substance use. What those in recovery don’t expect is to be further challenged (or helped) by their dream life.
Dreams of substance use are common among those in early recovery. They are often vivid enough to feel entirely real. For example, early in his abstinence from alcohol, ‘John’ dreamt of being at a party, carousing with his friends, downing a drink and reaching for another, firmly embedded in his pre-recovery life… only to wake and realize he had been dreaming. According to Kelly & Greene (2019), a ‘using dream’ leads to initial feelings of guilt and remorse, as if one had actually stepped off the wagon. This is typically followed by a sense of relief that the relapse didn’t happen in waking life, and that relief is a good sign.
Counsellor Aubrey Johnson, a student in my Embodied Experiential Dreamwork program, specializes in working with clients in addiction recovery. As her project for the class, she presented on the ‘using dreams’ of those in the recovery process. She said the research validates what she has often witnessed: the intensification of dreaming, especially in the early stages of recovery. In fact, these dreams are so intense they can be characterized as nightmares, and are a known phenomenon in addiction medicine.
One study (Millios, 2016) found that a full 84% of those pursuing sobriety were having substance-related dreams at 7 weeks’ abstinence. After a couple of months, the frequency of using dreams begins to diminish quickly, but they can revisit for a lifetime. Johnson says this make sense because recovery is also a life-long process. And although the study found REM rebound dreams peak at 7 weeks, she has seen the intense dreaming last for several months in some cases, and for the dreams to bring up challenging emotions associated with addiction.
What Induces Dreams of Using?
On a physiological level, REM Rebound accounts for much of the increased dream frequency and intensity. Many addictive substances, including alcohol, cannabis and benzodiazepenes suppress REM sleep and dreams. These substances can also disrupt natural sleep cycles, creating a deficit in REM/dreaming. When a person stops using a REM suppressant, their body immediately begins to make up for the REM deficit. Until natural sleep rhythms are restored, the person in early recovery will experience longer and more intense dream-rich sleep.
This explains why there are so many dreams, but why dreams of using? If Freud was right that some dreams express fulfillment of wishes, these dreams can be an unconscious reflection of the desire to use, and return to memories of euphoric experiences while under the influence. We tend to dream about powerful emotions, and especially those we repress, so it’s not surprising that memories of substance use will be woven into the dreams of those in recovery. It’s similar to the common experience of dreaming of one’s ex-partner in the weeks and months following a difficult break-up.
Addiction is now being understood not as a disease but as a way to self-regulate, often a response to trauma and overwhelming emotions (eg. Winhall & Porges, 2022). Addictive behaviors can stall emotional growth as challenging feelings are not being processed, but rather bypassed or numbed. The recovery process involves acknowledging hard feelings that have long been avoided, and learning alternative ways to be with and metabolize them. One of the functions of dreaming is emotional regulation; more turbulent feelings tend to express themselves in more intense dreaming. Rather than see this a problem, I suggest making the dreams allies in the recovery process, an aid to emotion processing. Encourage your clients to befriend the dreams, listen to them, welcome them, and in turn they will become friendlier, clearer and more helpful.
Are Using Dreams Helpful or Dangerous?
There is some conflicting evidence about whether dreams of using promote or prevent relapse, a great fear amongst those on that path to recovery. In keeping with the many theories of dreaming as a simulation, Kelly & Greene suggest using dreams may be a way of rehearsing situations that might tempt one to relapse, increasing awareness and motivation to stay sober. However, dreams of using can also increase cravings because they return the dreamer to a lived experience they may be missing.
Johnson, who works with the ‘using’ dreams of those in her practice, suggests some helpful practices for others who work with the dreams of those in recovery from addiction. She said it’s helpful to tell clients that using dreams are normal and highly prevalent, and they do not indicate potential relapse or that anything is going wrong. In fact, discussing the dreams can help the client struggling to adapt to abstinence by providing images that aid in processing the spectrum of emotions associated with the recovery process.
Kelly, J. F., & Claire Greene, M. (2019). The reality of drinking and drug using dreams: A study of the prevalence, predictors, and decay with time in recovery in a national sample of U.S. adults. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 96, 12–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2018.10.005
Millios, R. (2016). Dreams in Recovery: “Using” and Relapse Dreams – What Do They Mean? American Addiction Centers. https://recovery.org/pro/articles/dreams-in-recovery-using-and-relapse-dreams-what-do-they-mean/
Winhall, J., & Porges, S. W. (2022). Revolutionizing Addiction Treatment with The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model. International Body Psychotherapy Journal, 21(1).