From Pink Cloud to Pain and Panic

MOST OF us, when we first came into AA. experienced a pink-cloud period. For a while, nothing could compare with the bliss of discovering that we could get along without drinking. But when the newness of our release passed, there were problems which seemed to cause us more difficulties and pain than ever. The problems had been there before, but we had been anesthetized; we had been unable to feel. We had drowned our feelings. When the dulling effects of alcohol were gone, the pain came through with new sharpness.