When you hear someone talking about pink clouds, you might envision cotton candy, unicorns, rainbows, and other blissfully happy concepts. In the recovery community, however, pink clouds can be a red flag. At Cottonwood, in Tucson, Arizona, we treat people who have struggled with addiction, and we know that sometimes too much of a good thing can be dangerous.
What is Pink Cloud Syndrome?
Pink cloud syndrome is a common phenomenon among people who are often fresh out of withdrawal, new to recovery, and elated about their ability to maintain their sobriety. Pink cloud syndrome is not a medical or mental health diagnosis, but it is something that many people in recovery recognize in others and may have experienced themselves. Symptoms include:
- Euphoria, hope, optimism
- Enthusiasm for recovery
- Overconfidence in one’s ability to maintain sobriety
- Increased emotional awareness
- Naïve outlook
What’s Good About Pink Clouding?
After a rough experience, it’s normal to need and want some joy and hope. It can be a really beautiful thing to believe in yourself again and see the potential for happiness. For recovery to happen, you need to believe that it is possible, and pink cloud syndrome can give a person that much-needed boost of faith. It is an opportunity to reconnect with your feelings and establish or rebuild meaningful relationships.
What’s the Problem?
Pink cloud syndrome is generally a short-lived honeymoon period when a person is feeling good about recovery. While they have every reason to be pleased with themselves and their accomplishment, recovery is difficult. A person who is pink clouding is likely to underestimate the difficulties they will face in staying sober. If the person is not able to be realistic about the challenges ahead of them, they will make choices that place them at higher risk for relapse, such as alienating themselves from their support system and ignoring the need to attend therapy and recovery meetings.
How Long Does it Last?
As the mental noise of addiction goes away, usually a few days to a few weeks after a person finishes the detox phase, the pink cloud often descends. It often remains for a few weeks or even several months. For some people, it comes and goes throughout their recovery. If the person is able to keep their feet on the ground by listening to people with more experience and knowledge about sobriety, such as their sponsor and others in their recovery group, and focus on building the tools they need for long-term recovery, they will optimize their chances of staying sober even after the euphoria ends.
What Comes After the Pink Cloud?
Unfortunately, pink clouds don’t last forever and they are often followed by PAWS (post-acute withdrawal syndrome), as the person in recovery regains the full range of human emotions again. The recovering individual’s feelings and emotions may have been numbed by substances before, but now they are back and the person has to learn how to manage them without drugs or alcohol. Some of the symptoms of PAWS include:
- Difficulty focusing
- Memory problems
- Sleep disturbances and fatigue
- Moodiness
- Anxiety
- Depression
How to Manage Pink Clouds and PAWS
Whether you’re experiencing the elation of pink cloud syndrome or the pain of PAWS, you can take action now to reduce your risk of relapse:
- Stick with your routine. Don’t start skipping recovery meetings, therapy sessions, or whatever else has made you successful up to this point.
- Utilize your network. Your sponsor and other people who have been in recovery for a while can share priceless knowledge if you are open to hearing them. Your therapist, your family members, your spiritual leader, and other people you trust can also provide you with reality checks if you are confident that they will be honest with you.
- Journal about your feelings. All of these highs and lows you are feeling right now can be a powerful tool for navigating your feelings today–and help you remember how and why you got sober to begin with.
- Be consistent in your self-care. Keep getting the sleep, nutrition, exercise, and medication you need, whether you’re feeling amazing or horrible.
At Cottonwood, we treat our patients with their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs in mind. We believe that wellness requires a trauma-informed, whole-person, individualized approach that considers not only our patients’ substance use history but also their dreams, experiences, and cherished relationships.
