Mark Phillips' Pages: Workbook: 4/27/08: Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome.

Jacob Lawrence, "The Party," 1935 — Jacob Lawrence, *The Party* (1935)

April 27, 2008:

Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome.

Memory lapses. Can't remember conversations, plans, decisions.

Emotional disproportion. Over-the-top responses to minor stresses or frustrations.

The rawness of all feelings, as though a blanket were lifted.

At first I took these things personally. I felt disrespected, for instance as though she weren't listening. With experience and patience I've come to understand better.

The game is rigged against addicts. It's miraculous that anyone could ever recover.