PAWS, also known as Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome, is often a major factor when a person relapses. The symptoms of PAWS can cause a person to think he/she is going “crazy,” is just losing it. And as a result, they frequently relapse if they are unable to deal with the PAWS issues.
There are six basic types of PAWS symptoms, each of which can be further broken down and discussed. The basic symptoms are: 1 – an inability to think very clearly, 2 – memory problems, 3 – emotional overreaction or emotional numbness, 4 – disturbances of sleep, 5 – physical coordination issues, 6 – sensitivity to stress.
When one, or more, of these symptoms is present, a person can become greatly distressed, and may turn to addictive behaviors, may relapse, to alleviate that distress.
PAWS is present, to varying degrees, in all recovering persons. It is exhibited in four basic styles: 1 – regenerative (getting better over time), 2 – degenerative (getting worse over time), 3 – stable (no great changes), 4 – intermittent (comes and goes). The time it takes to overcome PAWS can vary greatly, and the degree to which it will be eventually be eliminated is determined, to a large extent, by the amount of damage a person has done to their mind, their body.