How To Deal With A DUI

There is nothing fun about getting arrested. Unless it’s a life goal of yours to be arrested and have a jail sentence under your belt, it’s not something you want considering that an arrest on your record can affect you for the rest of your life. 

Sometimes, the arrest isn’t something you anticipate. You have one too many glasses of wine but you feel fine to drive, and then you’re pulled over and you’re over the limit. It doesn’t have to be by much, but even being slightly over the limit can land you with a DUI and then it’s game over. Well, kind of. A DUI in some states has minimum mandatory sentences attached to it, and it’s only under the careful guidance of the right lawyers that you can hope to have a lighter sentence than others. Dealing with a DUI is not always easy, and there are several stages that you’re going to go through with it. Let’s take a look!

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1. The first stage of a DUI is shock and denial. It’s the initial numb reaction that you would have when arrested for a DUI. Most people try to hide the fact that they’ve been arrested for a DUI in the past – and it makes sense. It’s one of the most irresponsible things that you can do, so you need to get through the shock of the situation so that you can learn to handle it.
2. The next stage is guilt. No one ever died from being arrested for a DUI, but plenty of people have died as a result of someone driving under the influence. There will be a lot of self-doubt involved in being involved in a DUI, and for many people, it’s an almost unbearable feeling. You will survive this, but there are others who wouldn’t and if you are at fault of that, it’s a much bigger mess!
3. After you’ve felt the two first stages, anger and bargaining comes next. You’ll be angry if the circumstances of the DUI are inflated by the police report. Say you did have just one glass of wine too many and no one was hurt, you’re likely to feel shamed by the cops after you’ve been arrested. It’s normal to feel angry about your circumstances, but it’s equally important to realize that you were in the wrong and you have to accept the consequences of the actions that you took.
4. Depression often comes as part of the package after an arrest. It’s a very lonely thing to go through and you can feel like no one knows what’s going on or why. So, you must allow yourself to self-reflect and feel depressed about it. You need to reflect on what you did to know that you did wrong – and that you won’t ever do it again.
5. Life will – eventually – be on the up. You’ll feel calmer, more self-aware and you’ll feel like you have a handle on yourself once more. Dealing with a DUI is a scary thing to do, but once you’ve done it you can breathe and start to move forward in acceptance.