Pronunciation: dih-LEER-ee-um TREE-menz
Simple meaning
Delirium tremens is a severe and dangerous form of alcohol withdrawal.
It is sometimes called the DTs.
Delirium tremens can involve confusion, agitation, shaking, fever, hallucinations, seizures, and serious medical danger.
This is not the same as simply feeling shaky after drinking. It is a medical emergency.
Medical note
This page is for word study only. It is not medical advice.
Alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous and can be life-threatening. Delirium tremens is a medical emergency. Anyone at risk of severe alcohol withdrawal should seek medical help.
A person who may be going through severe alcohol withdrawal should not try to manage it without medical assistance.
Older meaning
The word delirium refers to a disturbed mental state with confusion, disorientation, or altered awareness.
The word tremens comes from the idea of trembling or shaking.
Together, delirium tremens points to a condition involving both disturbed mental state and severe physical symptoms.
That matters in Big Book study because the phrase is not casual language.
It refers to the serious physical and mental danger that can come with advanced alcoholism and withdrawal.
Why this phrase matters
Delirium tremens matters because it shows the physical seriousness of alcoholism.
Some readers may pass over the phrase because it sounds old-fashioned or medical.
Others may know it only as “the DTs” from recovery meetings.
But the phrase points to something dangerous and real.
The Big Book was written in a time when many alcoholics reached hospitals, sanitariums, jails, or death before finding help. Delirium tremens belonged to that world of serious physical collapse, not just social trouble or bad behavior.
The phrase reminds readers that alcoholism can affect the body, the mind, the family, and the spirit.
Delirium tremens and “the DTs”
In recovery rooms, people may say the DTs instead of delirium tremens.
That shorthand can make the phrase sound almost ordinary.
But the condition itself is not ordinary.
A person talking about “the DTs” may be referring to severe withdrawal symptoms, hallucinations, shaking, confusion, or a frightening physical and mental state connected with alcohol withdrawal.
The exact medical meaning should not be guessed casually.
If severe alcohol withdrawal is possible, medical help matters.
Delirium tremens and wet brain
In the Big Book, delirium tremens appears near the phrase wet brain.
Both phrases point toward severe physical and mental consequences of alcoholism.
They are not the same thing.
Delirium tremens is connected with severe alcohol withdrawal.
Wet brain is commonly used for serious alcohol-related brain damage, often connected with long-term heavy drinking and nutritional deficiency.
Because the phrases appear near each other, readers may remember them together. But they should not be treated as interchangeable.
Why modern readers may miss it
Modern readers may not hear the full phrase delirium tremens very often.
They may hear the DTs instead.
They may also read the phrase quickly because it appears in older medical language.
But older medical terms in the Big Book often carry important meaning.
They show how seriously alcoholism was being described: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
The Big Book does not present alcoholism as a mild habitual problem.
It presents it as a dangerous condition requiring real help.
Common misunderstanding
A common misunderstanding is to think delirium tremens just means shaking.
Shaking can be part of alcohol withdrawal, but delirium tremens is more serious than ordinary shakiness.
Another misunderstanding is to think the DTs are just a colorful recovery phrase.
They are not.
Delirium tremens refers to severe alcohol withdrawal and possible medical crisis.
A third misunderstanding is to think a person should “tough it out.”
That can be dangerous.
Medical help may be necessary.
Study note
This website works best with a copy of the Big Book in your hand.
As you read, notice how the Big Book uses medical and physical language to describe alcoholism.
Delirium tremens belongs near ideas such as physical collapse, mental suffering, hospitalization, wet brain, and the seriousness of untreated alcoholism.
The phrase is rare, but it is not minor.
It helps show why alcoholism was treated as more than poor judgment or lack of willpower.
Big Book study references
Look for this phrase near pages 7 and 110.
Page references are to the printed Fourth Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Related words
wet brain
alcoholic
allergy
phenomenon
craving
obsession
insanity
delusion
malady
spiritual malady
hopeless
recovered
sanity