This is, in reality, the punishment phase of your wrongdoing. It's truly a terrible feeling, and the most helpful thing you can do is take it as a sign from somehwere or something that there need to be changes made in something in your life. Do not be surprised if the courts are very willing to postpone these charges, because the longer they give you, the more likely they are to see what you are really made of, now that you've come to their attention. A simply astonishing number of people get that second DUI while waiting to appear in court for the first one. For all of the reasons, the feelings, the anxieties you've mentioned. If your coping methods involve self numbing with alcohol, it's going to be darn near irresistible to avoid using your favorite coping techniques. Get help. Even if you really don't think you need to, get into a program, do some counseling, decide if you need to give up alcohol forever. And everything you do in regards to getting your life in hand is going to be something that a court will look at favorably. They tend to think poorly of people who come to court with or without representation and try to say they weren't really drunk, this was a misperception by the police, yada yada. Instead of wringing your hands, do the next best things. Get your life organized, do everything you can to demonstrate that you regret this and do not intend for it ever to happen again, REGARDLESS of what happens to you this time.