Addiction recovery can be challenging for many reasons, one of which is Trigger causing Relapse.
Recently, there has been a survey with the American adults who either wanted to stop drinking alcohol or had already tried to. Out of all the people who took part in the survey, almost 30% of people never showed any sign of relapses.
The largest group relapsed back to addiction within the first year of their after stopping was 32%. This number started dropping to 22% in the second year, 9.6% in the five years, and almost 7% after five years.
Though it is difficult to find the specific trigger for relapse, it is possible to understand the triggers and come up with countermeasures to deal with them.
Today, in this article, we will discuss the addiction triggers and how to avoid them to prevent relapses.
Table of Contents
What Are Addiction Triggers?
Triggers are basically events, incidents, things, or even people that make you urge the cravings. In fact, it is the trigger why relapses happen.
For some, seeing old friends and loved ones is enough to trigger them to start drinking again. While for others, the stress of performing well in the workplace is enough to end their day with a drink.
Whatever the cause, a trigger is expected while recovering from addiction. And like any other facet of recovery, expecting things that might happen and coming up with a plan to deal with them is the best course of action.
To learn more about the strategies and plan, see this page.
Types Of Triggers
Triggers often vary in severity and from person to person. Hence, it is really difficult to tell what might trigger a particular individual.
Knowing the types of triggers will help you better understand the triggers.
Internal Triggers
Internal triggers spark from within the person suffering from addiction. These usually happen to fill the void and make them feel complete. Unfortunately, these intrusive thoughts and feelings can ultimately lead to relapses.
Here are a few examples of internal triggers.
- Thoughts: Triggers hidden in the form of thoughts are more dangerous than any other triggers as they tend to connect with your internal emotion easily. As a result, this creates a complex situation to navigate.
- Emotions: One of the most common and influential triggers is emotion. In fact, the unstable emotion made the person start with the addiction. Hence, when they try to stop their addiction, the same emotion can act as a trigger.
- Memories: painful memories of the past can sometimes act as triggers, and memories often tend to trigger your thoughts and emotions. Thereby causing a ripple in your emotions which act as a trigger.
External Triggers
External triggers are generally referred to as the outside trigger. These triggers are easy to navigate through by simply avoiding them.
However, there have been cases where the external triggers trigger the internal trigger. In such cases, dealing with the external trigger becomes difficult.
Here are a few examples of external triggers.
- Sounds.
- Smell.
- Taste.
- Places.
- People.
- Seasons.
- Cash.
- Trauma.
- Music.
- Events.
How To Avoid Addiction Triggers?
It takes constant management of your actions to live a life of sobriety after the addiction treatment.
Once you leave the addiction rehabilitation center, you get the opportunity to live your life free from addiction, provided you are avoiding the triggers.
Triggers can spur any moment in your life. However, if you are careful enough, it isn’t hard to avoid the trigger and relapses.
Follow the steps to avoid triggers.
Step 1: Identify Your Triggers
Each person has different triggers. Addiction is a gateway from stress for some people, while their friends can be the triggers. You never know what can be defined as triggers.
Hence, ask yourself:
- What makes you think about alcohol and drugs?
- Which situation increases the urge to try alcohol?
- For what reason do you use substances?
Asking yourself questions like these will help you understand your triggers. Once you have understood your triggers, you can take appropriate measures to avoid them.
Step 2: Avoid Stress
Stress is a daily part of your life. Without stress, you might feel like living your life under a stone. That being said, you do not have to go towards addiction to relieve your stress.
No matter what you do, you cannot completely negate stress from your life. However, you can certainly try practicing things that help you organize your stress.
For instance –
- Take a deep breath.
- Do some exercise.
- Play any form of sports.
– Where you can release your stress.
Step 3: Ask Others For Help
For some people, the trigger is their friends and family – being around them will make you lose your mind, and to cool off, you need substances. When a person or the person’s action acts as a trigger, recognize the situation and turn to someone for help.
Whether you need to reach out to professionals or family members, do so! Just don’t wait until that guidance comes to you.
Step 4: Stay Busy & Motivated
Finally, keep yourself busy to avoid boredom. Having nothing to do will make you remember the things related to addiction, and this can trigger relapses.
Stay busy in your free time to keep your mind away from addiction. It is a perfect self-care to avoid triggers and relapses.
Get Help!
Addiction triggers are a normal thing while you are recovering. Experts consider the triggers while treating your addiction.
Hence, you do not have to be worried about the triggers and Relapse. Instead, you must focus on coming up with strategies and plan to deal with the triggers.
Triggers can happen anytime; knowing what triggers your urges to try drinking and taking substances again is important. This will help you understand the things you need to avoid.
If you are suffering from addiction, seek professional help to treat yourself. Professionals are well trained in dealing with cases like yours and will be of great help!
