Coping with Triggers and Learning To Avoid Temptations. Identifying your Triggers
The important step of recovery planning usually takes place while an individual is still in a treatment setting.
During the course of the treatment program, addiction recovery counselors help patients examine the triggers in their lives that have led to addiction, and come up with steps post-discharge to manage or avoid these potential triggers.
Specific triggers are unique to each person, but some are fairly universal. They are:
Continuing friendships with users. Nothing threatens sobriety more than returning to social situations where drug and alcohol use are common.
Extreme emotional states. Depression, stress, frustration and anxiety provoke a reflexive desire to use substances in order to relieve the discomfort of these emotional conditions.
Living conditions. Returning to the same dysfunctional or isolated living situation will reactivate the addiction memory, the behaviors that led to substance use in the living environment and/or the people in it.
Social settings. Parties or events where alcohol or drugs are common can quickly trigger a relapse. Someone in the early phase of recovery should avoid all social scenes where substance use is abundant.
Deep-seated childhood traumas. Dysfunctional family dynamics, childhood abuse or trauma can set into motion coping mechanisms that later develop into substance abuse.
Careful and thorough coaching by a professional addiction counselor is key to helping an individual with an addiction identify their specific triggers, and to make a plan to manage them.
Making a Relapse Prevention Plan
Residential treatment programs provide a highly structured environment, allowing patients to stabilize without risk of using. Having a solid strategy prepared for discharge from a treatment program is key to navigating obstacles that can sabotage the newly sober.
The work involved to make an effective plan is invaluable and should not be underestimated. Deep reflection, honesty and cooperation with a counselor can produce a detailed plan to navigate through the people, places and things that can derail your hard-won sobriety.
Set boundaries. [You] must be completely free of old lifestyle, including friends and social groups. Develop as many accountable partners as possible, [get] a sponsor and develop healthy coping mechanisms. I am thankful for every single moment of my life.
Ful Article:
https://www.addictioncenter.com/treatment/coping-triggers/
