Relapse Triggers People, Places & Things Causing Cravings

By understanding what triggers are, learning how to identify yours, and learning how to cope with them, you can set yourself up for success in recovery one step at a time. Some types of triggers are commonly found across most people in the recovery population. The most common trigger is experiencing the presence of a drug or alcoholic drink. It’s something that makes you want to use drugs even though you’re sober. Most people in substance use recovery have more than one trigger. Understanding what they are, how to recognize the signs and how to stop them from leading you down a relapse path is essential to your long-term recovery.

What are psychological triggers?

In mental health terms, a trigger refers to something that affects your emotional state, often significantly, by causing extreme overwhelm or distress. A trigger affects your ability to remain present in the moment. It may bring up specific thought patterns or influence your behavior.

Sometimes it is impossible to avoid experiencing an emotion, change how you feel, or stop yourself from remembering a certain memory. We often use drugs to mask negative emotions, but not every threat to your resolve will be tied to a disagreeable feeling—your own drug use may be more closely tied to celebration than melancholia. As you focus on your addiction treatment and staying abstinent or becoming abstinent for the first time, be cautious of these internal triggers and try to identify which ones pressure you the most. One of the most common and detrimental internal triggers are emotions. Initially, many addicts first use drugs and alcohol to avoid unwanted emotions. Sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed often engage the feeling of not being in control. Rejection and abandonment are also major triggers for recovering addicts because it typically brings up feelings from their childhood.

How to Identify a Trigger

That 25 min story is the reinforcement to the $100 (it’s the external trigger – that story needs to have surprise and excitement in it). This can lead to you, as the story teller, to get more out of the person listening if the external triggers are exhibited correctly .

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Recovering individuals can carry out personal exercises where they make a list of the people, places and things that remind them of their substance-using life. Asking certain questions about external triggers can help prevent relapse. External triggers are easier to identify and manage than internal ones. Substance abuse treatment aims to help individuals internal triggers recognize the early warning signs of relapse and develop healthy coping skills to thwart a potential relapse. The transition back to life outside of rehab is fraught with the potential for relapse. Aftercare resources such as 12-step groups, sober living homes and support for family and friends promote a life rich with rewarding relationships and meaning.

Understanding Internal and External Addiction Triggers

Fortunately, there are many ways to cope with triggers in recovery. Internal triggers come from the person’s inner life and thoughts.

After transitioning out of rehab and heading back home or into a sober living program, every individual in recovery will encounter several triggers that can cause a relapse. The solution to overcoming this relapse trigger is to learn how to channel your positive feelings in a positive way, without the use of substance abuse. Believe it or not, some of the closest people to you can trigger a relapse. While it is difficult to step away from friends, family, and loved ones; sometimes, you may have to keep them at an arm’s length. In the process, you will be able to better maintain your abstinence and find it easier for you to recover.

Our Recovery Therapy Options

External triggers can be very powerful and sometimes, you may not be able to dissociate certain things with your past substance abuse. As a result, when you are confronted with those things, you https://ecosoberhouse.com/ may experience a very strong desire to drink or get high again. What may be a normal, everyday situation or minor inconvenience for some may be triggering to someone living with mental illness.

what are internal triggers

They help with forming positive social connections and help treat depression and anxiety in combination with other therapies. They come in the form of a feeling when someone makes a jokingly mean comment that is a big deal to another person, but it completely destabilizes you for the rest of the day. You can relate when somebody else expressed disapproval for you. Now you found yourself feeling off-center, and the feelings of anxiety, depression, guilt, or shame come about. These external triggers are very dangerous because the person will start to desire using drugs subconsciously without being aware they’ve become triggered. When abusing drugs for an extended period, the brain creates an association between daily life and drug experience.

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