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External triggers are easier to identify and manage than internal ones. Substance abuse treatment aims to help individuals recognize the early warning signs of relapse and develop healthy coping skills to thwart a potential relapse. Programs such as those offered by Ikon Recovery Center focus on helping individuals identify their unique triggers and develop tailored strategies to manage them. Tools like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness are frequently used to build emotional resilience and provide actionable coping mechanisms 2. At Ikon Recovery Center, treatment programs tackle both types of triggers using a range of approaches. External triggers might be addressed by changing environments or setting boundaries, while internal triggers often require therapeutic techniques like mindfulness or emotional regulation.
The Importance of Visual Arts in Substance Addiction Recovery
Long-term drug use creates an association in the brain between daily routines and drug experiences. Individuals may suffer from uncontrollable drug or alcohol cravings when exposed to certain cues. The cravings act as a reflex to external or internal triggers, and this response can even affect individuals who have abstained from drugs or alcohol for a long time.
- Recognizing stress as a common trigger is vital for those in recovery, as it can undermine their hard-fought progress.
- If social media notifications are constantly derailing your productivity, try turning them off during work hours.
- If the sight of junk food in your pantry is triggering unhealthy snacking, consider reorganizing your kitchen.
- Celebrate small victories and view setbacks as learning opportunities.
- Those who struggle with substance use disorder or alcohol use disorder will sometimes find themselves thinking fondly about past use.
What to Do After Identifying your Triggers in Addiction?
Boredom due to a lack of meaningful activities can trigger relapse. Minimize these triggers by leading a meaningful and low-stress life and getting professional help. At the Massachusetts Center for Addiction, we provide personalized, comprehensive treatment programs. We understand that each individual has unique needs, and we offer a variety of treatments, including partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) and intensive outpatient programs (IOPs). We’re united by our commitment to providing effective, relevant, and innovative mental health support at all stages of your journey.
Managing Internal Triggers
Internal triggers are emotions, feelings, thoughts, and memories that make the person want to use alcohol or drugs. It is more difficult to deal with internal triggers than with external ones. For example, they may not be able to control their thoughts or how they feel. It is easier to avoid a particular person or situation than to avoid feeling angry, sad, or depressed. Sometimes it is impossible to avoid experiencing an emotion, change how you feel, or stop yourself from remembering a certain memory.
- Friends and family may not understand the consequences of negative behaviors toward people in recovery.
- You also need to learn new ways to cope with the relapse triggers as well as your cravings so that you can overcome them and avoid relapse.
- Long-term drug use creates an association in the brain between daily routines and drug experiences.
Internal triggers are emotional or psychological experiences – like specific thoughts, feelings, or memories – that can spark urges for substance use. Unlike external triggers, which are linked to the environment, internal triggers demand deeper emotional work and self-awareness to handle effectively 1. Recovery from addiction is a challenging journey filled with obstacles, one of the most significant being the management of triggers. Triggers, whether internal or external, are cues that prompt individuals to crave substances, making it crucial to understand and anticipate them.
External triggers are environmental events and situations that make you want to use drugs or drink alcohol. This can be anything from certain social situations, responsibilities, and even specific places that trigger your desire to use again. Internal triggers aren’t limited to negative emotions; even positive emotions, like the thrill of success, can act as triggers 13. Recognizing these connections is key to creating effective coping strategies. Recognizing the difference between internal and external triggers is just the beginning. Recognizing addiction triggers is a critical step for individuals in recovery, as it helps pinpoint vulnerabilities and build effective coping tools 2.
External triggers have a powerful influence on our behavior because they tap into the automatic, subconscious processes that govern much of our decision-making and actions. When we encounter a trigger, our brain quickly assesses the situation and initiates a pre-programmed response, often without our conscious awareness or deliberation. Because many people begin using drugs to manage pressure, they might not know how to handle stress triggers if they haven’t developed other coping mechanisms. Like Pavlov’s dogs, which learned to salivate when they heard a bell ringing, people with addiction learn to crave drugs as a response drug addiction treatment to certain situations. Former drug or alcohol users are in denial during emotional relapse, but they do not have thoughts of using.
Instead, the aim is to become more aware of our triggers so we can make conscious choices about how to respond to them. This awareness gives us the power to shape our behaviors intentionally, rather than being at the mercy of unconscious influences. Jobs that expose you to the object of your addiction can be triggers. Bartenders who become addicted need to find another profession, as bars are notorious places for both alcoholism and drug addiction. If you work in a drug-infested environment, such as a restaurant or with others who addict, your chances of recovery fall to close to zero.
- Sometimes the trigger can induce a subtle passing negative thought that takes root and grows in your mind, such as self-pity or resentment.
- Understanding what triggers you to relapse and having a plan in place for these triggers are your first steps toward prevention.
- Establishing connections with supportive friends can address loneliness, and prioritizing rest may combat fatigue.
- If you went to certain events, such as concerts, high, then those events can trigger you.
What Is an Internal Trigger?
You might need to find alternative places to hang out or take time away from the family for self-care on a regular basis. For example, if you used drugs every time you were with a specific group of people, you might feel triggers whenever you’re in the same social situation. If you always cracked open a beer after you came home from work, took off your shoes and sat down in front of the TV, that routine may give you the urge to drink. Many people find that visiting certain places causes intense triggering in them.
Cocaine and several other illicit drugs also boost levels of dopamine. The Marquette researchers stated a stressed animal previously exposed to cocaine will crave the drug because the dopamine surge from cocaine trumps the release of stress-related dopamine. Calls to numbers on a specific treatment center listing will be routed to that treatment center.
Addiction and Mental Health Treatment Programs
- It’s about making more conscious choices and aligning our behaviors with our values and goals.
- For example, the sight of a fast-food restaurant might automatically trigger a craving for a calorie-dense meal, even if you’re trying to maintain a healthy diet.
- At the same time, there are also activities and behaviors that can serve as triggers.
People may be one of the more easily-avoided external triggers, mainly if they are people that used to be involved in substance use with the individual. By eliminating these people from the post-addiction life of recovery, many people are able to minimize the chance of relapsing due to associating with those who still use. These, and countless other things, are prime examples of external triggers, and they are going to be largely unavoidable. Individuals develop new thoughts, feelings and behaviors while using substances. These may include shutting family off, denying issues or justifying substance use. Healthier practices need to replace these negative internal processes in order to help people succeed in their path to a substance-free life.
As such, every effort must be taken to prevent people in recovery from relapsing. Remember, the key is to approach external triggers with intention and strategic thinking. Identify the triggers in your environment, both positive and negative, and take proactive steps to leverage the helpful ones while minimizing the detrimental ones.