Instead, approach them with curiosity to get more insight on what may have triggered them. I know that triggers can be very powerful, but they are just road bumps on your journey to recovery, not obstacles that you can’t overcome. Specific places can bring up powerful memories from the past, and even just looking at the picture of a place may be enough to trigger internal and external triggers someone with a strong emotional attachment to that place. Sometimes a familiar setting or familiar weather will cause someone to have thoughts of using again. For example, watching a football game may make someone crave a beer because they’ve always drank beer while watching football. In this case, a Sunday football game would be a trigger for that person.

For example, a trigger may elicit a physical reaction, such as heavy breathing or sweating. These feelings can be very difficult to address and quite detrimental to mental health. A wide array of negative emotions, such as anger, sadness, and anxiety, characterizes the emotional relapse stage of addiction relapse.

What Are Some Holistic Approaches for Relapse Prevention?

By learning to be very kind to my anxious inner child, I eventually healed this trigger. Learning to recognize and manage your emotional triggers can take some time, but this effort can pay off in some major ways when it comes to your relationships and overall well-being. Emotion regulation is a difficult skill to master for most people, and it’s not always easy to identify triggers on your own. Your usual response to this trigger, which is shutting down, usually only makes you feel worse. Instead, you resolve to start a conversation with your partner next time these emotions come up. When it comes to managing emotional triggers, much of the work lies with you.

When someone else’s actions trigger your emotions, opening up may help you avoid a similar situation with them in the future. On any given day, you probably experience a range of emotions —excitement, unease, frustration, joy, disappointment. These often relate to specific events, such as meeting with your boss, talking current events with a friend, or seeing your partner. Our suggestion is to promote resilience as a therapeutic tool to treat frustration.

Identifying Internal Triggers

Triggers can bring a person back into an emotional state they were in before recovery. This can be very problematic for someone in recovery because it can make them want to use again. Triggers bring up intense memories and feelings of using substances. They can be internal, such as feelings, or external, like coming into contact with people, places, and certain stressors.

Once someone in recovery knows what triggers them, they are in a much better position to stay sober one day at a time. Just because you’ve relapsed doesn’t mean you’ve completely failed. Triggers that happen outside of the individual are not necessarily beyond control. There are multiple reminders of substance use in a former drug user’s life, including people, places and things. Asking the right questions and taking the correct steps can enable people in recovery to healthily transition to their normal life without risking a relapse.

Ways to Cope

It’s difficult to control our triggers; however, we can learn from our experiences. We can apply what we learn to manage and limit the risk of being re-triggered. We can’t diminish or dismiss the trigger or only focus on what happens after we’re triggered — we must also focus on what we can do beforehand. Strategies should seek to eliminate, avoid and reduce the impact of triggers and emotional reactions. Each person must identify what works best for them through trial and error. Different coping strategies may work for different triggers and emotions.

• If you are in a self-help program, ask for help in a meeting or with a confidant.
• The correlation between mental health and addiction has been studied extensively, with addiction treatment facilities now offering dual diagnosis programs.
• She is the author/co-author of nine books, including the internationally best-selling Do I Have to Give Up Me to Be Loved by You?
• While avoiding former drug dealers may seem obvious, it is also important to avoid spending time with, or communicating with, people you know who use drugs.

The are many triggers in each category that were not mentioned, but once you have identified your triggers, use some tools like the thought records or talk to someone. If you are in a self-help program, ask for help in a meeting or with a confidant. You can overcome the power of these triggers with help and prevent a relapse of substance abuse. While many triggers can be negative experiences, it is important to note that positive events can trigger relapsing as well. Once you know your triggers, the first step toward healing them is considering their origins.

The Subjective Concept and Neurobiology of Stress and Addiction

Now it’s time to lean into acceptance so you can walk it steady and sure. If you don’t already have a trusted therapist, you may want to meet with several before finding one you feel comfortable with who meets your needs. Therapy tends to take time, so having patience with yourself and the process can be essential to long-term success.