Do you know what a drug and alcohol relapse trigger is? Do you know how critical it working with triggers is to relapse prevention? This article will answer those questions.
A fundamental skill to be learned when practicing drug and alcohol relapse prevention is learning how to handle drug and alcohol relapse triggers.
One of the important sober living skills people in recovery from drug and alcohol problems need to learn is how to identify and process relapse triggers. But what is a relapse trigger? Simply stated:
A relapse trigger is any person, place, thing, or situation which reminds a person of their drug and alcohol use.
Obviously that definition covers a wide spectrum of events and situations. The person in recovery has the job of identifying these triggers and working out a coping strategy. This at first, appears to be a confusing and daunting task. But it can be greatly simplified if we think of relapse triggers as being in one of two categories:
1. The person, place, and things you can avoid.
2. The person, place, and things you cannot avoid.
In the first group, we might be talking about avoiding going to bars, the places where drugs were purchased, and parties. A question to be asked when considering a situation of this nature is “Am I exposing myself to needless risk, yes or no?” In early recovery especially, it is very smart to be overly cautious and conservative. The consequences of underestimating the power of addiction are severe.
Regarding the second set of situations, things you cannot avoid planning and forethought is the key. Some examples of things you cannot avoid are: relatives or family situations, exposure to liquor advertising, the fact that in the real world drink and do drugs and you can’t.
In the latter case, the solution is limiting your exposure, setting boundaries, rules, and limitations. When push comes to shove, it also helps to have convenient escape plan to exit the situation and get away from whatever it is that is triggering thoughts of using alcohol or drugs.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
While these are really simple concepts to follow, they can be challenging if you don’t want to lose old friends who hangout at places that may be a trigger. Sometimes an action such as moving to another city may be what it takes so the recovering alcoholic or drug addict can find new friends and maintain a sober lifestyle.