When you enter substance abuse treatment in Greenwich, you’ll learn a lot about the causes of substance use disorders, including co-occurring mental health conditions. However, some of the most vital things you’ll learn are what triggers are and how to manage them.
Once you identify your triggers, you can find the correct response to the overwhelming emotions and cravings they cause. Learn more about how a treatment program helps you understand and cope with triggers.
What Are Addiction Triggers?
A trigger is a stimulus that causes a reaction. Triggers are critical elements in why people with substance use disorders experience cravings.[1] In the context of addiction, a trigger causes a physiological and emotional reaction that prompts someone to seek out alcohol or drugs.
Dealing with this reaction is one of the most challenging aspects of getting sober, especially if you’re not entirely clear on what your triggers are.
Types of Triggers
You can experience both internal and external triggers, which are further broken down into categories.
Environmental Triggers
Environmental triggers refer to external factors, like people, things, and places, that remind you of substance use and can lead to a relapse if not managed correctly. Some of the most common ones are:
- Spending time with people who actively drink or do drugs
- Going to places that remind you of your addiction
- Seeing substance use in ads, movies, or television shows
These triggers can be especially challenging for people who are transitioning from treatment facilities to everyday life. Without any notice, they can come face-to-face with situations that jump-start cravings.
Emotional Triggers
These triggers are strong emotional reactions that are so uncomfortable you may be tempted to use substances to cope with them. Emotional triggers can include:
- Anger
- Grief
- Rejection
- Isolation and loneliness
- Fear
- High-stress levels
- Low self-esteem
Anything that elicits powerful feelings, whether positive or negative, can be a trigger. Since avoiding these emotions is not possible, you should focus on managing them, not preventing them.
Behavioral Triggers
Humans are creatures of habit, and it’s not only the positive ones that stick. Some behaviors and routines can remind you of substance use, starting that complex sequence of cravings that could cause a relapse. You might encounter these behavioral triggers:
- Doing activities you used to do while using substances
- Not having meaningful activities to pursue and feeling bored
- Skipping therapy sessions
- Going back to old sleeping and eating patterns
These behaviors may seem harmless at first, but they can lead to relapsing if you don’t take steps to understand and avoid them.
Psychological Triggers
Perhaps the most complex triggers are psychological ones. These are negative thoughts and beliefs that can quickly overwhelm you, leading you to seek relief from substance abuse. Ruminating on the past is a common psychological trigger, as is having self-doubt.
Bring up any psychological triggers with your therapist. Together, you can develop a plan to manage them.
How Substance Abuse Treatment in Greenwich Helps You Identify Triggers
Private therapy forms the foundation for many substance abuse treatment services. These sessions have many purposes, including helping you understand why you started relying on drugs or alcohol. Importantly, they also help you spot patterns in your behavior. Working with a therapist allows you to identify situations, thoughts, and feelings that prompted you to use substances in the past.
If you used to binge drink after a stressful day at work, for example, you can point to the trigger: feeling high levels of stress. Potential triggers aren’t always so easy to identify, however. That’s where therapy can genuinely help.
Your therapist will encourage you to pay close attention the next time you experience cravings. What prompted the physical reaction? Was it a thought, a person, a situation, or a feeling? If it were a person or situation, you’d have to go even further and see what emotions they elicited that made you want to use drugs or alcohol.
By journaling and keeping a vigilant eye on your moods, you can make an inventory of everything that could put you at risk of a relapse. That’s not where the work ends, however. The next step is to start managing your triggers.
Learning Coping Strategies During Substance Abuse Treatment in Greenwich
During addiction treatment, you will learn coping strategies that help you prevent a relapse. During the early part of your recovery, the best option is to try to avoid triggers. This gives you time to build confidence in your sobriety and continue healing.
Small things can make a difference. If seeing drinking or drug use prompts cravings, for example, look for trigger warnings before streaming a show or watching a movie. There are also many helpful sites online where other users have listed any triggering situations you may encounter in movies, books, and television shows.
However, you can’t avoid triggers forever. As you progress in your recovery, you’ll learn to confront and manage them.
Addiction recovery centers recommend practicing mindfulness for this purpose. Mindfulness is the act of focusing on the present moment, which helps reduce stress levels and improve emotional regulation.[2] Mindfulness can slow you down and prevent you from acting on an impulse.
Social support is also vital. When your triggers are emotional, you can’t always avoid them. Instead, speaking with someone about your feelings helps you work through your emotions.
Stress is one of the most common and dangerous triggers for many behavioral and mental health conditions, including addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety. Learning ways to cope with stress, like exercising and engaging in relaxing hobbies, can go a long way toward helping you avoid a relapse.
Connecticut Center for Recovery: A Trusted Rehab for Substance Abuse Treatment in Greenwich
If you’re battling a substance use disorder, choosing a rehab center that provides high levels of care can make all of the difference. At Connecticut Center for Recovery, we offer outpatient options that can address your exact needs. Contact our treatment center to learn more about our services.
Sources:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7186308/
[2] https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2012/01/mindfulness-matters
Alexis earned both a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S. in Family and Child Sciences from Florida State University and an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego. She holds licenses in Marriage and Family Therapy in Florida, Connecticut, and Massachusetts and is also a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
Alexis works with families, couples, children, and groups and also has a sub-specialty in addiction and recovery. She utilizes an integrated, systemic approach to counseling; empowering people to define what is not working for them in their lives and to discover the possibilities for making life work. In doing this, clients are guided towards identifying their strengths, accessing their resources, tapping into their potential for success, and taking action toward achieving their desired goals.
Alexis also has extensive experience in the administration of behavioral health organizations. She has developed, built, and supervised several facilities encompassing all levels of care while leading them through state licensing and The Joint Commission accreditation process.
