Recognizing and understanding addiction triggers is vital for those in recovery. This is because triggers can be anywhere, even in places a person may not expect. Those in recovery have to be careful to protect themselves by being aware of their personal needs. This includes identifying their personal addiction triggers, as well as having a relapse prevention plan in place.
Addiction treatment programs help their clients by training them to recognize and navigate the addiction triggers they may encounter. Inside addiction treatment facilities, such as Painted Desert Recovery, addiction triggers are eliminated as best as possible so the client can start to heal as comfortably as they can. However, life doesn’t have dedicated staff that can remove common addiction triggers from your path. Luckily, clients are given plenty of time and training to learn how to cope with triggers, especially at Painted Desert Recovery. You don’t have to figure all of this out by yourself when there is help available.
Sometimes addiction triggers can be deeply personal and look random or unusual to outside observers. That’s why it’s important to understand yourself and how triggers affect you personally. Even those who are not struggling with addiction can use this knowledge to help their loved ones have a safe and comfortable recovery. But before we can learn how to navigate around addiction triggers, we must first understand why they can affect someone so deeply.
Understanding How Triggers Work
You may have seen the word “trigger” used quite a lot, especially on social media. Triggers refer to an event or emotion that “triggers” negative feelings or behaviors. In terms of recovery, an addiction trigger is events or emotions that evoke the desire for someone to use substances. Triggers are so powerful because they are linked to an individual’s intense emotional needs. Our desire for safety, control, and acceptance are what make addiction triggers so hard to manage. When this is coupled with substance use, it can get dangerous quickly.
There are two ways triggers can affect a person. These are external triggers and internal triggers. Internal triggers are negative emotions, memories, and intrusive thoughts that hurt us. They are common addiction triggers because people will sometimes turn to substance use as an escape from these hurtful feelings and memories. External triggers come from outside a person, such as social situations and dysfunctional living situations. Smells, tastes, sights, and sounds can all be addiction triggers. These external triggers are often beyond a person’s control and can be difficult to navigate, especially in society.
Recognizing Personal Addiction Triggers
Learning about what triggers your substance use is not an easy process. It takes a lot of self-reflection alongside addiction treatment to learn what makes you want to use substances. Sometimes substance use is tied to specific events in your life. These events can sometimes be brought to the forefront of your mind by various triggers. For example, if you developed an addiction because you are having difficulty grieving the loss of a loved one, several things may trigger the desire to use substances again. The smell of a body wash brand they used to use, their favorite song, or even the date they passed could be your personal addiction triggers.
Sometimes it’s helpful to take a look around your daily life and see what is causing you to want to use substances. Your environment may be full of addiction triggers, sometimes due to the actions taking place around you. If someone is using substances around you, it may trigger you to want to do the same. Sometimes viewing depictions of substance use and other upsetting content may also trigger someone into using substances.
One of the best ways to help yourself identify these triggers is to keep a journal or diary. Recording your feelings has always been a common treatment aid in addiction treatment. However, the goal of this is to identify patterns that match up with the sudden craving or urge to use substances. Any treatment provider would be happy to help you set up and keep track of such documentation. Remember, you are not a bad person for having addiction triggers. Knowing what triggers you have allows you to get the treatment you need to cope with them.
Learning How to Navigate Addiction Triggers
The best place to find help for addiction is at an addiction treatment facility. There, those struggling with addiction learn the skills they need to recover and live a healthy life. Part of the treatment is learning how to navigate the addiction triggers someone may encounter in daily life. Thankfully, society is shifting where “trigger warnings” are now commonly seen in media that has upsetting content. Websites like Does the Dog Die? crowdsource trigger warnings for thousands of media titles, including warning site users about depictions of substance use or paraphernalia.
Clients can also find therapies designed to lessen the hold their addiction triggers have on them. Painted Desert Recovery especially focuses on teaching clients healthy coping skills that they can use long after treatment is completed. Relapse prevention is another important aspect of treatment, which trains clients on what to do should their recovery be threatened. Trauma-based therapy is also helpful for those who struggle with trauma as their addiction trigger.
Overall, a person can learn how to cope with their addiction triggers in a safe, productive way. However, it takes someone accepting that they need help and willingly extending trust in mental health care professionals to help them. Once you accept help, navigating triggers becomes a lot easier and more successful than attempting to go at it alone.
There are many things that can trigger someone into using substances. Some of these triggers might be avoidable while others may occur as part of life. It takes training to understand how to identify and cope with these triggers. Such training can be found at Painted Desert Recovery in New Harmony, Utah, as an essential part of addiction treatment. Here, clients learn how to safely cope with addiction triggers and find healthy outlets for negative feelings and stress. Remember that anyone can recover from addiction with the right help. So don’t wait in getting help for yourself or your loved ones. Call Painted Desert Recovery today at (844) 540-0353 to learn more.
