What are triggers?
Triggers can be people, places, things, feelings and time – that cause thinking about a substance or gamble (for example, if you take money on a Friday night, go out with friends and take the drug, the triggers are Friday afternoon, after work, money, friends who take substance, a café or a club).
An addiction-altered brain relates “triggers” with taking drugs and alcohol or gambling.
Types of triggers:
- External
- Internal
External triggers:
Different situations a person exposes himself/herself to. By repeating these actions in the period of addiction, they become triggers that can remind the addict in the treatment phase to the past period and activate thoughts from the past.
Some of these triggers can be:
- Going to bars, betting shops, taverns
- Friendship with addicts, gamblers
- A moment of getting the salary
- Going to games, concerts
- Accessories for doing drugs, gambling
- Time after work, during work, on breaks
Internal triggers:
During the recovery process, certain feelings act as “triggers” that cause thinking about taking drugs or alcohol (pathological gambling). The feeling of a harmless situations is often accompanied by negative emotions.
Feelings motivate you to take action, i.e. to start drinking or gambling, but the solution too lies in action, though a constructive one.
Why is it important to recognize triggers:
Triggers affect, disturb your brain, and cause thoughts, even when you have decided to quit drugs and alcohol. Your desire to quit therefore has to be translated into a change in behavior you use to avoid possible triggers.
TRIGGER – THINKING – CRAVING – TAKING
The process of stopping thoughts
- Identify triggers
- Prevent exposure to triggers whenever possible (for example, not handling large amounts of money, not seeing the old company)
- Cope with triggers by different methods (for example, schedule doing exercise and cancel the meeting on Friday night)
