Alcohol and Triggers - How Should You Approach Triggers in Your Life?

One thing you will notice about your average alcohol help clinic is that it is an extremely clean environment. It is nothing like the real world. Everything has been sanitised and you could not find any reference to alcohol even if you tried to. This is the goal of rehab. It is supposed to take you out of the real world of temptation and give you a place where you can reassess your life. All this changes when you go into the real world again. Triggers are a recovering alcoholic’s worst enemy. In this article, we have teamed up with the experts at alcoholhelper.co.uk to give you some vital insight into handling triggers.

Pinpoint the Triggers : No two people are the same. We all have different triggers that can set us off. For some people, it may be walking past the local pub on the way home from work. Others cannot walk into the alcohol isle in a supermarket because they are too scared that they’re going to pick up a bottle and place it in the trolley. Think about your previous life and where you were most tempted to buy alcohol. The new you should avoid these situations until you are strong enough to confront them.

Avoidance : The best way to deal with triggers is to stay away from them in the first place. You are not helping your cause by going out and confronting them. You have nothing to prove. Would you call a drug addict weak because they purposely avoided their dealer? Of course not.

Here are some of the avoidance strategies you can employ in your life:

• Take a different journey to work that avoids things like advertising boards and pubs.
• Turn the TV over when an advert for alcohol appears on the TV.
• Distract yourself by purposely staying away from activities that may put you in contact with bad influences.

Replace the Triggers : Some triggers you will never be able to avoid. Some alcoholics may see a logo for a popular alcohol and instantly get the urge to drink. This is where you have to come up with some way of replacing those triggers. For some recovering alcoholics, they will chew gum instead. Others may take out their phone and play a game on it. It does not matter how mundane it is. Just get into the habit of distracting yourself with some other task until the craving goes away.

Call for Help : Every so often, you will get into a situation where you absolutely cannot beat the trigger. It hangs on and you desperately want to have a drink. Do not feel negative about calling for help. Call the number for an alcohol helpline or get in touch with a close friend.

By asking for outside help, you are using another tool in your arsenal to beat your triggers. Over time, you will become more comfortable when confronted triggers. In the end, they will not bother you in the slightest. It is all part of the recovery process and everyone needs help at some point. It will get easier in the long-term. You will hit your goals!