Trigger Management
A trigger is something that sets off a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of her or his original trauma.
Triggers are very personal; different things (people, places, sensory experiences, memories, etc.) trigger different people. The survivor may begin to avoid situations and stimuli that triggered the flashback and will react to this flashback, trigger with an emotional intensity similar to that at the time of the trauma.
A person’s triggers are activated through one or more of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.
The senses identified as being the most common to trigger someone are sight and sound, followed by touch and smell, and finally taste. A combination of the senses is identified as well, especially in situations that strongly resemble the original trauma. Although triggers are varied and diverse, there are often common themes.
Here are 5 tips for managing triggers:
Identify your personal triggers. Everyone is different. Some common triggers are (1) walking by a bar, liquor store, smoke shop, or other sales venue, (2) seeing someone who is drunk or high, (3) getting paid, (4) the end of a grueling workday or workweek, (5) getting into an argument with someone, and (5) being bored or idle.
Know what you are working with. Triggers and cravings are a very real part of recovery. Do not fool yourself into thinking that they will not happen to you. Instead, know your triggers, stay open to anything that may surprise you, and have a plan for when you feel yourself being triggered.
Practice your trigger plan. Role play, even just with yourself in the mirror, what you will do when you feel like using again. You may save yourself from a rough day, a temporary lapse, or a full relapse back to substance abuse.
Take care of yourself. You can handle triggers more easily when you are eating and sleeping well, exercising, and remaining aware of your emotions. These things are commonly called self-care.
Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, (Bored). (B)HALT are four experiences that cause lapses and relapses. When you are taking care of yourself, you can identify when you feel any of the four and take action. Taking action, but not reacting, puts you back in control. The trigger may be emotionally affecting you, but you will not act on it. If you are hungry, you will eat. Tired? Take a nap or at least rest your eyes or meditate. Lonely and angry can be a little harder to manage, but phone someone you trust (friend, sponsor, therapist), and talk it out.
Do not test yourself. If you know that walking by a bar is a definite trigger for you, for example, then do not knowingly walk by a bar to see if your recovery is as strong as you believe it to be. Maybe that time you are able to avoid going into the bar. But the seed of a trigger is planted. Something else you have not identified yet as a trigger can occur, and the combination can lead you to a drink.
There is no need to test yourself. When you identify your current triggers, are aware of what you are working with, practice a plan, and employ good self-care, you are managing your triggers during recovery from addiction.
