How to Identify and Cope With Your PTSD Triggers

A break in the routine may leave periods of isolation where patients may be inclined to use substances. Recovering from substance use disorder can be a life-changing journey for many people. Focusing on activities you love can fill the internal and external triggers time you might have spent using substances. They can also be effective outlets for stress and negative emotions that may have caused you to use in the past. Gatehouse Treatment would like to help you overcome your relapse triggers.

What Does It Mean to Be ‘Triggered’

• Clinically, Warren has developed a therapeutic skillset that utilizes a strengths-based perspective, Twelve Step philosophies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.
• Whether your triggers are emotional distress or a specific situation, it is essential that you know what compels you to use when trying to lead a life of sobriety.
• Even though it may sometimes feel like PTSD symptoms come out of the blue, PTSD symptoms rarely spontaneously occur.
• Every individual in recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction needs to work each day to keep their sobriety.

Your therapist can help you figure out your triggers and come up with a plan for how to deal with your PTSD symptoms. Certain thoughts, feelings, or situations can bring up uncomfortable PTSD symptoms, such as memories of a traumatic event or feeling on edge and anxious. One way of coping with these symptoms is by increasing your awareness of these triggers.

Identifying and Coping with Triggers

Those who abstained from opioids, even for a relatively short period of time, are at increased risk for accidental overdose. As part of relapse prevention it is critical to educate patients about the danger of unintentional overdose after a period of staying clean. With abstinence (or even reduced use), the individuals tolerance level for the drug decreases; resorting to using prior (e.g., pre-relapse) doses of opioids can cause overdose and death. Injectable-naloxone kits may help prevent a fatal opioid overdose in active users. Addiction is a multidimensional condition (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs Drug Addiction., 2014) which has traditionally been explored from different perspectives, including biological, social, and psychological approaches. Inside of these main levels, the specific contribution of multiple sublevels to the addiction development and treatment have been investigated.

Resource Box 2. Relapse PRevention Tools

One common trigger source that is particularly effective at causing distress and drug cravings is smells. There is a wide variety of smells that can serve as a common relapse trigger. Seeking professional help when faced with challenges during your recovery journey is paramount. Therapy, counseling, and support groups are all great resources to help you on your path to recovery, offering essential tools and resources needed to maintain sobriety. In addition to self-awareness and support, seeking professional help, like therapy or counseling from experts at Lantana, can also be beneficial in managing triggers and maintaining sobriety.

• Internal triggers are emotions or thoughts, whereas external triggers are something seen or heard.
• Patients in rehab may consider skipping treatment sessions or support group meetings to spend time with their friends and family.
• By understanding your triggers, you can take steps to stay away from them and manage relapse triggers more effectively.
• Internal triggers refer to emotional or psychological states that evoke thoughts or cravings related to substance use.

Understanding what triggers you to relapse and having a plan in place for these triggers are your first steps toward prevention. Recovering individuals can carry out personal exercises where they make a list of the people, places and things that remind them of their substance-using life. Asking certain questions about external triggers can help prevent relapse. “Certain underlying mental health conditions, including substance use disorder, depression, and anxiety, might make someone more prone to experiencing more severe reactions to triggers,” McGeehan says. “A trigger can be an issue that activates or aggravates existing symptoms of an existing mental health condition,” John McGeehan, LCSW, CADC, founder and CEO at The Dorm, which offers intensive trauma therapy for young adults.

Addiction Triggers: What Are Relapse Triggers And Warning Signs?

Engaging in fulfilling activities that replace substance use can help you stay on the right track and maintain your sobriety. Get professional help from an online addiction and https://ecosoberhouse.com/ mental health counselor from BetterHelp. Find a convenient place to jot down your thoughts and feelings each day, reflecting on the moments that brought you joy or gratitude.

Self-Help Strategies

Smooth and gradual transition from a higher to lower level of care can additionally facilitate recovery, as it gives the patient time to adapt. This therapeutic fact of giving a new meaning to the trigger does not exclude the traditional therapeutic avoiding of the trigger, which is an urgent aim at the beginning of the treatment. Nevertheless, after that initial phase, the inner problem should also be addressed.

Resource Box 3. Relapse Prevention Tool: SOBER Brief Meditation

Instead, they argue that the emotions that arise from triggers should be appropriately dealt with in therapy, particularly if the feelings and resulting behaviors interfere with daily life. Proponents of trigger warnings say they give a person a chance to prepare for the potential trigger or even avoid it. Given that a trigger tends to be more distressing if it comes as surprise, a warning can help someone with PTSD or other mental health condition feel safe. The Massachusetts Center for Addiction specializes in helping individuals understand their triggers and build the emotional skills needed for recovery.

Avoiding recurrence of misuse

• In contrast, managing internal triggers may involve developing healthier coping mechanisms and seeking professional help to better understand and process negative emotions.
• Emotions in general are often highly triggering for many people, and are often the leading examples of internal triggers.
• You might need to find alternative places to hang out or take time away from the family for self-care on a regular basis.
• Within the relapse process, there are many opportunities for the individual to intervene, reengage with recovery-oriented behaviors, and get back on track with recovery.