Relapse Prevention 02

Title: Knowing and Avoiding Triggers

Focus Keyphrase: Addiction Triggers

Excerpt: People in recovery need to be careful about handling triggers.

Talking Points:

• A trigger can be anything that brings back thoughts, feelings, or memories that have to do with our addiction. 
• External triggers are the persons, places and things that remind you of the days you used. These need to be avoided at all costs.
• Internal triggers are the emotions and thoughts that surrounded your desire to use in the past.
• How you can avoid the triggers:
• Pray. Recognize the temptation and pray for strength to say “No!” Matthew 26:41
• Submit to God. Choose God’s will instead of allowing your emotions and thoughts to lead you. James 4:7
• Stay accountable to a sponsor or mentor. You need someone who can ask the hard questions and hold you accountable. Proverbs 11:14
• Change your lifestyle. Create new habits and a new way of doing things. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Discussion:

1. Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
2. Warm up question: Has anyone shot a gun before?  Can you explain what the steps are leading up to the shot being fired?
3. How does it make you feel that God wants a personal relationship with you and cares about the intimate details of your life?
4. Why do you think it would be important to get rid of sin in other areas of your life in order to help you stay abstinent from your addiction?
5. Read Proverbs 11:14 NASB Do you have someone to help with guidance in your life?
6. Can you think of a personal internal trigger you are facing or have faced in the past? What is a way you can cope with or avoid this trigger?
7. Can you think of a personal external trigger you are facing or have faced in the past? What is a way you can cope with or avoid this trigger?
8. Read 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV.  How is being tempted different than hardships and struggle?
9. Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?

See Also:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Step 4/Recovery - Getting Real
• Dealing with Our Thoughts

Shownotes:

People in recovery need to be careful about handling triggers.

Hook/Intro

• Most addicts have experienced, at one point or another, short-term victory over their addiction, only to find themselves right back into it again. 
• And I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves, “how did I get back here to this place?”
• Last week we talked about how relapse is a process, not an event.
• Emotional, Mental, and then Physical
• And today, we’re going to talk about the personal emotional and mental elements that can lead us down the track to relapse.
• We call these personal elements “triggers”
• Triggers are unique to each individual
• Addiction triggers are probably one of the most difficult things to understand for the non-addict.
• Most non-addicts just think an addict should be able to make a decision and simply stop using.
• They fail to realize that for most addicts, if they could simply choose to stop with a snap of their fingers, they would.
• Triggers are the reason that recovery itself is a process, not a snap decision.
• Learning what our triggers are and how to avoid them is crucial in the battle against relapse.
• Hopefully our conversation today will be helpful not just for the addict to identify triggers, but also for those who don’t understand how addiction works.
• So, what is a trigger?

A trigger can be anything that brings back thoughts, feelings, or memories that have to do with our addiction. 

• Anything that can eventually lead us to craving our addiction again would be considered a trigger. And they can be external or even internal.
• External triggers are the persons, places and things that remind you of the days you used. These need to be avoided at all costs.
• Examples (from experiencerecovery.com):
• Being in specific locations (e.g., bars, neighborhoods associated with past use);
• Spending time with people who actively use drugs or alcohol;
• Experiencing financial problems or stress from work or other things
• Experiencing conflicts such as romantic breakups and divorce
• Emotional occasions such as vacations, anniversaries, celebrations, and holidays
• Seeing marketing through ads, social media, TV, or movies that is related to your addiction
• It is crucial to recognize your personal external triggers and be vigilant about avoiding them.
• Sometimes it takes a great deal of sacrifice to steer clear of external triggers.
• But we need to put the same amount of effort into our recovery as we did into our addiction. 
• Internal triggers are the emotions and thoughts that surrounded your desire to use in the past.
• Examples (from experiencerecovery.com):
• Feeling lonely or isolated;
• Feeling overwhelmed by activities and responsibilities;
• Facing rejection or criticism from others;
• Feeling powerless in certain situations;
• Being too hard on yourself for mistakes made in the past;
• Reduced self-esteem due to the unrealistic portrayal of real life on social media;
• Hearing songs associated with the addiction;
• Experiencing strong emotions such as anger or joy;
• Experiencing intense worry, fear, and uncertainty about sobriety;
• Frustrated with their progress in recovery.
• Understanding our internal triggers comes with developing emotional intelligence and maturity.
• Journaling can be really helpful to recognizing our emotions and how they affect us.
• We also will require a lot of help from others in this area, such as a mentor or sponsor to talk these things through with.
• We also need God’s help in identifying areas we cannot clearly see ourselves.
• How you can avoid the triggers:
• Pray. Recognize the temptation and pray for strength to say “No!”
• Matthew 26:41 (NLT)

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

• Submit to God. Choose God’s will instead of allowing your emotions and thoughts to lead you.
• James 4:7 (NLT)

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

• Stay accountable to a sponsor or mentor. You need someone who can ask the hard questions and hold you accountable.
• Proverbs 11:14 (NLT)

Without wise leadership, a nation falls;

there is safety in having many advisers.

• Change your lifestyle. Create new habits and a new way of doing things.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!