- Hello.
You are about to watch a video produced by
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Now, we'll talk about how to deal with
triggers and cravings.
These techniques are some of the very first
and most important things people learn
to stop their drug use.
People with addiction problems sometimes think that,
when they stop using drugs, they'll stop having cravings.
Unfortunately, this isn't so.
Having cravings during recovery is normal
and nothing to feel bad about.
Most people who stop using drugs or alcohol have cravings.
This is because the brain and body have changed physically
and are conditioned to respond
as though having drugs or alcohol
is as important as eating or breathing.
Cravings can feel like being struck by a boulder
and are followed by use,
but cravings are made up of several stages
that follow one another very rapidly.
A craving consists of a trigger, a thought,
then the craving, followed by drug or alcohol use.
There are techniques for breaking this cycle
at each point, but the earlier it is interrupted,
the easier it is to stop the process.
- Triggers-- learning about triggers has been,
and continues, today, to be,
one of the most powerful tools that I use
in just sort of being able to be okay
and figuring out where I'm at.
You know, to understand that there are things,
there are stimuli that are out there,
that are going to cause me
to start thinking in a certain way
and to be able to connect those two,
instead of sitting there and wondering, you know,
"Why am I feeling this way?"
- If I had free time, especially.
Boredom was a trigger for me.
- The triggers for me to use were varied.
I mean, you know,
it kind of takes over almost all of your senses.
So, for me, the triggers became anything that I could sense.
You know, things I could see,
things I could smell, things I could taste.
Those things all became triggers for me.
In addition to those things, stress would become
a trigger for me, some type of stress--
going through a problem that I didn't know the answer to
would become a trigger for using.
- The best way to interrupt the process
is not to let it start-- that is, avoid triggers.
Each person has different triggers,
some internal and some external.
In early recovery, people learn to identify personal triggers
and make plans to avoid them, whenever possible.
But it is impossible to avoid all triggers, all the time.
When a person encounters a trigger,
it prompts thinking about using substances.
Learning to identify the using thoughts
is critical in stopping the process.
Once people can identify the thoughts,
they can use a visualization technique
called "thought-stopping."
Thought-stopping can prevent a craving
and interrupt the progression to drug or alcohol use.
To use thought-stopping, first, close your eyes.
Now, visualize a switch-- any kind of switch--
and turn it off.
Next, visualize a relaxing, safe place
and picture yourself in that place.
If you do this visualization as soon as a thought occurs,
you will avoid having a craving.
A craving only lasts 30 to 90 seconds, from start to finish.
If you're having multiple cravings,
you may need to remove yourself from the triggering situation.
- Well, I learned thought-stopping right away
when I got to Matrix,
and I found it an enormously useful device in early recovery.
They taught me about, you know, imagining a big switch
and switching it from "on" to "off",
to stop whatever evil thoughts you were having,
and to replace it with an image that you had in your mind
of something that you could feel better about.
- I do use visualizations.
I have several spots that are the most wonderful in the world,
to which I can retreat.
One is being very high in the Rocky Mountains,
where you can see forever.
I grew up in Colorado and Montana
and had some wonderful experiences there,
so those are important.
The other one that I use is I learned to dive--
I learned to swim after I got into recovery.
And, learning to dive, I can actually see reefs,
I can see the colors and the fish,
and I do use those.
- Visualization is just one option to use
during thought-stopping.
Thought-stopping can also be helped
by snapping a rubber band lightly around your wrist,
relaxation and deep breathing,
praying or meditating, or calling someone.
- The visualization techniques that I would use
would be things like remembering myself standing in the courtroom
with handcuffs on and looking at the judge
and remembering the way I felt, remembering the way I looked.
You know, at the end of my using,
I was a badly broken human being.
I was 132 pounds, you know, I was very disheveled.
I was really pathetic-looking,
and so, trying to visualize myself that way
really brought it more into reality for me
and kind of gave me a little sick feeling in my stomach
and, you know, the thoughts and cravings would go away.
- Especially in early recovery,
I would call my sponsor or someone--
a confidant within my recovery community,
someone who knows either what I've gone through,
what I'm going through,
they've already been through it or are going through it.
- At least I'm reaching out, you know?
Right before, you know, I just wouldn't hesitate
to go out and drink, but now, you know,
I know it's a lifelong process,
addictions and recovery, you know,
it's not going to happen overnight and, you know,
I try to be aware of triggers in my life.
- We hope you enjoyed watching
and we hope that the information will be helpful.
These concepts and tools have helped many people
achieve a satisfying and substance-free life.
We wish that for you and your family.