Understanding Mental Illness Triggers NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness

This can be somewhere traumatic, such as a childhood home, or it can just be a building or even a neighborhood where substance use happened. Visiting these places can be triggering for many people, and while many times they can be avoided, there are situations in which they can’t. Awareness of these risks and proactive communication with your treatment team and support network can help manage relapse triggers during major life changes. By developing adaptive coping skills and practicing self-care during transitions, you can continue on your path to recovery and avoid setbacks. The solution to managing difficult situations is learning how to confront them without drugs and alcohol. If you’re not sure how to confront these situations, contact us today.

Ways to Cope with External Addiction Triggers

Dealing with mental relapse and understanding emotional relapse involves a constant internal battle between abstinence and temptation. Physical relapse, on the other hand, includes experiencing withdrawal symptoms from the absence of drugs and alcohol. In either case, understanding your triggers forms a significant part of a successful recovery journey. Emotions that act as internal triggers can be negative, positive, or neutral. Effective management of internal triggers often involves learning new emotional regulations and coping strategies.

• At the same time, there are also activities and behaviors that can serve as triggers.
• Some people cope with stressful events more easily than others; consider the impact such events might have on people with mental illnesses.
• If you’re not sure how to confront these situations, contact us today.
• We must be aware of these potential triggers to maintain our recovery journey and stay on the path of sobriety.

What are examples of triggers?

When someone has a history of any of these issues, being unexpectedly exposed to imagery or content that deals with that history can cause harm or relapse. Resilience equips individuals with the strength to weather challenges, adapt to change, and persist in their recovery journey. In doing so, it fosters personal growth and self-confidence, fortifying the path toward sustained recovery. Addiction relapse triggers can be categorized as internal or external. Internal triggers originate from within oneself, often linked to emotional factors.

What Are the Risk Factors for Addiction?

A key step in learning to recognize your triggers involves paying attention when situations generate a strong emotional response. But whether it’s a one-time event or a series of traumatic events, trauma affects each person differently. In fact, the same event could cause two people to respond completely differently. While one person might reach a point of acceptance about an unsettling experience, the other person might develop PTSD. A person’s strong reaction to being triggered may come as a surprise to others because the response seems out of proportion to the stimulus.

Physical relapses are one of the most challenging stages of relapse to overcome. In many cases, users cave to drug use during a window of opportunity and falsely believe it will cause no harm. Patients in rehab may consider skipping treatment sessions or support group meetings to spend time with their friends and family. A break in the routine may leave periods of isolation where patients may be inclined to use substances. High-risk places remind former drug users of the times they engaged in substance use. Walking or driving through places where they used to drink or consume drugs can spark a memory connected to drug or alcohol use.

What to Do After Identifying your Triggers in Addiction?

Asking certain questions about external triggers can help prevent relapse. Understanding and managing external triggers is a crucial part of the recovery journey. It requires vigilance, resilience, and a commitment to ongoing self-improvement. But with the right support and resources, individuals can effectively navigate these challenges and continue on their path to recovery. Internal triggers, deeply intertwined with emotions and thoughts, play a crucial role in the process of recovery and the risk of relapse. These triggers often originate from within the individual and are closely related to their emotional state.

• Minimize these triggers by leading a meaningful and low-stress life and getting professional help.
• Mindfulness exercises help you learn to pay more attention to what you feel and experience in the present.
• Beyond cravings, this can also lead to a longing for the environment or lifestyle that you left and does not provide the same recall for the reasons that you initially sought recovery.
• For example, they may not be able to control their thoughts or how they feel.
• Resilience equips individuals with the strength to weather challenges, adapt to change, and persist in their recovery journey.

For example, seeing a specific type of car might remind you of a past accident, instantly making you feel anxious. Managing our emotions is a vital part of self-healing, especially for those of us who have dealt with trauma. Recognizing and understanding our triggers can significantly improve our emotional well-being. Today, we’ll explore the differences between external and internalized triggers, and how each affects us. By the end of this blog, you’ll have a clearer understanding of external trigger examples these concepts and practical tips for managing them.

• Different coping strategies may work for different triggers and emotions.
• If you or a loved one struggles with addiction to drugs or alcohol, you are not alone.
• If this is a medical emergency or there is immediate danger of harm, call 911 or visit a hospital emergency department and explain that you need support for a mental health crisis.
• This is important because it may not be possible or feasible to avoid them at all times.
• It often starts with strong emotions that make you neglect your physical and psychological well-being.
• During therapy for people experiencing emotional relapse, patients are encouraged to identify their denial and focus on self-care.

You deserve high-quality treatment and a fulfilling life in recovery.

It is essential to keep Alcoholics Anonymous in mind that while many triggers result from negative events or experiences, positive events or experiences can also trigger a relapse. There are many possible coping strategies you can try, but all should focus on reducing the impact of the trigger and the strength of emotional reactions. Become skillful through practice at managing the triggers you cannot avoid.