It’s natural to have a different emotional response to life events once you become sober. Your body isn’t used to processing stressful situations without the substance in your body. You may have to re-learn emotional regulation, or at minimum re-examine your emotional responses to stressful situations. Gaining control over your body post-detox is an under-discussed aspect of healing from addiction.

Everyone recovering from addiction has personal triggers, which are emotional experiences (or stimuli) that make you want to consume intoxicating substances. It isn’t a sign of weakness to have triggers. But it does require planning, long term strategies, and often professional help to live in a way that promotes sobriety in the face of stress.

Learning what triggers your desire to drink and getting a handle on it comprises one key to staying sober. It requires self-awareness and self-care, but both can be learned. It’s possible to learn how to manage reactions to triggers and gain an even more stable base for your sobriety.

Understanding Triggers

Emotional triggers are specific stimuli that evoke strong emotional reactions, which can be either positive or negative. These reactions can be intense and overwhelming, making it challenging to manage them effectively. Understanding triggers is essential for personal growth, as it allows individuals to recognize patterns in their emotional responses and develop coping strategies to manage them. Triggers can be linked directly to past experiences, emotions, or unresolved issues, making it crucial to address these underlying factors to improve mental health.

Emotional Triggers Defined

The term “emotional trigger” refers to anything that provokes you to a strong emotional reaction and that your brain sees as a threat. The trigger causes a reaction in you.

It’s important to recognize two things – the trigger itself and that you choose your reaction. Prior to sobriety, your trigger reaction prior to this would have been to drink alcohol or use substances. For many people, a triggering situation frequently leads to a relapse

But you can pick another reaction though, like going for a run or reading. Mindfulness techniques can help individuals focus on their senses and meditation practices can ground them in the present moment, allowing for a more thoughtful response to emotional triggers.

Identifying Triggers

Identifying personal triggers is a journey of self-discovery that requires paying close attention to patterns in emotional responses. Keeping a journal can be a valuable tool in this process, as it allows individuals to track their emotions and identify potential triggers. A mental health professional can provide objective insights and guide individuals through various therapeutic techniques to uncover deeper, perhaps less obvious triggers. Their expertise in behavioral patterns and emotional responses can help illuminate the connections between certain events and reactions.

Types of Triggers: How to Identify Triggers

A trigger sets off a memory that transports you back to the original trauma that led you to drink or use. A trigger can be external or internal. There are many types:

• Emotional
• Physical
• People
• Places
• Things
• Situations

Emotional triggers like anger, fear, humiliation, joy, loss, resentment, or stress can lead to the desire to drink because, at some point, you learned to numb emotions with alcohol. Physical triggers include the classic HALT triggers: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. Pain can also be a major trigger, as many people self-medicate pain with substances like prescription drugs.

Situations like celebrations, sports events, and holidays can trigger drinking. Think of spending Christmas alone or of the festive huge family party each year. Both can trigger the desire to drink in different people and do nothing in others.

Common Triggers

Common triggers can vary widely from person to person, but some examples include:

• Specific sounds or smells that evoke memories of past traumas
• Certain people or situations that trigger feelings of anxiety or stress
• Significant dates or anniversaries that trigger intense emotions
• Social media or news that trigger feelings of overwhelm or despair
• Physical sensations or environments that trigger memories of past experiences

For some people, the trigger is certain people, like the friends you once drank with or with whom you went through school. If drinking together was a large part, or the only part, of your time together, those people can trigger the desire to drink. Running into your old dealer or the manager of your favorite liquor store can be triggering, too. Things like seeing a bottle of alcohol on the table at a bistro or a friend’s house may be a trigger. Your trigger might be the club where work held its semi-annual morale meetings that involved casual drinking. There’s no way to skip it, and the memories may make you want to drink again.

The Science Behind Triggers

Emotional triggers are tied to the brain’s limbic system, which processes emotions and memories. When a trigger is activated, it’s as if the brain is sounding an alarm, signaling that something significant (and potentially distressing) is happening. This response can be linked back to past traumas or significant events in our lives, making it essential to address these underlying factors to improve mental health. Understanding the science behind triggers helps demystify why certain reactions occur and emphasizes the importance of addressing unresolved issues.

The Deeper Trigger: Understanding Intense Emotional Reactions

Once you know what exposure triggers your desire to drink, you need to know why it triggers that desire. There’s something deeper that you need to reach, and you may seek professional help and individual counseling to assist in the process. You need to discover the underlying trigger and deal with it.

Recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous may only go so far. Advice from people who love you is helpful, but managing triggers can require expertise and accountability that they’re not able to provide. You may need counseling that helps you deal with things on a deeper level, including processing any trauma that triggers may cause you to remember.

Building Emotional Resilience

Building emotional resilience is crucial for managing emotional triggers effectively. This involves developing coping strategies, such as mindfulness and self-care, to manage intense emotional reactions. Engaging in regular self-care activities, such as exercise or meditation, can help reduce stress and anxiety. Seeking professional guidance from a mental health professional can also provide individuals with the tools and support needed to manage triggers effectively. By recognizing, understanding, and managing emotional triggers, individuals can build emotional resilience and improve their overall mental health and well-being.

Long-term Coping Strategies for Dealing with Triggers

While you identify, explore, and discuss your triggers at counseling and meetings, you also need to explore and develop a healthier you. Three things you can begin at any time can help – exercise, journaling, and meditation.

Walking and running top the easy exercise list. You only need a pair of track shoes to start. The activity releases endorphins that cause what is called the “runner’s high,” a physical rush that, in the brain, resembles what drug manufacturers craft in a lab. Exercise provides a natural high.

Journaling provides a self-help method of exploring your emotions, needs, triggers, and history. It only requires a few minutes of your day, a pen or pencil and paper. You can take your journal with you to counseling sessions to refer to while talking. It can help to ensure you do not gloss over details and help you honestly confront problems.

The point of meditation is to release your thoughts and become aware of your body and breathing. Yoga, Pilates, and prayer all count as meditation. Simply sitting in a chair or lying on the floor with your eyes closed and relaxing each body part also counts as meditation. Practicing mindfulness and focusing on the present moment during meditation can help individuals detach from their emotional triggers and respond more thoughtfully.

Learn Coping and Recovery Skills at Principles Recovery

You can identify and learn to control your triggers. Your trigger does not control you. You can learn to control your triggers and your addiction. You can learn to manage it. You can remain sober one day at a time.

At Principles Recovery Center, we know the road to recovery isn’t easy and it isn’t something you should have to do alone. We’re ready to help! If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, contact us today.