Triggers
Step one in defusing your triggers is this.
Identify them.
Being free of these does not mean that the addiction has been eliminated.
Symptoms
At one point, this famous male actor of a 90's sitcom about a group of young people, was consuming up to 55 pills per day while filming his hit TV show.
Matthew Perry.
These are red flags that signal DANGER and should be avoided.
Triggers.
Micheal Keaton stars in this late 80's movie, playing an addict who is so deep into his disease that he gets caught stealing money from his company and is found with a dead woman who overdosed with him. He slowly finds his way back to sobriety through a 12-step program and in the end is redeemed,
Clean and Sober
We know that NOT encountering triggers is not always going to be possible, but you can plan for this particular way to possibly eliminate some of them.
Avoidance/Avoiding
A taste, smell. sight, or sound is this kind of trigger.
Sensory
This actor, famous for his movie character with a lightning bolt on his forehead, used alcohol as a coping mechanism as he grappled with the immense pressures of fame and success at a young age.
Daniel Radcliffe
If you are going somewhere that you know will have situations or people that will potentially trigger you to relapse, consider these 2 things before going:
Motive and intention.
In this movie, Sandra Bullock plays an alcoholic who is given the choice between jail and rehab. She denies she has a problem and almost gets kicked out before falling out of a window and deciding to get sober.
28 Days
Engaging in a healthy activity is one way of doing this to a trigger.
Interrupting/Stopping
This type of trigger would make you feel angry, fearful, or a variety of other emotions.
Internal
The actor has discussed his struggles with alcohol openly, noting that his addiction escalated around the time he was working on the film “Justice League.”
Ben Affleck
We use this 3-word phrase when we tell ourselves to sit in our feelings and think about why we are feeling how we are feeling before we react.
Practice the pause.
In this movie, Meg Ryan plays a wife and mother struggling with alcoholism who is forced to confront her disease and her marriage, after a series of harrowing events. It's a depiction of how the disease affects everyone in her life.
When a Man Loves a Woman
This is considered the enemy of recovery.
Silence.
This kind of personality can lead one to do many things in an extreme way, or influence to make decisions based more on emotions than judgement.
Addictive Personality
This world famous singer
The singer realized he needed to make drastic changes in his early 40s.He joined Alcoholics Anonymous and committed to a 12-step recovery program, an achievement he attributes to resisting the temptations of his peers in the music scene. “If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the people who have inspired and supported me along the way.”
“If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the people who have inspired and supported me along the way.”
-Elton John
This trigger-stopping technique is when you close your eyes and imagine shutting off a giant light switch that only you can access which turns your triggers on and off, or a video only you can control.
Visualization.
In this movie, Will Ferrell plays a man struggling with alcoholism, leading him to lose everything before finally seeing the light.
Everything Must Go
One of the thought-stopping techniques where you stop and think specifically about the possible negative and positive outcomes of using/not using.
Playing the tape forward.
This kind of thinking can lead people to believe that the problem is solved if they don’t use or drink for a few days/weeks.
Addiction Influenced Thinking
Best known for her role in “Star Wars,” this actress's off-screen life was marked by a 45-year battle with addiction and mental health issues.
Carrie Fisher
Making one of these will help you in your recovery so you don't have to stress about what you will do when you encounter a trigger.
A Relapse Prevention Plan
This movie from the '90s starring Nicolaus Cage, shows how important having motivation to get, and stay sober truly is.
Leaving Las Vegas