Unlike some other disease, addiction is a chronic, lifetime disease that cannot be cured. Addiction progresses in a person, much like diabetes, and then reaches a breaking point in which there is no returning. A person desiring recovery then must maintain their recovery through understanding addiction and the symptoms or triggers than can lead to relapse. As helpful as it would be, there is no easy fix to addiction, recovery is a process that lasts lifelong and must be managed lifelong. The progression of addiction is broken down into three stages: Early, Middle, and Chronic (Gorski and Miller, 2013). The Early stage of addiction is when the individual begins to build a tolerance for the drug (Gorski and Miller, 2013). The person uses more
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A trigger can be quite powerful and quite mundane. Some triggers can be as small as someone using a lighter or walking by an ally with people sitting or as intangible as feeling overwhelmed, stressed out or angry. When an addict becomes triggered, they often crave drugs. In the past, when they have been triggered or craved, they have simply used to alleviate the craving. Now, with the desire to remain sober, they can no longer succumb to their cravings. The addict now must find ways to cope with these cravings, no matter how big or small. Use of a social support network, Dialectical Behavior Skills (such as Urge Surf), mindfulness, and knowledge of triggers can all work to help keep the addict from succumbing. The addict should also note that, just like addiction becomes progressively worse, recovery becomes progressively better. With time, most of these triggers and cravings will lessen in intensity or subside altogether, giving the addict some relief and …show more content…
The first response is to reach out for help among the addict community. The addict community could include sponsors, recovery support friends, or treatment centers. An addict asking for help is always a great intervention because it helps them to realize they are not alone, like they often were in their active addiction. Other ways to cope would be to Urge Surf cravings. When a craving comes, one-mindfully surf the craving and allow it to leave your mind and body without fighting it, realizing that it will pass. Also, it is important for an addict to have a milieu of sober activities at hand. Often, relapse desires can occur out of mere boredom, maintaining a busy schedule and always having a back up activity if an addict is feeling triggered is a great way to help maintain the recovery
A trigger can be quite powerful and quite mundane. Some triggers can be as small as someone using a lighter or walking by an ally with people sitting or as intangible as feeling overwhelmed, stressed out or angry. When an addict becomes triggered, they often crave drugs. In the past, when they have been triggered or craved, they have simply used to alleviate the craving. Now, with the desire to remain sober, they can no longer succumb to their cravings. The addict now must find ways to cope with these cravings, no matter how big or small. Use of a social support network, Dialectical Behavior Skills (such as Urge Surf), mindfulness, and knowledge of triggers can all work to help keep the addict from succumbing. The addict should also note that, just like addiction becomes progressively worse, recovery becomes progressively better. With time, most of these triggers and cravings will lessen in intensity or subside altogether, giving the addict some relief and …show more content…
The first response is to reach out for help among the addict community. The addict community could include sponsors, recovery support friends, or treatment centers. An addict asking for help is always a great intervention because it helps them to realize they are not alone, like they often were in their active addiction. Other ways to cope would be to Urge Surf cravings. When a craving comes, one-mindfully surf the craving and allow it to leave your mind and body without fighting it, realizing that it will pass. Also, it is important for an addict to have a milieu of sober activities at hand. Often, relapse desires can occur out of mere boredom, maintaining a busy schedule and always having a back up activity if an addict is feeling triggered is a great way to help maintain the recovery