Drinking Triggers

Certain situations or events may stir up alcoholism triggers, especially when you are new to sobriety. People in recovery often refer to these as “triggers,” because they can quite literally trigger a drinking episode. Many have found it helpful to learn about possible triggers before they occur, and avoid them if possible, to protect their sobriety. drinking triggers

Types of Alcoholism Triggers:

Some alcoholism triggers are common among people with drinking problems – stress, holidays, loneliness, or seeing other people drinking. Other triggers are more personal – hearing a song that you associate in your mind with drinking, having the house to yourself, or cooking spaghetti, for example. In order to learn about your own triggers, it will be helpful to think of them in two categories:

Tornado Alcoholism Triggers – Tornado-style triggers are big events that almost anyone can see would be a problem. Examples of tornado triggers are losing your job, experiencing the death of someone or the sudden end to an intimate relationship. These loom large on the horizon, can be unpredictable, and threaten to wreck anything in their path.When the Warning Siren Sound. Tornado triggers are usually out of our control and can’t be avoided. If a tornado trigger occurs while you are in your first thirty days of sobriety, you will nee to get extra help in order to make it through the event without drinking.That extra help might be going to more AA meetings, accessing professional counseling, or increasing your current involvement in your treatment program. For instance, if you have been going to outpatient treatment once a week and an event like this happens, you might move into an intensive outpatient program for a few weeks, which meets three times per week.The extra support can help you get through the traumatic event without giving in to a desire to drink.Another way to get extra help after a tornado alcoholism trigger event occurs is to reach out to the people on your support list. Make sure they know what happened, and talk to them about how it makes you feel. Let them know if there is anything they can do to help you-from staying with them for a few days to asking them to call you a few times a day to cooking a few meals for you.This would also be a time when having a sponsor in AA would come in very handy. Typically a person with more than a year sobriety, s sponsor is just another AA member, like yourself, who has more experience support and encouragement through a tornado trigger, an it might be just what you need to see you through.Be sure to discuss with those people on your support list-especially your sponsor if you have one-any thoughts you are having about drinking as a result of the trigger event.
Termite Alcoholism Triggers – These are small, seemingly innocent events or actions that don’t appear to cause your sobriety any serious difficulty. In fact, you may see them as little challenges to strengthen or test your resolve, and you feel proud of yourself when you’ve overcome them.An example would be to go into one of the environment where you use to drink and spend time with others who are drinking, while you have a glass of iced tea. Many people in early sobriety don’t recognize that this type of activity can be a trigger for drinking.They tell themselves how great it was that they were able to do it successfully, and they have a tendency to congratulate themselves on how well they did. The might say, “I didn’t even feel like drinking! I can do that any time! I’m cured!”This is a termite-style alcoholism trigger. Termites often do their damage long before they are ever detected. A house that has been ravaged by termites might look solid and safe, but in reality it is slowly being eaten away. It is vulnerable, even though it doesn’t look it.

One termite alone can’t do much damage, and it certainly takes termites quite sometime to take down a house. They are, after all, pretty small creatures. However, in numbers, and over time, the damage they create can be extensive an costly. The same is true with these small triggers.

Examples include watching a beer commerical; being invited to a drinking event where many people you know will be drinking, even if you don’t attend; telling stories about funny things that happened when you were drinking in the past; having a dream about drinking; and hearing music that reminds you to time you drank.

While these events might seem pretty minor, they build up slowly over time and can weaken your resolve. Let’s take the first example, of drinking iced tea in a place where you used to drink alcohol. You might do this successfully the first time or even several times. It give you a sense of confidence perhaps you would think “I can still hang out with my drinking buddies and have a good time. Nothing has changed. Things are going to be OK.” You might begin to tell yourself that being around alcohol doesn’t bother you at all.

In part, you may tell yourself these things because you really don’t want to have to give up those friends or that familiar social environment. If you could safely drink iced tea there, you could easily trick yourself into thinking it is safe place for you to be; that you can handle it; that you can come by every night just for a gall or tow of iced tea.

You might start to overlook the risk or decide they don’t apply to you. In that case, tow things are likely to happen, both of which are dangerous to your sobriety.

Common Termite-Style Triggers:

Billboards, television, and radio ads for alcohol.
Listening to music that makes you sad or reminds you of your drinking days.
Not getting enough sleep
Letting yourself get overly hungry
Watching other people drink
Looking at old photographs of home movies of times when you were drinking
Driving by your favorite bar or liquor store
Mowing the grass on a hot day
Coming in from the cold
Holidays, especially Independence Day, New Year’s Even, and
St. Patrick’s Day
Birthdays
High school reunions
Old friends coming into town
Good news (such as getting a raise)
Wedding receptions
Weather issues, such as a rainy weekend