Triggers to Avoid During the Holidays
Know your triggers
A major part of a successful recovery process is knowing what your triggers are. During the holidays, it can be a time that they present themselves more often than not. It can also be time when new triggers can arise that you didn’t realize you had before. It’s important to sit down and make a list of all the triggers that you think may pop up, and come up with a plan for each of them. This will give you better confidence for handling the situation when it pops up, and you will be able to move past it successfully with your newly-honed coping skills.
Common holiday triggers
Traveling
Pressure to be a good host
Returning to a hometown or childhood areas
Spending a lot of money on presents
Attending holiday parties with old friends
The stress of seeing family that you haven’t seen in a while
Having to talk about your recovery with family and friends
The smell of certain food or drinks
The atmosphere of holiday parties
Holiday shopping with large crowds
Seeing people that you may have a fractured relationship with due to your past addiction
People drinking in front of you
People smoking in front of you
Alcohol and wine bottles on the dinner table, or free flowing throughout events
Have a plan
Now is the time to be ready for all the stress that the holidays can bring on before it is too late. It’s important to come up with a plan, especially if this holiday season is one of the first for you since you became sober. Being prepared will help you navigat...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - Category: Addiction Authors: Jaclyn Uloth Tags: Uncategorized addiction alcohol family family therapy holidays PTSD relationships triggers Source Type: blogs