Seeking and finishing treatment after dealing with an addiction is something you need to be proud of because it takes real courage and dedication to make something like that happen after experiencing such a powerful struggle with an addiction. Now that you’ve completed your treatment, you’ll need to make the right choices to remain sober and avoid going down the same path. It’s normal for people who’ve been addicted to drugs to have cravings for it at times, but you’ll need to remind yourself that you’re so much stronger than you think.
Sometimes different things will trigger you. Those triggers will make you want to use again, even though you know you don’t need to get high to deal with your pain. Knowing what to do when dealing with some sort of trigger is a must if you’re looking to stay on the right path and avoid falling into that vicious cycle of addiction again.
Keep a List of Your Triggers
One addicted individual’s triggers will vary tremendously from the triggers of another addicted individual and it’s because those two people haven’t gone through the same things and haven’t lived the same lives. Some people are triggered just by seeing someone out on the street who is as high as they used to be when they were on drugs. However, others may get triggered when they’re feeling alone or feeling like they don’t have support from their loved ones.
Devise a Plan to Stay Sober
Remaining sober is the biggest challenge of all time, but it’s not an impossible thing to do. Your rehab center will try to help you with a plan for this. Once you’ve composed a list of the things that trigger you, you’ll need to try to avoid dealing with those triggers as much as you can. Unfortunately, you can’t always avoid triggers if they’re family members, friends, or even specific places you’ve been to before and are walking past to get somewhere else. Decide what you’re going to tell yourself whenever you encounter one of your triggers to refrain from using drugs.
Love Yourself
You’ll need to love yourself and nurture yourself as much as you can if you want to stay sober and healthy. You should start doing more to benefit your mind and body, such as getting plenty of sleep at night, going for daily walks or jogs, and even finding new ways to cope with the different emotions you’ll experience. Having healthier habits can lead to a much healthier lifestyle and keep you from going back to such a bad habit of using drugs. After all, if you’re feeling like you’re alone, lacking sleep, or are even frustrated with someone, you have a greater risk of relapsing.
When you start taking even better care of yourself, you become more self-aware, more confident, and more willing to say no to the things that caused you to fall into addiction in the first place. There are moments when you may feel a bit triggered, but you’ll have a much healthier mindset, making it even easier for you to put the thought of using in the back of your mind instead of acting on it. You can even reach out to your current sponsor when feeling alone or unsupported because he or she will listen and give plenty of great advice.
Avoid Any Possible Temptation
After discovering your own triggers, you need to avoid them rather than thinking you can handle those triggers without thinking about using or giving in to using again. For example, if going to a certain club is a trigger for you because that is the place you were at when you first used drugs, you shouldn’t hang out there again, even if your loved ones or friends are going there for a night of fun. You don’t need to put yourself in such a negative position.
Avoiding drugs after completing treatment won’t always be easy but it’s worth it because drugs aren’t going to do any good for you. If you’re aware of your triggers and you know what you need to do to avoid them or to stay calm when encountering them, you should put the plan in motion and focus on living your healthiest life possible.