What, exactly, is a trigger?
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 6,262
A trigger is any thing, place or person that causes a desire for alcohol: going into a bar; getting into a relationship that elicits heavy feelings of anxiety or fear; hanging out with active drinkers,etc. We all have personal triggers. Mine is elegant dinner settings where wine is served.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: « USA » Recovered with AVRT (Rational Recovery) ___________
Posts: 3,680
Originally Posted by DaveO 
Never had a trigger, just a choice which was to drink or not to drink. I was around alcohol, and falling down drunks from day 1, and still work around it to this day.
It doesn't happen very often these days, but there are certainly times where I get the idea of drinking, but I quickly cast it aside as ego-alien, as not me. I may be at a store, by the liquor aisle, for example, and hear a little voice that says "WOW, look there, your favorite brand! Wouldn't that bottle of scotch taste nice? Why don't you buy it?"
Then I'll think "Right, like I'm really going to fall for that one, Mr. Beast. You may think that would taste nice, but I never drink. Nice try, though. Now, buzz off."
It does feel like I'm talking to myself sometimes, though. :-)
Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Colorado
Posts: 155
Well, I know that the times I picked up a drink after I had been through treatment and went to meetings it was simply because I just wasn't done yet. That's the brutal truth. Just going to meetings wasn't enough for me to get this sobriety thing. I needed the change brought on by taking the 12 Steps for me to recover. I tried getting sober on my own and then through osmosis by attending meetings. I also had to be convinced drinking didn't work for me anymore. The goodtimes with it were long gone and then oblivion couldn't be reached anymore. Thanks to the program of AA I haven't succumbed to Roy's horse since 1990.
My experience may help another person with their recovery, I doubt my opinions will.
My experience may help another person with their recovery, I doubt my opinions will.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 4,682
Originally Posted by collinsmi
What, exactly, is a trigger (as it pertains to the subject of alcoholism)?
So, a little while ago, right after a meeting, I was talking to some fellow meeting attendees. One of them stated "all I have to do is avoid my triggers and I'll be fine". After I got home, I began to think about what she said. Based on my preconceived notions of what a trigger is, her statement sounded a little flawed. At best, it seems like a short term solution, or treating a symptom rather than the disease. At worst, it sounds like someone telling you "whatever you do, don't think about elephants, because you know what happens when you do" and then, spending all your waking moments trying not to think about elephants.
Then, it occurred to me "well you might not really know what a trigger is, you're basing your ideas on things you've heard secondhand".
So, what, exactly is a trigger?
So, a little while ago, right after a meeting, I was talking to some fellow meeting attendees. One of them stated "all I have to do is avoid my triggers and I'll be fine". After I got home, I began to think about what she said. Based on my preconceived notions of what a trigger is, her statement sounded a little flawed. At best, it seems like a short term solution, or treating a symptom rather than the disease. At worst, it sounds like someone telling you "whatever you do, don't think about elephants, because you know what happens when you do" and then, spending all your waking moments trying not to think about elephants.
Then, it occurred to me "well you might not really know what a trigger is, you're basing your ideas on things you've heard secondhand".
So, what, exactly is a trigger?
A trigger would be something that would remind me of drinking, e.g. going to watch a baseball game if i had always drank at a baseball game...
Once you have done the work in AA, the steps, triggers will become irrelevant but in the early days it is prudent to be aware of where you go and who you see, i.e. try and avoid old drinking haunts and buddies...obviously:-)
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SoCal CA
Posts: 1,319
Being that I thought I loved drinking the thought of drinking was my trigger. How do you avoid a thought? You can't if you believe it.
I had to change my belief. I now believe that I don't like and don't want to drink.
If you still want to drink being aware of triggers will make the urge to drink stronger when you come across a so called trigger, in my opinion.
I had to change my belief. I now believe that I don't like and don't want to drink.
If you still want to drink being aware of triggers will make the urge to drink stronger when you come across a so called trigger, in my opinion.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
