Triggers vs. Causes
Semi-Professional Philosopher
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Rural PA
Posts: 1,021
Triggers vs. Causes
Good evening folks.... got to reading around the boards today for a spell. Read a lot about triggers, toxic environments, etc. Obviously, as has been said before, we as addicts are responsible for our actions and decisions.
So I pose the question... is there a difference between what we as addicts would label a "cause" and what we would label as a "trigger"? In example, I could say that my job *causes* me to drink. Or that keeping a rocks glass in the cabinet is a *trigger*.
One in the same? Different? Does this even make sense??
So I pose the question... is there a difference between what we as addicts would label a "cause" and what we would label as a "trigger"? In example, I could say that my job *causes* me to drink. Or that keeping a rocks glass in the cabinet is a *trigger*.
One in the same? Different? Does this even make sense??
Guest
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 928
I can only speak for myself, but I don't think anything causes me to drink but me. No one ever poured it down my throat.
Certain things trigger me to want to drink, but ultimately I have to go to the store and buy it. To me, that's what recovery is about - equipping yourself with the tools to prevent picking up that first drink. It doesn't mean I won't ever WANT to drink. Of course the desire to drink diminishes over time if you stay sober.
Before I knew better, what did I do when I wanted to drink? I drank. Today I have to take other actions so I won't drink. I accept I'm an alcoholic and can't drink with impunity. Therefore, no matter how bad things may seem at any given time, not picking up a drink is top priority.
It's not foolproof. I could fall off the wagon at any time. That's what scares me.
Certain things trigger me to want to drink, but ultimately I have to go to the store and buy it. To me, that's what recovery is about - equipping yourself with the tools to prevent picking up that first drink. It doesn't mean I won't ever WANT to drink. Of course the desire to drink diminishes over time if you stay sober.
Before I knew better, what did I do when I wanted to drink? I drank. Today I have to take other actions so I won't drink. I accept I'm an alcoholic and can't drink with impunity. Therefore, no matter how bad things may seem at any given time, not picking up a drink is top priority.
It's not foolproof. I could fall off the wagon at any time. That's what scares me.
Now what?
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Oregon Coast
Posts: 100
Originally Posted by steve-in-kville 
I pose the question... is there a difference between what we as addicts would label a "cause" and what we would label as a "trigger"? In example, I could say that my job *causes* me to drink. Or that keeping a rocks glass in the cabinet is a *trigger*.
One in the same? Different? Does this even make sense??
One in the same? Different? Does this even make sense??
A trigger is anything that makes the alarm go off.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: canada
Posts: 7,242
triggers don't cause drinking.
which is really good news, since it means that you don't need to be scared of them. or worry about their supposed 'power'.
they have no power.
though we may well feel extremely uncomfortable, or overwhelmed, anxious, terrified, celebratory, exhilerated...no matter what, feelings can be triggered, but also don't make you drink.
why you/we react to feelings by drinking is an entirely different question, and one which can be quite fruitful to look at. it's where i learned how to step back and just see 'being triggered' as a curious experience, one that had something else behind it, which i then could use or learn other ways to deal with.
which is really good news, since it means that you don't need to be scared of them. or worry about their supposed 'power'.
they have no power.
though we may well feel extremely uncomfortable, or overwhelmed, anxious, terrified, celebratory, exhilerated...no matter what, feelings can be triggered, but also don't make you drink.
why you/we react to feelings by drinking is an entirely different question, and one which can be quite fruitful to look at. it's where i learned how to step back and just see 'being triggered' as a curious experience, one that had something else behind it, which i then could use or learn other ways to deal with.
Guest
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 8,674
I don't believe in triggers. Just like I don't believe that relapses are necessary to recovery or that moderation is possible. Hardline, maybe, but as far as triggers - I believe that "life is upsetting" (you could put the word trigger there) and that is what we (alcoholics) have to learn to deal with differently than by drinking.
I don't give headspace to things called triggers - I focus on "solutions" to the "problems" (translations: life, anything that disturbs me, etc) and how to make the next right choice in every situation. Do I always succeed? Of course not. But nothing triggers me to drink- ultimately, because my problem has been removed so my program (AA) teaches me this different way of approaching the world.
I also think that semantics often causes huge problems for an alcoholic when it comes to honesty and acceptance. The whys and wherefores of my drinking.....ultimately, not the point. I have the type of mind that used to go down that path....and I kept on drinking. Acceptance of the bottom line- I am an alcoholic and THAT is why I drank- and my ability to let it go and put those mental dance partners in their compartment keeps me focused on what I need to do to stay sober.
[And, what fini said.]
I don't give headspace to things called triggers - I focus on "solutions" to the "problems" (translations: life, anything that disturbs me, etc) and how to make the next right choice in every situation. Do I always succeed? Of course not. But nothing triggers me to drink- ultimately, because my problem has been removed so my program (AA) teaches me this different way of approaching the world.
I also think that semantics often causes huge problems for an alcoholic when it comes to honesty and acceptance. The whys and wherefores of my drinking.....ultimately, not the point. I have the type of mind that used to go down that path....and I kept on drinking. Acceptance of the bottom line- I am an alcoholic and THAT is why I drank- and my ability to let it go and put those mental dance partners in their compartment keeps me focused on what I need to do to stay sober.
[And, what fini said.]
Forum Leader
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 16,945
We drink because we are addicts/alcoholics and we think it will help us escape/soften/avoid dealing with reality.
Trigger, cause, excuse, slip, oops, relapse, blip, setback, and all the other ones i'm forgetting really all mean the same thing: that we are not taking our sobriety seriously enough or working hard enough to maintain it.
Trigger, cause, excuse, slip, oops, relapse, blip, setback, and all the other ones i'm forgetting really all mean the same thing: that we are not taking our sobriety seriously enough or working hard enough to maintain it.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 292
I think it's largely a matter of semantics. I suppose maybe you could think of a trigger as more of an immediate, specific precursor to drinking, e.g. driving past a liquor store, thinking about an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend, phone call from an annoying relative. Whereas a "cause" of drinking may be more generalized, e.g. work-related stress, ongoing marital strife, financial difficulties. In the end though, I don't think it matters what we call it. If it is a circumstance that may lead us to drink, we need to have the tools to counter it, or just avoid it altogether.
Guest
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 928
Originally Posted by DesertDawg
I think it's largely a matter of semantics. I suppose maybe you could think of a trigger as more of an immediate, specific precursor to drinking, e.g. driving past a liquor store, thinking about an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend, phone call from an annoying relative. Whereas a "cause" of drinking may be more generalized, e.g. work-related stress, ongoing marital strife, financial difficulties. In the end though, I don't think it matters what we call it. If it is a circumstance that may lead us to drink, we need to have the tools to counter it, or just avoid it altogether.
I think for any alcoholic to think the desire to drink will miraculously disappear once you quit drinking is kidding yourself.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
nothing, absolutely nothing ever caused me to drink.
but i had a LOT of excuses.
and that all they were-excuses to drink because i wanted to drink.
until i crossed the line into full blown alcoholism.no more excuses needed- no matter how bad i didnt want to drink, i couldnt not drink.
but i had a LOT of excuses.
and that all they were-excuses to drink because i wanted to drink.
until i crossed the line into full blown alcoholism.no more excuses needed- no matter how bad i didnt want to drink, i couldnt not drink.
Semi-Professional Philosopher
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Rural PA
Posts: 1,021
Originally Posted by ScottFromWI
....we are not taking our sobriety seriously enough or working hard enough to maintain it.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,183
Triggers are as real as Pavlov's dog. It's just chemistry - once we've grown accustomed to drinking following some event (like getting home from work), then that event can cause us to feel an urge or desire to drink after we quit. We can ride them out, but it's safer to avoid them (like changing your routine so you don't go straight home after work, you go to the gym instead, or come home at a different time). Sadness can be a trigger, happiness, Friday, Thursday lunch, an aisle at the supermarket, anything. We don't have to drink in response to a triggered urge, of course, but triggers happen.
Causes, I don't know. I don't think anything caused me to drink or to become an addict, and at any point before it became a problem, I could have stopped and avoided the problem. I didn't stop, not until after it had become a huge problem, but I could have.
Causes, I don't know. I don't think anything caused me to drink or to become an addict, and at any point before it became a problem, I could have stopped and avoided the problem. I didn't stop, not until after it had become a huge problem, but I could have.
Guest
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 8,674
Originally Posted by bluedog97
It is a matter of semantics. I'm an alcoholic, and used to react to a set of circumstances by drinking. Now I have to learn to cope without it.
I think for any alcoholic to think the desire to drink will miraculously disappear once you quit drinking is kidding yourself.
I think for any alcoholic to think the desire to drink will miraculously disappear once you quit drinking is kidding yourself.
Everybody's path is different but I definitely believe the desire to drink can go away.
Guest
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 928
Originally Posted by August252015
This alcoholic can tell you that my desire to drink disappeared. Miraculously? Yeah, with a side of a strong program. My problem has indeed been removed. Work to keep it that way as I live this new life; sometimes I am amazed that I haven't had a single compulsion or craving to drink.
Everybody's path is different but I definitely believe the desire to drink can go away.
Everybody's path is different but I definitely believe the desire to drink can go away.
I met with an old sponser today and we talked about the mental obsession. My point is, early in sobriety there are going to be times when you want to drink. So it's better to prepare yourself for that. If not, I would consider them very fortunate.
Yes, everyone's path is different.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 1,111
A little caution is a good thing, especially in early sobriety.
However I firmly believe the trick is to grow beyond the point the things out there are *doing* things to me over which I am helpless to react. That's one reason why I don't like the language of Triggers, it can externalise the problem and externalise blame.
Like...you know when you're always angry because someone 'pushes your buttons'? Turns out they were my buttons, it was up to me to defuse them
P
However I firmly believe the trick is to grow beyond the point the things out there are *doing* things to me over which I am helpless to react. That's one reason why I don't like the language of Triggers, it can externalise the problem and externalise blame.
Like...you know when you're always angry because someone 'pushes your buttons'? Turns out they were my buttons, it was up to me to defuse them
P
Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,654
Once that alcohol neural circuit in our brain has developed because we repeatedly reinforced it by drinking, when we had unpleasant 'feelings' which we wished to assuage - or happy 'feelings' we wished to increase: the Addictive Voice was neuro/bio/chemically born, as an automatic solution for feeling better, whatever the cause of our irritability or happiness.
The AV will suggest that anything in our lives is a trigger/cause ( people, places, things, the good and bad) and that alcohol is the solution and therefore the trigger/cause is an excuse to drink.
But I no longer believe the AVs lies and therefore I don't need to avoid so-called triggers, because when the AV pipes up in response to what IT perceives to be a trigger - I ignore it. The AV is totally incapable of making me drink, it is powerless, I am not: I have a choice and I have decided not to drink, ever. You can too, Steve.
The AV will suggest that anything in our lives is a trigger/cause ( people, places, things, the good and bad) and that alcohol is the solution and therefore the trigger/cause is an excuse to drink.
But I no longer believe the AVs lies and therefore I don't need to avoid so-called triggers, because when the AV pipes up in response to what IT perceives to be a trigger - I ignore it. The AV is totally incapable of making me drink, it is powerless, I am not: I have a choice and I have decided not to drink, ever. You can too, Steve.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,229
i never felt things caused me to drink when i drank. or really where triggers either i just drank and drank.
but after i got sober i started to relize i was drinking to self medicate to cope cause it was a good day a bad day tuesday wedsday anyday i had a lot of excuses to drink
But now that i'm even further down the sober road i can think nback and go yep that caused me to drink normally "that" is some bad decision i made that stressed me out so i drank to cope iwht it. or dealing with my wife and kkids caused me to drink mainly because my life was unamanageable. I created the mess i was in and i drank to deal with said mess.
now I might say now If i do such and such it might be a trigger. Or if i go to far that might just cause me to drink... I just avoid that sorta stuff and circumstances. For me its mainly not biting off more then i can chew and i do ok.
but after i got sober i started to relize i was drinking to self medicate to cope cause it was a good day a bad day tuesday wedsday anyday i had a lot of excuses to drink
But now that i'm even further down the sober road i can think nback and go yep that caused me to drink normally "that" is some bad decision i made that stressed me out so i drank to cope iwht it. or dealing with my wife and kkids caused me to drink mainly because my life was unamanageable. I created the mess i was in and i drank to deal with said mess.
now I might say now If i do such and such it might be a trigger. Or if i go to far that might just cause me to drink... I just avoid that sorta stuff and circumstances. For me its mainly not biting off more then i can chew and i do ok.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
