Solarion

I think that if I ever write that something "triggered me to drink" I'll have to call baloney on myself. This isn't The Manchurian Candidate after all.

In my view, what gets triggered is the URGE to drink, not the action itself. One still has a choice about what to do next in response (or non-response) to that urge.

But I do still have to be on guard against falling into a trance where I would sleepwalk toward drinking.

So newcomers, please don't give away your ability to choose or your responsibility for your own actions to a so-called trigger.

Also, if you have been drinking or dosing for a while, please be patient with yourself. It will take some time to untrain that Pavlovian reflex you have been cultivating. So keep trying, and with a positive attitude.

Wishing success and good health to all!

ALinNS

IMHO we have choices in life in just about all areas, for me when it comes to alcohol I have control over my AV, where my feet take me and what my hand picks up. It all starts with us and how much we want sobriety, how important is it that we stop hurting people around us that care and how important is life itself.

I have been very fortunate this recovery and have not had to lock horns with my AV, I attribute it to my plan, the AV simply doesn't have time to even whisper and I want to keep it that way.

War stories are a trigger for me so when the subject comes up in a meeting I think about something else "the remember when" subject makes me squirm in my chair, I don't need to be remembered to stay sober, I am very much aware of what the old Andrew did but that was the past.

Anyhow that is me Thanks for Posting

Nonsensical

Good post.

I view triggers as something will make me feel like drinking. They can't make me drink, only I can decide to do that.

But... I don't really want to feel like drinking. Being an alcoholic I can't always control that feeling, but I've been at this long enough to know what to do when it happens. Still, I avoid those triggering situations that will bring on that feeling whenever I can.

SillyHuman

It appears to be a fine line between managing the AV and blaming it.

Also, I have noticed a belief, especially from newcomers in chat, that certain conditions must be met before sobriety is possible. That is not the way it works.

ALinNS

Just wanted to thank you for this tag line, I saw it before and to me it's funny how the brain works but a few moments ago this struck me hard and made me smile as there is so much truth in it. Thank You for using it, It has been etched in my brain as it's true, at least in my case.

Andrew

entropy1964

When I first got sober I did this through AA. So much discussion of triggers, avoiding them, coping with them etc.

I now agree that there really are no triggers. Really, for me, everything can be a trigger if I allow it.

For me emotions get triggered by certain situations or people. Its the emotions, good and bad, that I have to learn to cope with in a constructive way. But I've been coping so long with alcohol that that is my brains go to response. With time and conditioning I am retraining my brain to choose different options. At first (maybe the first year or so) there are many times I need to actively choose not to drink. But over time drinking comes up as option A less and less. I'm only 7 months in this time (just realized today is that day) but drinking bothers me less and less.

Fly N Buy

For me I have found the sober journey to be a We deal - I can't do it on my own from in either the temporal or spiritual realms. I have to be careful not slipping back into the bootstrap mentality - I got this. That frame of mind kept me drinking for a very long time.

I never went through any rehab programs, probably should have - but identifying triggers or stressors seems to have value for man. I agree that these urges or thoughts do not have to be acted on and this is what our friends reiterate constantly is implementing our plan when they hit! Post first, call someone or get to a meeting. Yes, we have to choose to act on the urge or thought in order to succumb - we don' t have to pull the trigger........

Also, the word trigger only exists in the AA literature on page 137 in relation to a shotgun. As a concept, trigger(ing) is not part of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous but may be used by newcomers - mostly fresh out of rehab - at open discussion meetings from time to time.

Thanks for the thread!

Nonsensical

Thanks Andrew.

I take it with a double meaning:
1. I am far more powerful than my AV wants to give me credit for
2. When there is a tempest in my head it is largely of my own making. Therefore, I can unmake it.

PurpleKnight

Great post!!

Feelings by themselves don't cause hangovers in the morning, we have to act on those feelings to have consequences!!

JohnQPublic

Dear S, Respectfully, I disagree. If you have crossed the line into addiction, choice is an illusion. The choice is already made. If one could choose the right path then we would be normal users. The AV becomes an ingrained part of your cognitive process and unless you take measures to get support and stay away from substances you will most likely use. If you try and fight, you will loose. Strength, willpower, and choice are not an issue to the addict mind. Best wishes and respect. John

NoelleR

Back in the day, the term 'trigger' was never used---unless, of course, one was referring to Roy Rogers' horse. The term used was usually 'reason,' at which many of us laughed; there were no reasons; only EXCUSES!

(o:

Soberwolf

Excellent post

bluedog97

This is a great thread. I'm newly sober, but it made me think of this. It seems alcohol can be divided up into the physical effect and the psychological effect. We (ostensively) gain psychological benefits, or we wouldn't drink. Physically it's harmful, creating all sorts of long term health problems if abused (not to mention the hangovers). This(high blood pressure) is what finally woke me up.

Triggers to me are really some undesired or uncomfortable emotion or thought I'm experiencing. I've long held on to the notion that it's my "right" to drink over it, my solution. Normal people have these too, yet they don't drink. It's wasn't until I accepted the physical (and psychological) harm I was doing to myself that I've realized I don't have to drink. There must be a better way. My 2 cents. t

entropy1964

I have a choice as to whether or not to take that first drink. I have strength as long as I don't introduce alcohol into my system. I surrender the fight to try to control my drinking. I simply cannot drink. But whether or not to take that first drink? That is a choice. If it's not, what is it?

JohnQPublic

Dear Frick, Thank you for your reply. I don't believe choice exists once a line is passed. If you give yourself the opportunity enough times, no matter how strong you are or what you want, your AV will convince you to drink. For me that means that the choice has been taken out of the equation. In addictionology they teach that a relapse starts long before using again. The illusion of having a choice, for me, brings us closer to the beginnings of that relapse. Thus I practice the concept that I cannot be given the choice because my past record shows which one I will make and I have found that true for most of my patients. Now we are all different and I am not trying to convince you of anything that makes you uncomfortable. Its just that in my experience belief in choice leads one to belief in control and that is too dangerous for me and those I have worked with. I have been to too many funerals because of this disease. Thanks for the discourse. I wish you the best. John

lilgolden73

We ALWAYS have a choice! Ive made some pretty bad ones, trust me! IF I was to give in and drink again it's because I AM making a bad choice. I hear the AV constantly, I just don't engage....

JohnQPublic

I understand. Thank you for your opinion. This is just a matter of personal philosophy on how you view your own recovery. We must all do what is best for us and I cant tempt myself in having a choice. If I try to choose I know I will make the bad choice so I have taken that ability away from myself. Its a way I express my personal powerlessness over using. Thank you. John

Fly N Buy

My choice today is before I pickup use the tools I was freely given by friends here on SR and in the rooms. I can choose to pick up that 900 lb phone and call a friend, post here on SR and pray / meditate - get to a meeting.

Given my history those are better choices than I've had in my past life!

Solarion

Everyone, thank you all for your contributions! These are certainly helping me to refine my views on the matter.

JohnQPublic, I think I have never seen anyone disagree in such a pleasant and polite way. In my OP I almost included a request for comments and rebuttals, so your comments are very much appreciated.