Understanding what factors or situations influenced the beginning of your addiction can be extremely useful to you in recovery. Learning from past situations and recognizing the factors that led you into the addictive cycle can help you refrain from making similar mistakes in the future.
Determining what circumstances initiated your addiction can be extremely challenging. As the onset of addiction often begins from a combination of factors and events, it can be hard to pinpoint the exact moment that you began to struggle with addiction. By asking yourself a series of questions, you may be able to determine what led to your substance use disorder (SUD) and what people or events could lead to a potential relapse.
What Was Happening?
Take some time to think back to your first exposure to drugs or alcohol. What was the situation like? Did you use the substance the first time you were exposed to it? Where were you when you first began to use drugs or alcohol? Who were you with? Thinking about these situations can help you to identify future potential problems. The more specific you can be about where you were, who you were with, and what you were doing, the better equipped you will be to recognize situations that could occur in the future and develop a plan to cope with these situations.
One of the most useful pieces of information that you can gather from this question is the impact of the social group during these situations. Looking at the individuals who may have encouraged you to use drugs or alcohol and brought you into that situation can be extremely eye-opening. As you look at your current social network, you can determine if the individuals you engage with are supporting your recovery or potentially dragging you away from recovery success.
What Were You Feeling?
What was your emotional state during your first few uses of the substance? People choose to use substances for a variety of reasons. Between feeling more confident and fitting in with a social crowd to covering up negative emotions, there are many reasons individuals choose to use drugs or alcohol. Understanding what influenced your decision to use can help eliminate future cravings and triggers. When you remember the emotional state you were in, you will better understand why you developed an addiction. Many people use drugs or alcohol in an attempt to cope with underlying issues like depression, anxiety, or unresolved trauma.
Understanding the emotional state you were in when deciding to use a substance can say a lot about how your addiction began. It is common to begin using substances in a fun and energetic party situation—you want to let loose for the night. It is also common to fall under the influence of substances when you are stuck in a negative emotional state. If you begin using a substance to counteract the effects of negative emotions, you likely need to work on developing skills to regulate your emotions.
If you begin using a substance out of pure enjoyment, consider why you continued to use this substance. Looking at what emotions the substance brought out in you that you could not feel on your own can help you identify aspects of yourself that you may want to address. Working on this area can help you to re-establish a sense of balance and direction moving forward.
Preventing Relapse
What can I do to ensure I don’t use substances again? While other questions you asked yourself focused on the past, this question brings your attention to the future. After thinking through and analyzing prior situations that may have led to your SUD, now you are asked how you will respond to a similar event in the future. Using the skills you have learned so far in treatment and recovery, think about think how you would respond. Be completely honest with yourself.
If you feel that it would be easy for you to begin using drugs or alcohol again, that is an indication that you need to spend more time thinking about the events and people that trigger you and develop a plan to help you maintain your sobriety. This observation can be extremely useful in determining your standpoint through recovery. Asking yourself this question again later in your recovery can help you see your progress and how much you have accomplished in your recovery.
In the future, if you are presented with a similar situation, you will have already thought out various ways to properly handle the situation. Because you have played this scenario over and over in your head, you will be able to relax and carry out your plan. This skill can be incredibly helpful in preventing relapses and maintaining long-term sobriety. Allow this information to be used for your benefit and success in recovery.
Understanding the different factors that led to the onset of your addiction can be extremely beneficial in recovery, especially in preventing relapse. As you explore the motives behind your decisions and the impulses that contributed to your initial use, you learn coping mechanisms to work through those situations in the future. Developing this understanding of your past will require thinking and reflection, which can be triggering for some individuals. Reliving these events may bring up strong emotions and could leave you in a negative emotional state afterward. Be sure you are prepared with proper coping mechanisms and a strong support system. Our compassionate team at Dream Recovery will support you as you work to understand your past. We offer a variety of clinical and holistic treatment modalities and will tailor a treatment plan to meet your specific needs. To learn more, call Dream Recovery at (949) 732-1960.
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