Taking on the Holidays: addressing addiction
Regardless of where you are on your sobriety journey, holidays pose an interesting challenge to managing addiction. Whether this is your first holiday working to maintain your sobriety, or you have decades of holidays under your belt, addressing the challenges that holidays bring to addiction sobriety is an important conversation to have.
The Center for Network Therapy sites that relapse rates increased by 150% for drug and alcohol addiction during the holiday season.
So knowing that relapse rates increase during this time of year, it is essential to address and consider how you can be proactive in managing your addiction and set yourself up for success to finish the holiday season with your sobriety goals intact. Here are a few things to consider before attending holiday gatherings;
Know your triggers— this may seem simplistic, and if you have been in any type of addiction treatment for long, you have likely revisited the trigger conversation more times than you can count. But when was the last time that you specifically reminded yourself of the triggers that you identified? And when is the last time you brought those triggers to your conscious awareness to ensure that you can correctly and accurately manage your triggers for substance use? Outside of situational triggers, have you taken the time to identify what urges feel like in the body and what thought processes accompany them and revisited that inventory to ensure that it is as accurate and up-to-date as possible? A lack of objective assessment of triggers creates vulnerabilities, putting even a seasoned individual in recovery at risk.
Avoid opportunities where ever possible- when considering addiction recovery, the avoidance of urge and opportunity is imperative. We often encourage individuals that when the urge and opportunity aline simultaneously, individuals are often very poor at predicting their behaviors. So in thinking about conscientious, proactive addiction management during a high-risk season, it is vital to eliminate opportunity wherever possible. Think through the events that you will be attending. Identify the places in spaces where access to the addictive substance may be present. Holiday parties are notorious for alcohol consumption in many social circles, access to substances for those who struggle with alcohol recovery. It’s imperative that she take an accurate and objective view of the situation you will be in, assess the risk factors for the opportunity, proactively illuminate opportunity areas if possible, and create a plan to set yourself up for success.
Identify your coping skills and plan for them- just as we want to assess for potential opportunities for substance use, we also want to assess for potential ways that our coping skills may be able to manage the stress factors, urges, and opportunities that may exist. Just as you have likely addressed and labeled triggers on multiple occasions, coping skills are not new to many people in addiction recovery. But again, when was the last time you actively reminded yourself of the skills and were conscientious about implementing and practicing your coping skills? Are there any new skills, practices, or habits that you may want to be intentional and implement during the season? Are there any gaps in which you do not have a coping skill to address a potentially urgent situation? Honesty, objectivity, and intentionality related to your needs and resources is the only way to set yourself up for success adequately.
Tell someone your plan- Have you heard the statement “the opposite of addiction is connection“? While there are likely many factors contributing to addiction, it is safe to say that connection, community, and social support are critically important and successful addiction recovery. So as you enter the season with the potential of increased opportunities, urges, and unique social situations, make sure that you access your social support system, recovery teammates, supporters, encouragers, cheerleaders, and those who will be willing to speak tough truths to you. Find at least one of those people to share your plan for managing addiction during the holiday season. Get some honest feedback from them, and continue to share and update your support person. You just may be able to help support them in a season of their journey as well.
If you are looking for additional assistance in your addiction recovery journey, our trained addiction therapists are ready to help. Invite another professional to your team. Our therapists are compassionate and prepared to equip you with evidence-based practices to assist you in your addiction recovery journey. Join us in our Arlington, Texas counseling office or with online therapy for all Texas residence. We would love to connect with you today about how we may be able to support you through this holiday season and beyond.
