Congratulations! You’ve been working your recovery process for a while now and have been focusing on curbing your urges and staying sober.
However, sobriety isn’t easy and it takes constant maintenance and attention. This is especially true if you experience urges for craving drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, or other compulsions. Are you forever doomed to wage this constant battle whenever you experience cravings?
Actually, there are ways that you can positively cope when these urges strike.
Consider then these practical tips for curving your cravings.
Put-Off as Long as Possible Your Urges and Craving
Typically we consider procrastination to be a negative attribute, but in this situation, it can really help. Hold off on fulfilling your craving and see what happens. If you can keep from satisfying it for a few minutes, then hopefully the feeling will pass. This delay gives you breathing space to consider whether or not you really need to fulfill this urge. Ask yourself, “Do I need to do this or is there something else driving the craving?” Oftentimes stress can trigger a desire to feed an addiction. That’s because in the past you turned to your addiction in order to cope with whatever stress present in your life.
Practice Positive Thinking
When a your urges do strike it’s easy to get absorbed into the desire to fulfill that urge. Everything else gets tuned out and you can feel your stress and anxiety rise. However, practicing positive thinking will help get you back into the right mindset. For example:
Repeat to yourself a sentence, phrase, or saying that you find comforting and affirming.
Think of something positive about your day or week
Imagine you have a family member or close friend with you right now, cheering you on
Smile to yourself. It does really help you maintain a positive attitude!
Keep in mind that positive thinking doesn’t mean ignoring the seriousness of the situation. Ye,t it does help you to maintain a mindset that allows you to cope with the situation, rather than shut down and become closed-off.
Keep a Physical Reminder with You
Symbolism is very important in many aspects of life. For example, for people in a committed relationship rings represent their love and fidelity to each other. There’s a reason why in recovery programs they present tokens to symbolize progress and success in recovery. Having some kind of physical reminder with you will help to keep you grounded when you experience cravings. For instance:
Carry with you a picture of your family or partner
Wear a religious or spiritual object
Keep a favorite quote, phrase, or book in your pocket.
Any object really can hold meaning and significance to the bearer. Just as long it’s something that helps remind you of what you’ve accomplished and how you want your life to move forward.
When in Doubt, Move!
There is no doubt that physical movement and exercise have lots of positive effects on the brain and mood. If you feel an urge coming on, do something right then and there! Do some jumping jacks in your office, or take a brisk walk. You could even get on the floor and do push-ups! Anything to get you moving and the blood flowing. It’s also helpful to incorporate exercise into your daily schedule. That way, if you do experience a craving you have something to look forward to and direct your focus. Just make sure to consult with your physician before starting any kind of new exercise routine.
Engage Your Mind
This is really helpful if you are already a curious person and enjoy learning. Keep a book with you wherever you go. Or, have several episodes of your favorite podcast loaded onto your device, ready to play. Learning something new is a positive way to cope when you feel stressed because all of those positive brain chemicals (such as endorphins) get released. They help you stay engaged and interested in what you’re learning, instead of allowing cortisol, which is associated with stress, to take over.
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Coping with addiction is not a “once-and-done” sort of thing. The reality is that resisting your urges can take a lifetime to master. Use these practical tips to get started. As you master one ,try something new so that you have several options to work with. That way, when those urges do strike, you will have a variety of tools at your disposal.
Click to learn more about substance abuse counseling and treatment with Naomi Casement, LMSW.
