addiction, Addiction treatment, Always Hope, How addiction affects family, recovery, relapse

Caution: Warning Signs

Caution: Warning Signs

CAUTION 4

HALT-B

H – Hungry     A – Angry      L – Lonely     T – Tired      B – Bored

HALT-B is an anagram for the most common reasons for relapse.

Take caution if your hungry, this may sound silly but it has been found that the human brain, once addicted to a substance, will reach for this substance as a cure for any discomfort as it cannot discern between needs. A person will get a craving to drink, even though he/she is really just having hunger pangs and a quick healthy snack can resolve the craving to drink or drug.

• SOLUTION – HAVE A BITE TO EAT.

Take caution if your angry, this is a strong emotion and can cause a person to reach for what they know will make them feel better, whatever that substance is. Phrases such as “I’ll show you” or “who cares anyway” or “it dosent really matter anymore” are particular to this relapse.

• SOLUTION – RESOLVE THE ANGER, BY TALKING TO SOMEONE OR JOURNALLING.

Take caution if your lonely, loneliness is part of being human. No one is exempt. There are times when, no matter how strong our faith is, or how much spiritual or personal growth we’ve experienced, loneliness will flood our lives. The loss of a loved one, the critical illness of a child, making a tough decision, supporting an unpopular position, and sometimes just doing what we know to be right can isolate us from others in a painful and yet unavoidable way. Sometimes we can find no direct trigger for our feelings we just feel disconnected from the flow of life around us.
We may be tempted to escape the discomfort by running to work, friends, or activities in the same way we used to run to chemicals. While this may provide some temporary relief, it usually increases our sense of isolation. As is true with any emotion, the attempt to deny or control the isolation will only give it more power. The willingness to experience what we are feeling often reduces the intensity of the feeling.
While few would consider loneliness enjoyable, it can encourage us to reach out to others, and to seek a power beyond. Calling our sponsor or a friend, getting to a meeting, and sharing our pain can help us get out of ourselves in a healthy way. Reading recovery or inspirational literature may help us regain a sense of perspective. If we have suffered a major loss or are feeling grief, we may be able to find a support group which deals with that specific issue.

• SOLUTION – REACH OUT TO AN UNDERSTANDING PERSON, A SPONSOR, GO TO A MEETING, HAVE COFFEE WITH A FRIEND.

Or call us at Always Hope to speak with someone

1-829-932-0123

Take caution if your tired, tiredness either lack of a good sleep or exhaustion from taking on too much can cause a recovering alcoholic or addict to come up with the idea that a pill, joint or drink may allow them to relax, this most probably will lead to a full blown relapse, so the best solution is to learn to meditate, there a plenty of books on the subject and video instructions on YouTube, that may help in this, and it may allow you to get through this phase without a relapse. Meditation takes practice and if you don’t succeed the first few times you try, just keep doing it and don’t criticize yourself for not getting it right off the bat.

• SOLUTION – HAVE A NAP AND/OR LEARN TO MEDITATE.

Take caution if your bored, being bored with your recovery can be a trigger to relapse, try to find something that can fill your time, try something you always wanted to do, learn to play and instrument, join a gym, take a walk, find a hobby that you enjoy, swim, read, watch instructional videos, etc.

• SOLUTION – FIND SOMETHING TO DO, THE WORLD IS YOUR PLAYGROUND.

Recovery is a new design for living and takes work, we have to live abnormally for a while till not drinking or not drugging becomes normal for us. Twelve Step groups are like minded people all searching for the same thing, and as we commit to a home group, get a sponsor, volunteer for service work and attend meetings, we find that we have a lot in common and are able to make long lasting friendships and give and receive support. We all have a story, we all have struggles and attending a meeting might allow you to find some worthy suggestions for any and all of the H.A.L.T. – B. Issues that we all contend with.