MAINTAINING SOBRIETY
We asked these clean and sober individuals with various lengths of recovery time how they handle temptations and triggers to help them maintain their sobriety
BY PAULO MURILLO
STAY PLUGGED IN
“I had 18 months when I first got sober and I relapsed. Life was hitting me from different direction and I just wanted that escape. I wanted some relief and I wanted to go out balls to the wall, have fun, and do a bunch of crazy shit. Then I realized almost immediately that it wasn’t worth it. I got like four minutes of euphoria and four days of psychosis. It was a hard but valuable lesson. So today, when I get triggered and get those ideas, I know better. But just because I know better, doesn’t mean I’m going to do better. When I do get those ideas kind of creeping in the back of my mind, I remember what happened to me when I thought that I could handle it. I truly lost all my power. So now I play the tape back. I no longer want to keep the secret that I had an idea or thought about drinking or using so I give my sponsor a call. I call my friends because I don’t have any shame. I know that we’ve all been there, so I don’t feel judgment talking about getting triggered. I make sure to stay plugged in with my sober friends.”
—Daniel Montes, sober since June 12, 2022.
CALL MY SPONSOR
“The way I handled triggers in my recovery is by calling my sponsor first and foremost. This is my first time doing sobriety ever, so at this moment I haven’t really had too many triggers. I would have gotten sober sooner. For me, it’s been an easy thing staying sober rather than getting sober. Getting sober was the hard part. As far as triggers go, the only specific thing that’s been triggering me lately is the weight gain I have now that I’m not using anymore. The way I’m handling those triggers is I get out of myself and try not compare myself to others. That means not comparing myself to people on social media and all the hot guys I see at meetings. Also, I’m trying to be a little bit better about my eating habits, so instead of just indulging in the first thing I eat, I started doing calorie counts and I do weight check-ins and also, like I said, I just call my sponsor.”
—Sergio Ornelas, sober since December 28, 2023.
CREATE NEW MEMORIES
“Triggers happen and I can’t control them based on smells, places, things, music, and so on. When they pop up, I practice this thing where I don’t water it, because if I water it, then I can make it grow. And I don’t want to make anything grow especially as it relates to being triggered. I try to practice not watering triggers. They happen, and when they do, I just move them along because I can make anything grow if I want it to. Instead, I create new memories with certain things. For example, I don’t listen to the music that I used to listen to when I was using, but when it does come up, I create a new memory. I used to listen to a lot of Madonna when I was high and so I had to go through a couple of cycles to really listen to the music sober. I created new memories of that music. Another example is five years ago I could not go to Las Vegas because I used a lot in Las Vegas. But once I did it sober, I create new memories and I don’t feel triggered anymore.”
—Andrew Buchmeier, sober November 25 2017.
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