Recovery is rarely threatened by a single moment of weakness. More often, it’s tested by a pattern, such as talking to a friend who still uses, or passing a familiar bar on the way home from work. These moments are called triggers, and understanding them is one of the most practical things you can do to protect your recovery.
Triggers generally fall into two categories: internal and external. Knowing the difference, and learning to recognize each as it happens, helps you manage them before they turn into a relapse.
This guide breaks down the differences between internal vs. external triggers, the common relapse triggers to look out for, and what to do when you encounter them.
Internal vs. External Triggers
Every relapse trigger falls somewhere on a spectrum between what’s happening inside you (internal) and what’s happening around you (external). Some relapse triggers even overlap. For example, stress (internal) is often what makes an old drinking buddy’s phone call (external) feel harder to say no to than it would on a calmer day.
To protect your recovery, it’s important that you understand each type of relapse trigger and prepare yourself to defend against it.
What are relapse triggers?
Substance use that lasts for a prolonged period of time changes the brain, eventually causing it to associate certain stimuli with the desire to drink or do drugs. Relapse triggers are social, psychological, and emotional situations that compel someone in recovery to return to their substance of choice.
While many triggers can be negative experiences, it is important to note that positive events can trigger relapsing as well.
What are internal triggers?
Internal triggers are a type of relapse trigger that come from inside your own mind and body. They include emotions, physical sensations, thought patterns, and memories that create an urge to use, even when nothing in your immediate environment has changed.
Common internal triggers include:
- Distressing emotions, like anxiety and depression
- Feelings that you want to avoid
- Wanting to feel “normal”
- Celebrating positive life events
- Increased levels of stress
- Overconfidence in sobriety
Internal triggers can be harder to recognize than external ones because they don’t come with an obvious warning sign. There’s no bottle on a table or a familiar street corner to point to. Instead, you might just notice you feel unsettled or restless without immediately connecting that feeling to a risk of relapse.
Internal triggers also tend to build gradually. You may notice a pattern of skipping meals or cutting back on sleep, which can accumulate for days or even weeks before turning into a craving. This means there’s usually a window in which you can notice the pattern and respond to the trigger instead of the craving to protect your recovery.
What are external triggers?
External triggers refer to relapse triggers that come from your environment. This can include people, places, objects, and situations associated with past substance use. Unlike internal triggers, they’re often easier to spot because they involve something you can see, hear, or otherwise encounter in the world around you.
Common external triggers include:
- Stressful or uncomfortable situations
- Being around people who elevate your stress levels
- Being around other people who drink or do drugs
- Social events like concerts, parties, going out to dinner
- Financial troubles
- Home and work responsibilities
- Certain objects that remind you of using
External triggers work partly through simple association. If you have used a substance repeatedly in a certain setting or with certain people, your brain links that setting or those people to the experience of using. Studies on cue reactivity have shown that people with substance use disorders react more strongly, both emotionally and physiologically, to these cues than people without a history of addiction. This heightened reactivity is linked to a greater chance of relapse.
10 Common Relapse Triggers
While everyone’s relapse triggers can be different, some are common across various substance use disorders and lived experiences. Here are the especially prevalent triggers to look out for:
- Unmanaged stress. Whether it’s a work deadline, a family conflict, or ongoing financial pressure, stress is one of the most consistently documented relapse triggers in addiction research. It doesn’t need to be a crisis. Everyday, accumulating stress can be just as risky as a single major event.
- HALT states. Being hungry, angry, lonely, or tired lowers your capacity to manage cravings, even when nothing else in your life has changed. These states are easy to overlook precisely because they feel ordinary and unthreatening.
- Social pressure. Being around people who are using, or who minimize the seriousness of your recovery, can create pressure that’s difficult to resist. This is especially true if you feel obligated to keep the relationship the way it was before treatment.
- Celebrations and holidays. Weddings, reunions, and holidays often make alcohol easily available. An open bar paired with old social patterns and heightened emotion can make an ordinarily manageable event riskier than expected.
- Feeling excluded. A sober lifestyle may cause you to feel left out when other people participate in activities and social events that make you uncomfortable. Friends and family members who use drugs or drink alcohol may make you feel like you’re not having as much fun as everyone else. This fear of missing out leads a lot of people to return to drug and alcohol abuse.
- Mental health challenges. Substance use commonly stems from an effort to cope with mental health challenges, such as anxiety and depression. When someone stops using alcohol or drugs to mask their symptoms, they may notice their emotional struggles more, especially when the mental health challenge goes unaddressed. Unfortunately, many people turn back to substance use as a means of temporary escape.
- Overconfidence. Feeling like you’ve built enough distance from active addiction can lead to skipping therapy sessions, avoiding support meetings, or believing you can be around substances without risk. This is one of the more common causes of relapse, especially the further someone gets into recovery.
- Post-acute withdrawal symptoms. Mood swings, irritability, and disrupted sleep can persist well after the acute withdrawal period ends, and they tend to come and go unpredictably, which can be discouraging if you’re not expecting it. Understanding that these symptoms are temporary, even when they resurface, can make them easier to tolerate.
- Relationship conflict. Arguments with a partner, family member, or close friend can trigger both the emotional discomfort and the isolation that often precede relapse. Unresolved conflict tends to compound over time, which is part of why family therapy is often built into treatment.
- Physical pain or illness. Injury, chronic pain, or a medical procedure that involves prescribed medication can reintroduce both physical cues and access to substances. Planning ahead with your medical team, before a procedure or prescription is needed, reduces this risk considerably.
None of these triggers make relapse inevitable. They’re simply the situations where your risk goes up, which means they’re also the situations where a plan matters most.
How to Avoid Relapse Triggers
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance use disorders typically see a relapse rate of roughly 40-60%. You don’t have to be part of that statistic, but avoiding every relapse trigger for the rest of your life isn’t realistic.
Instead, you can learn to recognize triggers quickly and respond to them with a plan you’ve already thought through. That way, you’ll be prepared to protect your recovery no matter the situation rather than feel pressured to make a decision in the moment.
Here are some steps you can take to prevent both internal and external triggers from interfering with your recovery.
Identify your specific triggers.
The list of common relapse triggers above is a solid starting point, but everyone’s experiences are different. Take time, ideally with a therapist, to identify what’s specifically risky for you. Evaluate the:
- Situations you repeatedly encounter
- People you interact with
- Feelings and thoughts you struggle with internally
For example, being able to name “arguments with my brother” or “Sunday afternoons when I have nothing scheduled” is far more useful than generally being aware that stress is a risk. Writing these down, and revisiting the list periodically, helps you notice patterns you might otherwise miss.
Practice consistent self-care.
Sleep, nutrition, movement, and time for things you enjoy aren’t extras. Clinical research on relapse points to poor self-care as a common thread running through the weeks before a return to use. Prioritize sleep, nutrition, movement, and time for things you enjoy. Remember to monitor your HALT states:
- Hungry: Plan to eat a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack every day if you know you’ll get hungry in between meals.
- Angry: Practice coping skills to regulate your emotions and avoid letting anger get the best of you.
- Lonely: Call a friend or family member, attend a meeting, or find some other way to connect with others if you’re feeling lonely.
- Tired: Allow yourself time for a nap on days when you’re feeling especially run down, and decline social plans if needed to allow yourself an opportunity to rest.
Change your environment where you can.
If certain places or objects are strongly tied to past use, it’s best to avoid them, at least for a period of time. Don’t test your resolve unnecessarily.
Reduce your exposure to strong cues, such as bars you used to frequent or hangouts where substance use is expected. For situations you can’t fully avoid, such as a family holiday or a work event, decide ahead of time how you’ll leave if you need to, who you’ll call, and what you’ll say if someone offers you a drink or a drug.
Work with people who know your history.
Staying in regular contact with a therapist, a support group, or people who understand your recovery gives you somewhere to bring a difficult moment before it turns into a crisis. A therapist or treatment team who understands your specific triggers can help you build a plan that makes the most sense for your life and recovery needs.
If relapse happens, respond to it the right way. Reaching out immediately to a therapist or support group, rather than withdrawing out of guilt, is what tends to determine whether a single setback leads back to full relapse or becomes a moment you learn from and move past.
Protect Your Sobriety at North Georgia Recovery Center
If you feel like you’re close to relapsing or you have relapsed, know that it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. Drug and alcohol relapse is fairly common when walking down the path toward sobriety and recovery.
Be kind to yourself. Remember that you can always begin again and make better choices for yourself moving forward.
At North Georgia Recovery Center, our program moves through three phases of treatment:
Identifying personal triggers and building a concrete plan around them is part of the work our clinical team does with each person throughout that process.
If you’re looking at treatment options for yourself or a loved one in the Kennesaw, Georgia, or greater Atlanta area, our team can walk you through what the program involves and how it’s structured around your specific history.
