Understanding Environmental Triggers and their Impact on You

Personal, interpersonal and environmental triggers are plentiful. These are people, places or things that jolt you into thinking and doing something out of a habit that you may have decided to give up, but because of the conditioning of the trigger, you react. The human brain is an efficient organ and communicates signals through your body so that you’ll take action in the most efficient way to react to the stimulus. Expect certain places, things, people and even emotions to stimulate your old instinctual reactions that trigger old habits so you will not be surprised by this tendency, but instead can choose an intentional response. For example, you may be aware of some social triggers that might stimulate you to take a drink, but the other triggers that are harder to discover (such as your  psychological patterns), because they may or may not be readily identified by your conscious. In this case, you may have known not to take that first drink, but looking back after you did it, you still can't put your finger on why you actually did it. The interplays and science behind instincts verses intentional thoughts (that will help bring you to implement goal directed behaviors) is not the point of this section. Instead, you need to be aware that there may be more to your addiction recovery than meets the eye. When you do the work to discover these hidden triggers, you can train yourself to override these old habits with new ones. (Awareness is the stimulus for goal setting and intentional decision-making. It is choosing a response that will override your impulsive habits so you can reach your goal of a new normal).

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​​​​To act purposefully, the brain must be harnessed by intentional thinking that is stimulated by long-term goal achievement. This is why goal setting must be a conscious, thoughtful, value-based decision, otherwise, by default, efficiency and immediate satisfaction become the short-term goals established by your mind. Impulsive behavior needs to be taught and tamed by the decision to use self-control so that a new goal can replace the conditioned response that the impulsive behavior generated (Ainslie, G. (1975)). After your reconditioning in a recovery/rehabilitation program is over, you need to stay vigilant (aware) of these hidden triggers and the potential setbacks they may bring. You’ll need to practice (over and over again) the responses that you learned in rehabilitation so these new effective habits will become efficient and conditioned in your new social environment (they will eventually replace the old, impulsive habits, 1 Peter 5:8). Impulsivity automatically reacts, but intentionality responds (because to employ it requires you to want to delay short term rewards for longer-term goal achievement, and learning this skill requires the use of different* behavior, Ainslie, G. (1975). Acting differently causes you to feel discomfort, mentally and physically, until it becomes your new normal. 

• A word of encouragement when experiencing relapses; when practicing the new / replacement skill and you become aware that you've relapsed again, remember, you have not failed, you are just building/ strengthening your skill to overcome next time you get the desire. By staying motivated to reach your new skills / goals, you'll be able to avoid the hole in the sidewalk, because you have faith to believe that with God and your commitment to developing new skills, you'll overcome! Never give up; it's never too late to try, try again!

• The efficiency of the learning process is detailed in Appendix 1F.

• Read more about resiliency in the section titled, "Choose an Attitude of Capability along with Practicing Coping Behaviors!" and in Appendix 1Q; Resiliency to Overcome Setbacks​.

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Choosing a new normal requires the strength and the skill of implementing delayed gratification (the desire to look past short-term results for longer lasting goals) and this determination is rooted in self-worth (Crocker, J., Brook, A. T., Niiya, Y., & Villacorta, M. (2006)). Insecure people tend towards instant gratification because of the energy they gain from an immediate, but phantom boost on self-worth. Phantom boast on self-worth because instant gratification is often used by people with undeveloped trust or a lack of confidence in the source (Michaelson L, de la Vega A, Chatham CH, Munakata Y., (2013). The knowledgable hope that is associated with the Christian faith is needed to willingly make the choice to persist through the change process to transform your unproductive habits (Isaiah 40:31, Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 6:19, 11:1, Romans 15:13).

 

The strength to do this comes from a renewed sense of self. "Renewed" because strength comes to self-concept with a heart and mind connection that comes from your acceptance of and then grows along with a deepening knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's the Holy Spirit in you that provides the power and speed you need to act intentionally, but it's you that directs your will (soul) to implement the action required (Isaiah 30:21, 58:11, Galatians 5:16, 19-23). It is the sure hope of the faith in your new identity in Christ that pulls you up to the challenge of trading your old ways for new habits, so you can achieve new outcomes, instead of letting the feeling of comfort push you back down to old ones.

• *Fortitude, according to Websters dictionary, is the strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.

• Read more about the push pull reality in Appendix 1N.

 

Building Defense Mechanism is Inherent in Human Culture 

Until you know and accept God’s love for you as you are, your self-concept will be restricted by defenses such as false pride, denial, or blame and will result in insecure feelings like feelings of fear, worry, arrogance, shame, or guilt. Defense mechanisms are meant to guard your self-image (your opinion of yourself) so you remain secure, maintaining your self-worth which provides you stability throughout life. Defense mechanisms maintain the status quo by becoming habits that bound your life, restricting the freedom Christ died to give everyone who believes in Him (Galatians 5:1, Romans 10:12-13, 1 Timothy 2:4).​ The phrase “put on Christ” reveals that while it’s God’s power in you (through your new identity in Christ) that makes it possible for you to obtain the promises of God, you'll need to take responsibility and make the effort to learn and practice the habits necessary to act out Christlike skills. 

 

The blockage to becoming a new creature in-Christ is within you. It's your sense of self - your personal assessment of your worth* that fuels your self-image. Think of your self-image as the vulnerable core that lies beneath your expressed personality. It's vulnerable because it is the authority of self-direction. If you stand on the false hope that you are strong enough to make it happen, you'll fall (Galatians 6:7-9, James 2:17-20). The stronger your conviction about this, the more confident you'll be, and, quite possibly, the more resistant to change you'll be. The ability to let yourself grow comes from your comfort and confidence in learning to maneuver/drive your personality in the direction to achieve goals while remaining within moral boundaries of the of those convictions. As a young child, there is not much difference between the core of self-worth and the expressed personality so that learning occurrs exponentially. Unfortunately, that changes as we age/mature and there is a tendency to drive in the right lane instead of passing in the left lane. (This word picture of doing life as a Christian without risk-taking within the boundaries of God's Word.)

 

Defense mechanisms form that surround your self-image so you do not allow truths to get inside your heart for fear that the truth may hurt, further thwarting your sense of self. Learning God's Word helps you discern truth and when you learn the loving character of God, this learning enables you to give away love to others without worrying about yourself. Knowing God's truth is cushioned by the boundaries of justice, secures you and sets you free from defensiveness and kick starts acceptance and change (rather than allowing defensiveness to reject possible improvements to your self-image).