When you are beginning to stay sober, entering recovery & want to not use drugs & alcohol, there can be a little fear. Who am I kidding…? not a little fear…. ALOT of fear about urges, cravings, thoughts that say you can’t do this. Thoughts will tell you it is too hard.
I would like to address those fears here and provide you with 15 things you can do during a craving or urge to stop the thoughts that make you feel like you need to drink or use drugs.
First things first, let’s talk about fear.
Fear is based out of irrational thought. Yep, I said it & if you look at fear you will agree as well. Here is why I say that. Do you remember a time when you felt afraid to do something? Yes, we all do. Sometimes fear stopped us & other times it did not.
Here’s my challenge to you:
Do you remember a time when you felt fear but pushed through anyways. That’s typically a time when you were forced to face the fear whatever that may be. Now remember that feeling after you faced the fear. A big rush of Whew….YES!!! or even astonishment that you did it. And later what did you say to yourself. It really wasn’t that bad or no big deal. Can you see how fear is false?
Create Your Plan
So to be successful in recovery it’s basically the same process with facing a craving or urge. Cravings and urges do not last very long (research suggests they are less than 2 mins). They will come & go. Initially it may feel like they come & go every few minutes and they might. However, there are ways to cope with urges and cravings and not succumb to them. Also they will get less & less as time goes on.
I’m a firm believer of having a great plan prior to tackling some big or small issues. So I created a list of 15 things you can do if you are feeling a craving or urge. You can have this at hand before you decide to quit using or drinking. They are helpful & will give you the ammunition you need to kick this addiction to the curb.
15 Things You Can Do to Cope with a Craving or Urge
- Distract yourself by cleaning something
- Call a friend who is supportive of you
- Attend an AA meeting (during Covid, there are many meetings online)
- “Play the tape out”
- Close your eyes & take some deep breaths
- Listen to a guided meditation
- Take your dog for a walk
- Take a shower
- Watch a movie
- Re-organize something (closet, bookshelf, sort thru junk mail)
- Do some yoga
- Watch a motivational video on You Tube
- Read something positive
- Close your eyes & picture a wave “Ride the urge”
- Journal a list of why sobriety is important to you
Ok so there is a list of things you can do during an urge or craving to drink or use drugs. The key takeaway is fear is a liar and not true. You can do this with a plan. If you need some extra help, book a free 20 min recovery strategy session with me so we can start to turn this situation around.