Getting sober is hard enough, but navigating the transition back to normal life after residential addiction treatment can be even harder. Relapse can be avoided by knowing your triggers and understanding how to cope with them in a healthy manner. Everyone’s triggers are personal to them and their trauma, but for many, a big trigger lies in the workplace. Here’s a few ways you can overcome relapse triggers in the workplace.
Recovery Routines: Prepare for the Work Day
Sobriety is a choice you make everyday when you wake up in the morning and creating a mindfulness routine can help prepare you for a hectic day at the office. It can be anything from going on a run, meditating, or simply enjoying a cup of coffee while listening to birds outside your window. No matter what you choose, make it permanently part of your routine every morning. Deviating from this routine can put you on edge or in a vulnerable head-space, making it more likely for a trigger in your day to cause you to relapse.
Coping Mechanisms for Stress at Work
Whether it’s your boss yelling at you or you’re coming up on a deadline you might not meet, anxiety can be a trigger that easily sneaks up on you. Feeling overwhelmed at work runs the risk of relapse IF you’re unprepared. While it can be difficult to quiet the anxious mind envisioning a catastrophic ending to any event in our daily lives, having regular coping mechanisms handy can help prevent relapse. Keep a stress ball at your desk or use your ten minute break to listen to a guided meditation in your car. At Acqua Recovery, we help our clients discover and experience new coping mechanisms that they can use in their real-life to combat not only workplace stress, but life’s unpredictable triggers.
Attending AA, NA, or SMART Meetings Near Work
Maybe you not only have to stress about trigger events, but work itself is unpredictable or high risk. Stressful and life threatening jobs such as mining or construction, not only have higher rates of workers struggling with substance abuse, but also are at a higher risk for relapse. Attending regular recovery meetings such as AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), NA (Narcotics Anonymous), or SMART provides you with the support you need at times when you need it most. If you can’t find a meeting outside of your work hours, ask your HR representative if you can take a longer lunch to attend a meeting or leave fifteen minutes early to attend one. Your mental well-being affects your work as well, so it’s in their best interest to allow you to do what you need to do to prevent relapse. To learn more about the different types of recovery meetings you could attend, give us a call or click HERE.
Seeking Treatment After Relapse
When you allow your work to engulf you to the point where it causes you to relapse, don’t be ashamed to seek residential addiction treatment again. Speak with your HR representative or your EAP (Employee Assistance Program) about resources you can use to cope with work triggers or about taking a leave of absence to return to residential addiction treatment.
Maybe the rehab program you previously went to wasn’t best for you. At Acqua Recovery, we use a trauma-informed approach to addiction treatment and create a customized program for you using evidence-based modalities. By addressing your trauma fueling your addiction and relapse, we’ll help you explore your triggers and give you the tools you need to overcome them — both in the workplace and in life! Even if you haven’t relapsed, Acqua Recovery is here to help with mental health issues causing your stress, anxiety, and more. Reach out to us today to rediscover yourself and become the person you always wanted to be.
