We know that when a person becomes addicted to a substance
there are many environmental and internal cues that make that person want to
use their substance of choice. Environmental cues can be many things including
the bar they used to drink at, the friends they used to shoot up with, or even
the bus stop they used to wait at to go get their fix. When a person is an
addict and a heavy user the environmental cues they have can really add up.
Part of the recovery process is to avoid cues that would make it harder for a
person to resist their craving. Sometimes it hard for a person to avoid their
cues so it has been suggested that if addicts want a better chance at recovery
they should pick up and move and start over in a new city. While this sounds
radical, it could actually work. In a new place there will not be any existing
environmental cues for the recovering addict. This would help take care of the
sudden craving that occurs when a cue is encountered. This wouldn’t necessarily
solve the problem related to internal cues. Internal cues are emotions that cue
a craving just like environmental cues. Even though internal cues would still
exist if a person were in a new place a majority of the cues would be cut out
by a change in environment. This is a very drastic change that a person has to
commit to, but if they are serious about their recovery and find themselves
constantly struggling with cues then this could help. Eliminating environmental
cues by changing cities has the potential to help an addict recover and regain control
of their life.
C. K. McDermott
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment