Show notes
### Summary
#### Introduction
- Presenter: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
- Topic: Understanding triggers and cravings
- Goals: Define triggers and cravings, identify personal triggers, and discuss coping methods
#### Defining Triggers and Cravings
- **Triggers**: Anything prompting a rewarding or survival response.
- Examples: Touch (hot stove), sounds (alarm clock), sights (child's smile), smells (fall air), places (dentist's office), people (reminding you of someone), situations (new job).
- **Cravings**: Repetitive, consuming thoughts or desires caused by triggers.
- Example: Food commercials triggering hunger at night.
#### Components of Triggers
1. **Sensory Awareness**:
- Body perceives a stimulus and sends it to the brain.
- Brain retrieves a schema to interpret and respond to the stimulus.
- Neurochemical release depending on the schema (fight or flight, pleasure).
2. **Cognitive Awareness**:
- Includes flashbacks and intrusive thoughts.
- Brain determines how to handle the situation based on past experiences.
3. **Systemic Awareness**:
- Body notices imbalances (blood sugar, dopamine levels).
- Brain looks for past coping mechanisms to address the imbalance.
#### Coping with Triggers and Cravings
1. **Identify Personal Triggers**:
- Recognize triggers for specific feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
- Example: Hunger, tiredness, environmental factors (places, times of day).
2. **Developing Awareness**:
- Be mindful of surroundings and internal states.
- Journal recent triggers and analyze early warning signs.
3. **Increase Positive Triggers**:
- Enhance the environment with positive stimuli (pictures, smells, music).
4. **Addressing Negative Triggers**:
- Reduce or manage negative triggers (broken locks, unsafe situations).
- Use coping strategies like deep breathing, meditation, exercise.
#### Practical Strategies
1. **Four Square Breathing**:
- Trigger relaxation response by deep breathing.
2. **Loving Kindness Meditation**:
- Reduce stress response by fostering positive emotions.
3. **Increase Physical Safety**:
- Modify environment to reduce stress (mirrors, locked doors).
4. **Address Comfort and Ergonomics**:
- Improve physical comfort to enhance mood and focus.
5. **Build Positive Relationships**:
- Use assertive communication and manage boundaries to feel secure.
6. **Recondition Responses**:
- Change associations with negative triggers (e.g., payday as positive).
- Make triggers more unpleasant if necessary (e.g., Antabuse for alcohol).
7. **Mindfulness and Journaling**:
- Reflect on triggers and responses to understand and manage them better.
#### Handling Cravings
1. **Stop, Look, Listen, and Feel**:
- Recognize cravings as clues to unmet needs.
2. **Alternative Actions**:
- Identify what is truly needed and find healthier ways to fulfill that need.
3. **Dealing with Persistent Cravings**:
- Understand cravings as similar to a child's tantrum; resisting strengthens resolve.
### Time Codes for Major Points
00:00 Introduction and goals of the video
02:00 Definition and examples of triggers
06:30 Components of triggers (sensory, cognitive, systemic)
10:45 Understanding cravings and their impact
15:30 Identifying personal triggers and increasing awareness
20:00 Developing positive triggers and addressing negative ones
25:45 Practical strategies for coping with triggers
30:00 Handling cravings and alternative actions
35:00 Reflecting on personal experiences and journaling
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