9 tips for dealing with cravings in addiction recovery

Craving refers to intense desires to use substances, characteristic of addiction. These are often intense and short-lived episodes but can also be persistent desires for the substance underlying the addiction.

There are different ways to deal with cravings, of which the top 8 are the following:

1. Use self-talk
2. Identify your goals
3. Be consistent in treatment and therapy
4. Take up a hobby
5. Surf the urge
6. Practice self-care
7. Know your triggers
8. Connect with others
9. Erase bad memories

Cravings during addiction recovery are often triggered by stress, exposure to triggers, and brain changes that affect the response to rewards. Building coping skills requires practice, awareness of triggers, and developing healthy habits.

Hartz, D., Frederick-Osborne, S., & Galloway, G. (2001) showed that the intensity of craving predicts continued use during methamphetamine dependence treatment, with higher craving scores indicating a greater risk of relapse. This highlights the importance of learning to manage these cravings.

1. Use Self-Talk

Using positive self-talk can be an effective strategy for managing cravings during addiction recovery. Positive self-talk allows individuals to engage in internal dialogues that are motivational and supportive, instead of critical or negative. This process begins with recognizing and acknowledging the cravings without resisting them. By becoming aware of the inner voice, one can learn to steer it with affirmations or positive reinforcements that help maintain sobriety and support the recovery process.

The research by Witkiewitz, K., Bowen, S., Douglas, H., & Hsu, S. (2013) in “Addictive behaviors” shows that mindfulness-based relapse prevention effectively reduces substance cravings by increasing acceptance, awareness, and non-judgment, potentially improving clients’ responses to cravings. This approach emphasizes the importance of being aware of the moment and observing cravings objectively, without directly reacting to them. By stepping back and taking a deep breath, one can allow the urge to pass without acting on it.

A key technique is replacing negative thoughts or rationalizations that attempt to justify substance use by identifying and challenging them. This helps in recognizing cognitive distortions and opting for more constructive thoughts. Repeating positive affirmations can weaken the urge and reinforce the commitment to recovery.

Additionally, it is helpful to visualize overcoming a difficult moment, which can enhance confidence and perseverance. Seeking support, whether from a sponsor, an accountability partner, or journaling, provides an outlet and reinforces awareness and responsibility.

By actively utilizing these techniques and remaining aware of inner motivations, individuals can develop effective strategies for managing cravings, which is essential for successful addiction recovery.

2. Identify Your Goals

Identifying and keeping your goals in mind is crucial when dealing with cravings during addiction recovery. By clearly setting your goals, such as improving your health, restoring relationships, or regaining control over your life, you create a powerful motivation to say no to the urge for the addictive substance.

The research by Caselli, G., Soliani, M., & Spada, M. (2013) shows that ‘desire thinking’ has a significant impact on craving and is a risk factor for desire-related problems. This underscores the importance of directing attention away from the craving and more toward constructive thoughts and activities.

An effective strategy is to compile a list of reasons for quitting, which includes both the benefits of staying sober and the potential negative consequences of relapse. This list should be concrete, significant, and easily accessible to remind you of what’s at stake when the urge strikes. Visualize achieving your goals and imagine how your life improves by staying sober. This helps to remain positive and focused.

It is also beneficial to involve supportive loved ones in your process. They can be a source of motivation and a reminder of your commitment when you struggle. Exploring techniques such as motivational interviewing can enhance your motivation and commitment by helping you clarify your goals and maintain your focus.

Managing cravings requires actively managing your attention. Techniques that induce distraction or verbal reasoning, as investigated by Caselli et al. (2013), show no significant change in craving. This suggests that directly addressing ‘desire thinking’ by shifting your attention to your goals and the benefits of staying sober is more effective. Remembering and working towards your goals not only offers temporary distraction but also reinforces your long-term commitment to recovery, aligned with your values and the quality of life you aspire to.

3. Be Consistent in Treatment and Therapy

Being consistent with treatment and therapy plays a crucial role in managing cravings during addiction recovery. Consistency ensures the development of key skills to manage cravings. By regularly participating in therapy sessions and following recommended treatment plans, you build a strong foundation for recovery.

Moghadam, M., Makvandi, B., & Naderi, F. (2021) demonstrate that mindfulness training and dialectical behavior therapy effectively reduce drug craving and improve emotion regulation in clients with substance use disorders. These therapy forms teach individuals to focus on the present moment and develop healthy coping strategies, away from triggers.

Consistently attending addiction treatment programs such as group therapy sessions provides support and strengthens the recovery process by sharing challenges and experiences. This helps build a supportive network and develop personal strategies for managing cravings. A therapist or sponsor can act as an accountability partner, increasing your sense of responsibility for your recovery and encouraging you to persevere.

Consistency in therapy also strengthens cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques, which train you to recognize and change negative behavior patterns into healthy alternatives. By regularly practicing these techniques, you develop the skill to identify triggers and apply personalized coping strategies.

Consistently following a therapeutic plan also helps maintain engagement in social activities and build a sober social network. This reduces the risk of relapse by offering meaningful distraction and reinforcing a sense of connection.

4. Take Up a Hobby

Having a hobby can serve as a healthy diversion when managing cravings during addiction recovery. Choosing a new, enjoyable activity redirects focus and energy, helping prevent negative behaviors. It creates a routine that reduces stress and promotes the release of natural neurotransmitters like dopamine, which improves mood and alleviates anxiety.

Developing skills through hobbies increases the sense of achievement and self-mastery, reinforcing the motivation to remain in recovery. Discovering hobbies also helps build a new identity and purpose, away from addiction.

Engaging in group hobbies forms a social network that offers support and strengthens accountability, essential for successful recovery. Hobbies provide a productive replacement for time previously spent on addictive activities, reducing the chance of relapse. They offer opportunities to form new, sober relationships and support building a meaningful and purposeful life.

5. Surf the Urge

Surfing the urge is a technique for handling cravings during addiction recovery. It involves observing the urge without judgment or fighting it, similar to how you would ride a wave. This method helps you become aware of the presence, intensity, and temporariness of the urge.

Focusing on your breathing and the sensations in your body, you learn to experience the urge without direct reaction. Imagine how the urge rises, peaks, and eventually subsides, like a wave in the ocean. This practice promotes an attitude of acceptance and allows you to better manage how you feel, both mentally and physically.

By not feeding the urge with struggle or distraction but being mindfully present, it quickly loses its power and returns less frequently. Surfing the urge strengthens your ability to stay true to your values and motivations, making you aware that cravings are temporary events you don’t need to avoid or give in to, ultimately leading to a more powerful recovery experience.

6. Practice Self-Care

Practicing self-care is always important, but in addiction recovery, it’s crucial for managing cravings. Self-care includes regular exercise, which according to Taylor, A., Ussher, M., & Faulkner, G. (2007) can significantly reduce cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms, potentially improving smoking behavior. Hallgren et al. (2021) add that short periods of moderate to intense aerobic exercise can reduce alcohol cravings, especially in adults with an alcohol use disorder who have high cravings and lower cardiorespiratory fitness.

Building a consistent routine that stimulates both mind and body is essential. Regular exercises stimulate the release of neurotransmitters that improve mood and can help regulate stress responses. Techniques such as deep breathing exercises and mindfulness help create calmness and improve the ability to manage negative triggers.

It is important to get sufficient sleep and proper nutrition, which helps maintain a balanced mind and body. Replacing unhealthy habits with productive activities and pursuing creative outlets or meaningful pursuits offers a distraction from cravings.

7. Know Your Triggers

Identifying and knowing personal triggers is a vital step in managing cravings during addiction recovery. Triggers can be both internal (emotions, thoughts) and external (people, places). Recognizing these triggers helps in preventing relapse.

An effective method is keeping a journal where you write in detail about moments of intense craving. Note what preceded them, including activities, social interactions, and internal sensations. This helps recognize patterns and identify specific triggers.

It is crucial to be honest and not make excuses. This process involves admitting and accepting that certain situations or emotions have triggered the desire for a substance. Through this insight, one can develop more effective coping strategies.

Discuss triggers openly in therapy or support groups. This can offer new insights and provide support. Sharing experiences and strategies with others going through the same process is often very valuable.

8. Connect with Others

Your support network can be crucial in coping with cravings during addiction recovery. Ames & Roitzsch (2000) showed that minor stressful events and social support can predict cravings in clinical patients with a substance dependency, where social support mitigates the relationship between stress and cravings.

By regularly attending support groups and maintaining close contact with a sponsor, you build a supportive network that is essential in the recovery process. This network not only offers a listening ear and reminders of your motivations to stay sober but can also suggest strategies for dealing with intense cravings.

Effective communication with friends, family, and experienced members of the recovery community can truly provide insight into your experiences and feelings. The importance of a supportive network cannot be underestimated; it provides not only necessary assistance and guidance but also motivation and encouragement needed to overcome the urge.

9. Erase Negative Memories

Research has shown that weakening negative memories can help cope with cravings during addiction recovery. According to Weinstein, A., Lingford-Hughes, A., Martínez-Raga, J., & Marshall, J. (1998), exposure to alcoholic beverages, visualizing cravings, and recalling autobiographical memories of cravings are equally effective in triggering cravings in alcohol-dependent individuals early in abstinence. This highlights the power of memories and associations with addictive substances.

A key approach to managing these cravings involves manipulating the memories that are strongly associated with drug or alcohol use. This process is known as memory reconsolidation, where an existing memory is retrieved and brought into a temporary, unstable state. During this period, the memory can be altered or weakened.

An effective technique includes repeatedly exposing oneself to the drug-related cues in a safe environment, combined with offering negative stimuli or creating new, positive associations. This can disrupt the original rewarding associations that trigger the cravings and potentially reduce them.

Researchers have also explored combining memory reactivation with extinction training or the use of pharmacological agents that affect brain processes. These agents, such as NMDA receptor agonists, can exploit the window of memory instability to more effectively modify the memory.

These approaches offer a promising new way to manage the intense cravings that often lead to relapse by directly addressing the underlying memories formed with drug use. By weakening or changing these memories, the urge for drugs or alcohol can be diminished, providing a powerful tool in the addiction recovery process.

What Causes Craving During Addiction Recovery?

Craving during addiction recovery is primarily caused by neuroadaptation, where the brain adapts to prolonged substance use, altering neurotransmitter systems and creating imbalance. This leads to intense cravings when the addictive substance is removed.

Repeated exposure to the addictive substance has strengthened certain neural pathways strongly associated with the reward system and cue reactivity, causing environmental factors that were previously rewarding to now trigger cravings by activating memories and motivational states.

Emotional and psychological factors, such as dealing with unpleasant emotions, boredom, or seeking a sense of relief or escape, also contribute to the emergence of cravings. In the early recovery phase, uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms and neurochemical changes can lead to sleep problems and increased sensitivity to stress, strengthening the need to relieve these unpleasant feelings. Additionally, unaddressed emotional or psychological needs may reinforce the motivation for continued use.

Managing and preventing cravings therefore requires a combined approach that addresses both the residual neurobiological impact and the learned associations and unmet needs.

What Behaviors Negatively Affect Craving During Detox?

The primary behaviors that can negatively impact craving and make managing it during addiction recovery more difficult are as follows.

• Inconsistency in treatment: Missing or skipping therapy sessions or support groups reduces the effectiveness of treatment.
• Avoiding personal triggers: Failing to recognize or avoid situations or emotions that increase cravings makes it more difficult to manage them.
• Isolation: Withdrawing from supportive systems or loved ones deprives one of guidance and increases vulnerability to intense cravings.
• Negative coping strategies: Developing unhealthy routines or obsessively thinking about negative experiences can lead to increased cravings.
• Dishonesty: Hiding or downplaying the struggle with addiction prevents receiving appropriate support and can delay the recovery process.
• Neglecting self-care: Ignoring healthy habits, like relaxation techniques or meaningful activities, can intensify emotions and boredom, worsening cravings.
• Relapsing into old habits: Spending time in unstructured or free situations can lead to re-experiencing old associations and intensifying cravings.

How to Build Coping Skills for Cravings?

To build coping skills to manage cravings, it’s essential to develop and practice a variety of strategies. Building these skills helps in effectively managing the urge for addictive substances or behaviors.

For example, according to Messina & Worley (2019) in the “Journal of consulting and clinical psychology”, learning coping skills for managing pain can alleviate the association between cravings and opioid use, improving treatment outcomes for adults with chronic pain and opioid addiction.

Key techniques include developing mindfulness, which helps in observing cravings without acting on them, and practicing deep breathing exercises to remain calm and grounded. Identifying personal triggers and situations that cause cravings is crucial for proactively deploying coping strategies.

How Can Rehab Clinics Help Manage Craving?

Rehab clinics can assist individuals in managing craving during addiction recovery by applying the CIM model, developed by Stalcup, S., Christian, D., Stalcup, J., Brown, M., & Galloway, G. (2006) in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

This model helps clients identify and manage cravings by addressing environmental factors, stress, mental illness, and withdrawal symptoms. It offers a multifaceted approach that enables sobriety.

Rehab clinics use techniques like cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and stress management to teach clients how to effectively manage cravings. They also provide support in developing healthy habits and social networks that promote recovery.

By creating personalized treatment plans, rehab clinics can address specific triggers and stressors.

How Long Does It Take for Craving to Subside?

An individual craving episode or urge to use a substance typically lasts from a few minutes to about 30 minutes. Research indicates that this urge unfolds in stages, with the intensity and frequency of craving varying.

In the early stages of quitting an addiction, cravings can be more intense and frequent, often peaking within a few days to weeks after the last use. Over time, these urges tend to gradually decrease in both intensity and frequency.

Cravings are considered temporary and can vary greatly in duration, depending on multiple factors such as the duration of addiction, type of substance, and individual differences in coping mechanisms. It’s possible for cravings to diminish without yielding to them, often resulting in a reduction of the urge over time.

Is Craving a Crucial Part of the Addiction Cycle?

Yes, craving is considered a central and crucial part of the addiction cycle in both the development and continuation of an addiction. They are seen as a clinical feature of addiction disorders and are incorporated in the diagnostic criteria for these conditions.

Cravings lead to the seeking and increased use of the addictive substance, keeping the addiction cycle ongoing. Managing cravings is therefore a significant focus in the treatment and prevention of relapse.

Does Detoxing Abroad Work to Reduce Craving?

Yes, detoxing abroad can help reduce craving. By traveling to another country, individuals are removed from their usual environment and the associated triggers that can exacerbate addiction.

Rehab clinics abroad, such as in South Africa, often offer a holistic approach combining traditional and alternative therapies to tackle addiction. These centers are equipped with the right resources and provide a setting that makes it easier for individuals to focus on their recovery. Removing environmental factors makes managing constant cravings easier, thereby increasing the chance of successful recovery.