Dallas Bragg explains how cravings for methamphetamine escalate into an anticipation phase where mental rehearsal of drug use impairs decision-making. The only way to stop it is to catch the craving the moment it hits and immediately tell someone, before anticipation takes over.
All right, so here's why you don't call your sponsor or accountability partner when you're deep into the craving to use meth. There's a threshold we cross early on within that loop that starts with a cue, like a text from a using buddy, a shirtless perfect body on Instagram, or receiving devastating news, that ends with a relapse. That tipping point between being able to reach out for help and being carried away by the craving is fueled by anticipation. You see, when a craving begins and we add energy to it by thinking about how we could access the drugs, or better yet, having the sexting conversation on Grindr, or fantasizing about the great orgy we're supposed to have that never happens, we are in the anticipation phase. The anticipation of using gets us physiologically high before the chemical even enters our body. In that state of being pseudo-high, we cannot be trusted to make decisions that are in our best interest. Including any relapse emergency plan that we've created prior to that. What you want to do is be able to pause before the anticipation comes over you by as soon as the craving is born, a flash in your mind, a tremor in your belly, you call that out immediately. Call it out loud to yourself and then call someone else. No matter how small you think that craving is, call it out ASAP.
