Dallas Bragg, a chemsex recovery coach, explains how cravings work: a cue triggers a feeling, a thought, then a behavior, all on autopilot. When aroused, your prefrontal cortex shuts down. To break the cycle, rehearse a "Plan B" response to specific triggers like app notifications or familiar locations until the new pathway becomes automatic.
How do I deal with the cravings? That's a big question I get. My name is Dallas. I'm a chemsex recovery coach for men who have sex with men. One thing you have to think about with cravings is that you already have a subconscious process in place. So when you hear, when there's a cue for the craving, that, that will trigger a feeling, which will trigger a thought, which will trigger a behavior. It's all already ingrained and in place, and there's a neural pathway for that. So in recovery, you want to replace that neural pathway. You want to replace what the subconscious does, because when a craving hits, you're usually aroused. And when you're aroused, the prefrontal cortex is going to go offline, which means with chemsex cravings, you step back often and allow the subconscious to take over. You go into autopilot. So what you want to do is give the subconscious a different route. So it's like Practicing a fire evacuation plan. And so what we do in my program with the, with the, with my guys is that we practice over and over and over in role play. When this particular craving hits, this is what I'm going to do. Whether it comes from the ding of an app, whether it comes from seeing a man running down the street with his shirt off, whether it comes from the unexpected text from a user buddy, walking by an apartment building where you used to use, whatever it is that you know is going to trigger a craving for you. Maybe it's all of them. We will roleplay over and over and over because you want to, just like a fire evacuation plan, practice. When this— when the bell rings, this is what I do. And that's going to give your subconscious a plan B, and that's going to reprogram that, that whole process. What do you do for chemsex cravings? I'd like to hear in the comments. Let me know. Also, if you're interested in joining my program, we have group coaching programs that are starting every 6 weeks. If you're interested, comment the word group and we'll get to the application.
