Amber Hollingsworth (video author/speaker) explains practical strategies to survive drug/alcohol cravings and reduce relapse risk. Key points: an average craving lasts about 9 minutes if you don't "fuel" it; avoid ruminating or "war-storying" which intensifies urges; get out of your head by distracting yourself with something that requires active thinking (not passive entertainment); use social supports (call a sponsor/recovery coach and ask for engagement rather than obsessing about the craving); do not catastrophize — cravings are temporary and decrease in frequency/intensity with longer sobriety. The clip ends with a call for viewers to share what worked or didn't in the comments.
Questions this video answers
About 9 minutes.
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Being in the middle of a craving can feel like you are going to lose your ever loving mind and that it is never gonna end. So in this video we're gonna talk about how to manage those cravings and survive and basically how to get through it. The first thing I'd tell you about a craving that might help a little bit is that the Average craving lasts about 9min if you don't fuel it. And by fuel it, I mean fan the flames, put gasoline on the fire, basically make it worse. Like, don't do that. So let's talk about how to not do that. When you go in your head and you fantasize and you remember when and you remember this one really great time or this awesome experience you've had in group, when people like talk about those stories, we call it war story. Don't war story in your head, it's going to make it worse. Don't go in there and plan and scheme and think about, oh, maybe I could get away with it, or if I did this, it won't show up on a drug test, or I've got two hours before my wife gets home or any of those things. Don't go in there, it's dark, it's nasty, don't go down the rabbit hole, you're just gonna make things way worse. The key to manage a craving is getting out of your head. So it won't work to tell yourself, okay, I'm just not gonna think about that. Because the more you say, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it, the worse it gets, obviously. But if you can distract yourself, that will work much more effectively. You know when you go to like 12 step or you have like a recovery coach, they may say, call me if you're craving or you want to use, definitely do that. You don't even necessarily have to say I'm craving. Although you can, you can say I'm really craving. You know, it's called tell it on your disease. You can say that. But the key isn't necessarily to go in your head and obsess about the craving. The key is just to get out of your head. You can say, dude, I'm craving, I'm having a bad day, tell me a funny story or what's going on in your day. The key is get out of your head. You've got to do something though that requires your attention. Like reading a book probably isn't going to do it. Watching a movie, unless it's like a super really intense movie that's going to suck you right in or a show probably not going to do it. You got to do something that requires you to think. Because when you think you're going to activate a dick different neuropathway and before you know it that cravings going to be gone. I know it feels in the moment like it's never going to go away, but those cravings, they don't necessarily tell you the truth. Just because you feel a certain way doesn't mean it's the truth. It's just a feeling. A very temporary feeling. And you can make it even more temporary based on what you do. Don't go in the rabbit hole, don't obsess about it and don't catastrophize. It really is temporary. And don't lie to yourself by saying I'm always craving. You're not always craving. Sure you do have cravings, but it's not always. And the longer you're clean and sober, the fewer of them that you'll have, the less intense that they'll be. The less frequently they'll come, the shorter amount of time that they'll stay. So the key is just getting through some really tough moments. So instead of telling yourself I'm not going to think about it, tell yourself what you are going to think about instead. What's the worst craving you've ever had? How long did it last? Tell me in the comments below. And if it lasted a really long time, was there something that you did that made it go on and on and on? Let's be honest here. Maybe if you'll put that in the comments it'll help someone else see. Oh yeah, I've had a craving that lasted a long time too. But but this is what I did to contribute. Or if there's something else that you have found particularly helpful, I would really love to know about that and so would anyone else watching this video. So tell us what have you done that's worked? And what have you done that's not worked? Put it in the comments and not only will you be helping yourself, but you'll be helping someone else too.
