HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired)
Hungry, ANGRY, lonely or tired…what happens next? I often have people come talk to me about what they consider a failure. Failures can be small or large but I always ask the question, where were you on HALT? Were you hungry, angry, lonely or tired? When any of those exist we are more susceptible to not sticking to our plan of recovery. It may not be that you go back to drinking/drugging but it could be that you got angry/raged, binged, or overspent and that shame smacked you in the face. You were uncomfortable in your feelings so you used another coping behavior in order to change the way you were feeling. The reality is that if we pile up shame, guilt, etc. the need to cope gets greater and the ways you cope get more serious, requiring more numbing.
Please know this isn’t an original thought this is one of things that Alcoholics Anonymous taught me. It is one of the tools in my toolbox that I pull out often to gut check myself and others.
Blessings….
Your Emotional and Addiction Recovery Coach
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