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Coping with Cravings
The easiest way to cope with cravings or urges to use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs is to
try to avoid
them in the first place. This can be done by reducing your exposure to craving
triggers (e.g., getting rid of drugs and fits/pipes in the house, not going to parties or bars,
reducing contact with friends who use, and so on). Sometimes cravings can’t be avoided,
and you need to find ways to cope with them.
Cravings are time-limited, that is, they usually last only a few minutes and at most a few
hours. Rather than increasing steadily until they become unbearable, they usually peak after
a few minutes and then die down, like a wave. Every wave/craving starts small, and builds
up to its highest point, before breaking and flowing away.
Cravings will occur less often and feel less strong as you learn how to cope with them. Each time
a person does something other than use in response to a craving, the craving will lose some of its
power. The peak of the craving wave will become smaller, and the waves will be further apart.
Below are some things for you to try out, to cope with the symptoms of cravings.
Put a tick (
4
) in the box next to those things you think you could do.
Eat regularly
, even when you don’t feel like it.
Drink plenty of water
— especially when you get a craving.
Instead of drinking, smoking or using,
drink water or chew gum
.
Use
‘Delaying’
and
‘Distraction’
when your craving is set off. When you
experience a craving, put off the decision to drink or use for 15 minutes. Go and
do something else like go for a walk, read, listen to music, or do the dishes etc.
This will help you to break the habit of immediately reaching for alcohol, tobacco
or other drugs when a craving hits. You will find that once you are interested in
something else, the craving will go away.
What are some things you could do to distract yourself?