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Every September, millions of people across the country recognize National Recovery Month, a dedicated time to spotlight the challenges and triumphs in the journey toward mental health and substance use recovery. Established in 1989 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, this annual observance raises public awareness, encourages dialogue and supports research for new treatment options.
“When you are in recovery, the main thing is to communicate as you would with any issue in a relationship,” says Dr. Jonathan Avery, vice chair for addiction psychiatry, Stephen P. Tobin and Dr. Arnold M. Cooper Associate Professor in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and program director for the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Discuss your hopes or needs. Be open and honest.”
No matter what mental or substance use disorder you face, triggers can slow the progress of short- and long-term recoveries. These triggers may be internal or external, brought on by physical illness or other health issues.
Triggers that may affect your recovery include:
Health providers and recovery communities recognize the need to deal with triggers properly. To do this, you must first identify your triggers. Once you know what triggers threaten you on the road to recovery, you can develop a plan to deal with them.
The type of plan you choose to deal with your triggers is as unique as you are. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers a few ways to cope with triggers on your own. These include the following:
When your plan succeeds and you move forward in your recovery, celebrate the gains. If your efforts don’t bring relief, contact a medical professional. This expert is trained to walk alongside you and help create an evidence-based treatment and recovery plan.
Adding a professional to your recovery community can help you move toward recovery with greater speed.
“Parents should begin talking to kids as early as age nine about substances and mental health issues,” Dr. Avery says. “The hope is that families and individuals are constantly communicating on these issues. That way, when someone in the family unit is in trouble, we're not having that first conversation in crisis mode.”
Ready to make the first move toward recovery? Whether it’s National Recovery Month or any other time of the year, find a doctor at Weill Cornell Medicine to get started.