Conquering Addictive Behaviors: The Power of the DEADS Tool in SMART Recovery
In the journey toward recovery from addictive behaviors, individuals often encounter moments of intense urges or cravings that can jeopardize their progress. SMART Recovery, a program that supports individuals in overcoming addictive behaviors through self-empowerment and self-reliance, offers a potent tool known as "DEADs" to effectively manage these urges. This article delves into the DEADs tool, elucidating its components and illustrating its critical role in the path to recovery.
Understanding DEADS
DEADs is an acronym that stands for "Deny," "Escape," "Accept," "Dispute," and "Substitute." This tool is designed to equip individuals with strategies to combat the immediate demands of addictive urges, providing practical steps to diminish their power and influence.
- Deny
The first step involves denying the urge the attention it craves and the power it holds. By refusing to negotiate or engage with the urge, individuals can prevent it from growing stronger. Denying doesn't mean ignoring the urge completely; rather, it's about not giving it the focus that it demands. Techniques can include engaging in a distracting activity or mentally commanding the urge to stop.
- Escape
Sometimes, the most effective way to deal with an urge is to physically remove oneself from the triggering situation or environment. Escape can mean leaving a place, a conversation, or even a particular social setting that exacerbates the urge. By doing so, individuals can significantly reduce the urge's intensity and influence.
- Accept
Acceptance involves acknowledging the presence of the urge without judgment or immediate reaction. Through acceptance, individuals learn that urges are a normal part of the recovery process and that they can be experienced without succumbing to them. Techniques such as mindfulness and meditation can facilitate this acceptance, helping individuals to observe their urges as transient thoughts that do not necessitate action.
- Distract
Do something, anything, that can occupy you for a little while. Many urges don't last more than 5 minutes, with some up to 15 or 30 minutes. If you put your mind to something else, the urge has less oxygen to breathe. Watch a music video, play a game of solitaire, flip through a cookbook, or go for a walk. Call a friend or family member... those 5 minutes will go by faster than you know it.
- Substitute
Swap the voice of the urge with your own rational thoughts. Trade "This urge will kill me" with "I've had urges before, even bad ones, and I'm still here." Substitute feeling isolated and lonely by heading to the coffee shop, gym, or joining a SMART Recovery meeting!
The Role of DEADS in Recovery
The DEADS tool is instrumental in helping individuals navigate the often unpredictable nature of urges experienced during recovery. By offering a structured approach to understanding and responding to these intense feelings, DEADS empowers individuals to take control of their reactions and decisions. It's not about eradicating urges completely; rather, it's about developing a healthy, sustainable way to manage them.
Conclusion
Recovery from addictive behaviors is a journey fraught with challenges, but with tools like DEADS, individuals are better prepared to face these hurdles. DEADS doesn’t just offer a temporary reprieve from urges; it instills a lasting skill set that individuals can rely on throughout their recovery journey. By denying the urge power, escaping triggering situations, accepting the urge without judgment, and disputing irrational beliefs, individuals can reclaim control of their lives and continue steadfastly on their path to recovery. The strength of SMART Recovery lies in these practical, science-based tools, designed to foster self-empowerment and independence in the face of addiction.
Helpful Links
Related Tools
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Urge Log
An awareness and understanding of urges is crucial to recovery. One way to understand urges is by recording them. After a few entries, participants may notice patterns and similarities about their urges. The log then becomes a road map that will help them to anticipate situations and emotions that may trigger urges and plan ways to avoid recognized triggers or distract themselves from the urge until it passes.szsz
- Worksheet
DIBs: Disputing Irrational Beliefs
In the realm of addiction recovery, the battleground is often not in the physical world but within the confines of our own minds. SMART Recovery, a program grounded in empowering individuals to break free from the chains of addictive behaviors, underscores the importance of mental liberation through the DIBs tool. An acronym for "Disputing Irrational Beliefs," DIBs is a central pillar in the SMART Recovery approach, guiding individuals through the process of identifying and challenging irrational beliefs that fuel addictive behaviors. This article illuminates the transformative power of DIBs in the journey toward sustainable recovery.
- Worksheet
DISARM: Destructive Images and Self-Talk Awareness and Refusal Method
Recovery from addiction is often visualized as a battlefield where one's inner demons are the foe. These inner enemies come armed with deceptive allure, masquerading as friends or saviors, promising relief, pleasure, or escape. But, as anyone on the journey to recovery knows, yielding to these false promises leads only to more suffering. SMART Recovery arms individuals in this battle with an arsenal of tools, one of the most potent being DISARM - Destructive Images and Self-talk Awareness and Refusal Method.
Tool Overview
The ABC Model is a good way of understanding how we can help change our feelings and behaviour by challenging our thinking.
When to Use This Tool
The ABC Model is a good way of understanding how we can help change our feelings and behaviour by challenging our thinking. It helps us uncover beliefs that are not helping us /contributing to the behaviour we are trying to change.
This exercise may be done in the group setting but can also be very useful for participants to look at between meetings.
How To Use This Tool
When working with urges: To analyze a lapse/relapse or to develop coping statements for an anticipated lapse/relapse.
In the event of a lapse, the question to ask is not “What made me do that”, but rather, “How did I talk myself into it?” It is not the urge (A) that causes the lapse (C). It is our beliefs (B); our irrational self-talk.With emotional upset:
The ABC Model can also be used to work with emotional upset or frustrations that may occur at any point in the recovery journey. The ABCs allow us to discover our unhelpful beliefs which contribute to emotional upsets. Disputing helps us eliminate our irrational thinking so we can both feel better and do better. In SMART Recovery we teach that we feel the way we think; it’s not unpleasant events that disturb us, it’s the way we think of them. By changing our thinking, we change how we feel.Identifying and Disputing Unhelpful Thinking.
Disputing is a process of challenging the way we think about situations. It’s about trying to look at thoughts more accurately. Disputing unhelpful thinking can help us make more informed decisions about thoughts instead of just acting on them. Balanced thinking leads to effective new beliefs.