What are the sources of cues for non‑recovery?
Write down which of the following are sources of cues for non-recovery for you:
Emotional Status: the emotions you experience are often cues which lead to unhealthy compulsive or impulsive behaviors such as eating, drinking, gambling, shopping, drug use, sexual excess, etc.
Irrational Belief System: the system of rationalizations, excuses, denial or irrational beliefs, out of which you operate in order to counter the belief that there are better, healthier ways to bring your life into balance for recovery. This is especially true when the healthier behavior requires time, effort, sacrifice, and energy on your part.
Peer Pressure: you are often confronted with pressure overt and covert not to continue the pursuit of a healthy recovery balance in your life by other people or peers. Your peers intentionally or unintentionally seek to sabotage your efforts to change because they are often consciously or unconsciously threatened by the changes in you and how it will affect them directly. This is the opposite of positive social support.
Habitual Ways of Acting and Believing: the unhealthy habits which you acquired in life are often so deeply ingrained that you act with no conscious forethought to the negative consequences of such action.
Advertisement: the proliferation of magazine, newspaper, radio, TV, billboards, handbills, junk mail advertisements which bombard our society are a source of prompts and cues for you to act in an unhealthy way for yourself.
Overabundance of Choices: in a prosperous society, you can be overwhelmed by the number and variety of convenient resources which stand ready to contribute intentionally or unintentionally to your unhealthy lifestyle, e.g., number of fast food restaurants open 18 hours a day, number of bars and lounges open 18 hours a day, convenient corner stores open 24 hours a day, the rise of the suburban malls, etc.
Sense of Prosperity: when you are struggling for physical survival for food, clothing and shelter, you are less likely to overindulge in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. (Some compulsive behaviors such as alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling often reduce a person from a state of prosperity to a state of subsistence and result in a reduction of the sense of prosperity.)
Propaganda: novels, short stories, radio and TV shows, movies, magazine articles are often filled with stories which seem to elevate or canonize unhealthy lifestyles for you to emulate and model after. This is often done unintentionally. Often the intent is to show the negative or degrading side of an unhealthy lifestyle with the opposite impact resulting.
Conspicuous Consumption: in our consumer‑oriented society you are fully encouraged to overconsume with no negative consequences implied. Such consumption advocates are “all you can eat buffets,'' “happy hour 2 for 1,'' “1/2 price sales,'' “outlet or off price malls or shopping centers,'' “state lotteries,'' “a must have one in every home,'' etc.
Value System: as a child you had a belief or value system which was handed over to you by your family, peer group, schools and community. Oftentimes these values are supportive of an unhealthy lifestyle. Because the values are so deeply ingrained in you, they are difficult to change.
