Drawing Your Trigger Map

Saturday, 3 p.m. On the couch, watching TV. Bored.

Without thinking, I picked up my phone. Before I noticed, I was about to open the sports betting app.

Just bored. That was it. That was enough. “Bored” was the trigger, and I didn’t know it was the trigger. You can’t defend against a trigger you can’t see.

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What a trigger is

A trigger is a cue that sets off a craving or a behavior. The word comes from the trigger of a gun, and it’s used widely in addiction.

A trigger starts before you consciously “want to do it.” Your body reacts, or the “justification lines” start running. It’s the brain automatically releasing dopamine that we’ve been covering since earlier chapters.

Triggers fall into four broad categories.

1. Place
2. People
3. Time
4. Emotion

Going through each one. Then you’ll draw your own trigger map.

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Place triggers

Place triggers are the most obvious. Your brain has linked “that location” with “gambling.” Being there fires a reaction before you’ve done anything.

Examples:

• A casino or sportsbook
• A sports bar with betting screens
• A particular intersection on your commute (there’s a gas station with scratch-offs, or a casino on the corner)
• An ATM
• Your bank on payday
• The location on your phone where the betting apps used to be
• The couch where you used to bet online
• A favorite diner or convenience store (places you’ve pulled out cash)

It’s not just physical places. “Locations inside your screen” count too. A specific home screen layout. A specific browser tab. A specific YouTube channel.

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People triggers

People triggers are easy to miss. Being around certain people, by itself, can trigger the pull toward gambling.

Examples:

• Friends you used to gamble with
• A coworker who says “let’s hit the sportsbook”
• Family members who bring up gambling
• People who’ve lent you money in the past
• People who say “well, a little won’t hurt”
• People who mean well but let you off the hook

People triggers are often not “bad people.” Often it’s “good people” or “people you care about” that trigger the strongest pull. Close relationships are harder to decline, and that’s exactly what makes them triggers.

Handling people triggers is hard. You don’t have to cut contact. You do have to engineer situations where declining a specific outing is structurally possible.

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Time triggers

Time is a powerful trigger. Your brain has linked “certain times” with “gambling.”

Examples:

• Payday (morning and evening)
• End of the month, start of the month
• Friday night
• Saturday morning
• Sunday afternoon (the NFL window)
• Holidays, bonus season
• The day a big work project wrapped
• Empty time on days off
• After your family’s gone to bed
• Business trips, time away from family

Time triggers you can put on a calendar. Being on the calendar means you can plan around them. You can block out the risky hours in advance.

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Emotion triggers

These are the hardest to see. Certain emotions pull you toward gambling.

Examples:

• Boredom
• Loneliness
• Anger (work, family, the world)
• Anxiety (money, work, the future)
• Sadness (failure, loss)
• Accomplishment (even good days are risky)
• Overconfidence (“today’s my day” feeling)
• Low mood
• Numbness, emptiness

In the opening scene, “boredom” was the trigger. The person didn’t know boredom was a trigger. That’s why they couldn’t defend.

Emotion triggers overlap with the HALT from Chapter 11. HALT is a focused basic set of four. Emotion triggers cover a wider range.

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Drawing your trigger map

Use all four categories to build a personal trigger map.

Step 1: Recall the last three relapses

Think back to the last three times you relapsed. For each, write down:

Step 2: Find the overlap

Line them up side by side. Overlap appears. Most people relapse on a specific combination, over and over.

Example:

• Place: always a casino
• People: always alone
• Time: always payday evening
• Emotion: always anger or boredom

That’s your typical trigger pattern.

Step 3: Put it on the map

On one sheet of paper, lay out the four categories. Under each, list your triggers. Mark shared ones in bold or in red.

Put the map somewhere you’ll see it: kitchen wall, phone wallpaper, inside your wallet.

Step 4: Review monthly

Triggers change over time. New ones appear, old ones fade.

Every month, look at the map. If you had a relapse, add its triggers. Draw a line through ones that have stopped mattering.

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Using the map in daily life

The map isn’t just for making. It’s for using.

Flag dangerous days in advance

Open your calendar. Mark days where your triggers stack up.

• Payday → mark
• Friday night → mark
• Day after a night out → mark
• Before or after a business trip → mark

On marked days, lock in a protective move in advance (spend it with family, go to the gym, etc.).

Notice a trigger when it fires

The more familiar you are with the map, the easier it is to catch “oh, that trigger is firing.” Once you catch it, connect to Chapter 14 (if-then plans) or Chapter 9 (craving skills).

Reduce triggers physically

If “place” is a big category for you: change commute routes, fully delete the apps, restructure your physical environment. If “people” is big: prepare specific words for declining the invites. If “time” is big: fill those hours with something else. If “emotion” is big: set a default response for each named emotion.

Build a list of alternative activities

Making decisions in the crisis is hard. On calm days, write a list of things you can do instead of gambling.

At least three in each. Mark three of them with a star: “I can start this within 5 minutes, right now.”

References

• Marlatt, G.A., & Donovan, D.M. (Eds.) (2005). Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
• Witkiewitz, K., & Marlatt, G.A. (2004). Relapse prevention for alcohol and drug problems: That was Zen, this is Tao. American Psychologist, 59(4), 224-235.
• Hodgins, D.C., & el-Guebaly, N. (2004). Retrospective and prospective reports of precipitants to relapse in pathological gambling. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(1), 72-80.
• Echeburúa, E., Fernández-Montalvo, J., & Báez, C. (2001). Predictors of therapeutic failure in slot-machine pathological gamblers following behavioural treatment. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 29(3), 379-383.
• Sharpe, L. (2002). A reformulated cognitive-behavioral model of problem gambling: A biopsychosocial perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 22(1), 1-25.
• Brown, R.I.F. (1987). Pathological gambling and associated patterns of crime: Comparisons with alcohol and other drug addictions. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 3(2), 98-114.