Halt to Manage Triggers, Relapse and Stress
- Newbeginnings (NBCC-BW)
- May 15
- 5 min read
There are various techniques and strategies that can help in coping with emotional distress with some specifically used in managing triggers, relapse and stress . Some of the techniques are linked to effective communication skills such as the “Pause”; pausing before one can respond to reduce anger and avoid being reactive.
Similar strategies could also be applied in other different situations where you may find yourself becoming dysregulated. On this article we briefly look at the “HALT; H-A-L-T.
HALT is a mindfulness technique that can help in identifying and managing triggers.
HALT stands for Hungry , Angry, Lonely, Tired:
H = Hungry
A = Angry.
L = Lonely
T = Tired
Take a Listen here :
You may have noticed that when you are hungry, you tend to be easily irritable. This is because hunger can lead to irritability and poor decision making, whilst being angry can be triggered by resentment which may intensify more anger.
Whereas loneliness, feelings of being isolated, may create emotional emptiness or emotional void. Hence, it's important that when you are feeling dysregulated you assess yourself using these components of the HALT.
Suffice it to say that it is important to avoid loneliness by connecting with safe people, not toxic people; having a healthy social support system or support network, friends and family that can be there for you.
You may have also noticed that when you are tired or fatigued you become more irritable and don't feel like engaging. This is because fatigue may reduce effective judgment and the ability to manage anger. Hence, that may contribute to becoming easily triggered. It is therefore essential to get rest and enough sleep to reduce grumpiness and intense anger.
HALT is one of the self-care emotional regulation tool designed to help identify and address the four common triggers that can increase vulnerability to stress, and for a person with substance use disorder, it can help in managing vulnerability to relapse and poor decision making.
Therefore, when hungry, angry, lonely or tired, there maybe tendencies to become more irritable and moody; your mood may shift, your energy level may shift and you may become more sensitive and susceptible to triggers, relapse or stress in such a way that even situations or things that under normal circumstances wouldn't be annoying, frustrating or triggering become irritants.
So, by halting to check for these areas one should be able to address underlying physical and emotional needs to reduce being reactive. It’s essential that when experiencing tendencies to lash out to people, irritability and being easily triggered, one checks for physical hunger that could lead to irritation or poor impulsive decisions and choices.
Also check if you are angry, assess feelings of anger, frustration or resentment that could lead to lashing out or to unhealthy outbursts.
Ask yourself the following :
am I hungry right now, am I physically hungry?
How am I feeling; am I angry?
Am I lonely?
Am I tired?
Do self-reflections when triggered such as, “ I just saw myself lashing out to my daughter, my child or my partner, “am I hungry?, could I be angry, lonely or tired right now”
Assess if you are angry because when you have underlying anger, there will be a tendency to be easily triggered in such a way that you may find even simple things triggering.
Moreover, assess how you are feeling emotionally ; “How am I feeling on the inside honestly?”,
“How am I physically and emotionally feeling?” “ Am I disconnected from the people that I love and care about?”
Recognize the feelings of isolation ( if present) and allow that to prompt you into reaching out to others for emotional or physical connection to address the emotional void and physical isolated.
Acknowledge that you’ve been feeling alone and disconnected from friends, family, and possibly from relatives.
Once you have assessed your situation, make an intentional effort to reach out to others to reduce the risk of feeling isolated as that may lead to engaging in self-destructive behaviours as a way of coping with the loneliness.
For example, for some people loneliness always triggers depression that often lead them to engage in risky behaviours such as taking drugs ; increased cannabis use and alcohol intake which may ultimately lead to drug dependency as a maladaptive ways of addressing the loneliness, which could lead to more complications, more emotional isolation, depression, anxiety, stigma, family issues, problems at work and more physical isolation.
So, reflect, assess or examine yourself along these areas;
# Reflect;
Am I physically tired?
Have I been working too hard?
What time did I knock off?
Did I get enough sleep?
Tiredness may not only be triggered by lack of rest or sleep, hunger may also lead to lack of energy, therefore, examine how you are feeling physically and emotionally. Continue to link the two by asking yourself :
Did I get enough food?
What triggered the tiredness ?
Am I feeling depleted physically?
Am I feeling tired cognitively?
Or am I feeling depleted emotionally?
It’s important to assess if you are tired emotionally, cognitively or physically, because fatigue can reduce mental resilience and make it harder to manage your cravings , emotional distress and possibly impact decision-making.
You can use the HALT technique when experiencing high stress or cravings that may have triggered your desire to take substances like cannabis, Meths, crack cocaine or alcohol etc.
Use HALT to notice and be in touch with your inner self, assessing if you maybe experiencing emotional distress. Take a moment to halt and reflect on what you tend to do when experiencing emotional distress; what behaviour you engage in when stressed or having urges and cravings?
Regularly assess yourself using these four (4) categories: hungry? angry? Lonely? or Tired?
Then take corrective action:
# If you are hungry, eat something, get a nutritious meal.
# If you are angry, step away from the situation ; walk about, step outside if you are in the house, walk about in the garden, get a breather or do breathing exercises or connect with nature (take a walk at the beach, walk by the river, walk around the countryside, mountain climbing , biking, touch plants, smell flowers, play with your pet , take a swim or put your feet in a swimming pool etc).
# If you feel lonely, call a friend, just reach out to somebody for a chat. If you can't call your therapist your parents, or your siblings, just call your friend. Somebody who could freely be able to connect with you and chat without you feeling judged.
# If you are tired, take a rest and limit getting boggled with too much online presence and over consumption of content that might exacerbate your problem , and avoid self-diagnosis based on online content. Instead seek professional help ; visit a qualified and experienced mental health provider .
THE BENEFITS OF THE HALT TECHNIQUE
It prevents relapse : facilitates emotional regulation, creates the ability to regulate yourself emotionally.
It Connects Behavioural responses to Emotional and physical needs: HALT enables you to connect your emotional outbursts to your physical needs and makes it easier to manage emotional outbursts, helps you manage anger outbursts.
It Improves Self-awareness: enables you to develop improved self-awareness because it encourages a proactive approach to addressing your mental and physical health on a daily basis in your personal life, at work and at home. It can improve how you interact with your inner self (intra-personal) and with others ( interpersonal); with your family, friends, and colleagues through improved emotional intelligence encompassing your Emotional self-understanding, emotional self - expression and impulse control.
From New Beginnings CounsellingBW: HALT to Manage Triggers-Relapse & Stress, 15 May 2026
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