Playing The Tape Forward

Regardless of your path to recovery, "playing the tape forward" can be a very effective tool in managing against cravings (urges) or even simple temptations. If you're younger than Gen X, think of it as scrolling to the end. 😁

I use "play the tape forward" as part of my message so frequently that one friend of mine threatened to get me a T-shirt made with it! I consider it critical to my recovery, and I recommend others use it in their own.

What does it mean? What it means is that when that urge or temptation hits, remember how it ends. Sure, having that drink or using that drug right in that moment seems like it might be fun, and, in the short term, it might actually be! However, if you are a person with substance use disorder, your use is unlikely to end with that drink or drug in the moment.

Where does it lead? What's at the end of your tape? Odds are it's a big part of what led you to seek recovery in the first place.

An example: now vaccinated against COVID, we recently took our first family vacation in quite a while. Sitting by the resort pool, I noticed how many people were hanging out enjoying their drinks. Was there a thought in my head that a frozen margarita or fruity rum drink by the pool may be nice? Of course! I'm human after all. Then I remembered to play the tape forward. I won't get into all of the gory details here, but the end of my tape is ugly.

Sure, in that moment, that drink might have been fun, but would it stop there? Not in my case. When I ran that tape in my head and got to the end, I remembered the hurt I caused myself and my family. There was no way I was taking that drink.

For me, that's a simple equation of short-term gain vs. long-term loss. At that point I knew it wasn't worth it, and I realized that just being able to hang at the pool with my family was pretty awesome without that drink.

-Chappy