Identifying Your Triggers
Many of the times triggers are unidentifiable and pop out of nowhere, they swarm us like a nest of bees.
Some triggers are fairly obvious and easy to identify.
For example, seeing a report on the news covering a trauma similar to what you experienced might trigger symptoms of PTSD, past events.
However, other clues are more subtle reminders that youmight not even notice until after you’ve had a negative reaction.
To identify your PTSD triggers, think of when your PTSD symptoms usually come up.
Ask yourself the following questions to identify your triggers:
- What types of situations are you in?
- What is happening around you?
- What kind of emotions are you feeling?
- What thoughts are you experiencing?
- What does your body feel like?
Where do triggers come from?
Our triggers are very personal, what triggers us may not trigger someone else at all.
They arise out of our life history.
Remember, the amygdala not only initiates the fight/flight response; it forms and stores memories associated with emotional events.
Our responses seem out of proportion with the triggering incident because of the stored memories of past experiences that come flooding up.
Function of the amygdala,
“The amygdala plays a prominent role in mediating many aspects of emotional learning and behavior. There exist a vast array of human emotions, ranging from joy to sadness, disgust to excitement, and regret to satisfaction.”
The first thing to do is identify your trigger.
When we can identify the trigger that will allow us to work towards the emotional distress it is causing us.
When we are able to accept the trigger we can then work on removing the trigger completely which is the hope for all healing.
With practice, the reaction to your emotional triggers could subside, but they may never go away.
I found this from Psychology Today:
You can practice this step at any time, even when you first notice a reaction to help you think through your triggers and responses. When you determine what you want to do next, shift into the emotion that will help you get the best results.
- Relax – breathe and release the tension in your body.
- Detach – clear your mind of all thoughts.
- Center – drop your awareness to the center of your body just below your navel.
- Focus – choose one keyword that represents how you want to feel at this moment. Breathe in the word and allow yourself to feel the shift.
Lastly, make a list of all your triggers, both at work and at home.
If those don’t portray to you maybe it’s parenting, dating, or traveling.
Make sure that you are listing the observable event and not your interpretation of it.
Journaling in this case can help you distinguish at the root
This post was written by Lauren K., and published by Convenient Counseling Services.
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