"Knowing Your Triggers"
What Are Triggers?
Triggers are external events that bring up very uncomfortable emotions or psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, despair, panic, negative self-talk, and discouragement. It is normal to react to triggers, but if we do not recognize them and respond to them properly, it may cause downward spirals that make us feel worse and worse.
Triggers don't define who we are. We are just having normal reactions to abnormal circumstances.
Keep This In Mind
First of all, if you ended up on this page, it means that you are determined enough to recover from child abuse. This is the greatest and the heaviest step to take. After this, everything will fall into place. As a child abuse survivor myself, I strongly recommend that you find a mental health therapist in your area. The service should be free of charge.
Identifying Triggers
We must learn to identify our triggers so we can avoid such symptoms that hold us back in our daily lives and plan our coping strategies when we are triggered.
For example, going to the police station triggered me , and I planned to bring a support person (a counselor, support worker, etc) with the next time I need to go to the police station.
It is challenging to identify certain triggers. I have had times where I started crying, feeling "incapable", deep despair, or panic without knowing what led me to feeling that way. I had nurses/support workers/counselors that helped me identify these triggers.
Examples of Triggers:
These are some triggers that I have.
Being yelled at
Looking at someone in the eye
Certain words that reminds me of my trauma (I would break down to the word while reading a book)
When things don't go the way I want
Spending too much time alone
Violence in movies
Crowded talking
Having too much to do and being overwhelmed
Posters or photos of victims of violence
Getting lost (by myself)
Feelings of being commanded or ordered to do something
The Floor is Yours...
Make your own list. For some triggers, you would not know that they exist. Make it your mission this week to identify and write down the triggers that you have.
If you don't already have a counselor and therapist, I strongly recommend that you find one and start working with them this week.
