“Trigger” is probably a word you have heard a lot lately. It has become a catch-all term for describing experiences that evoke uncomfortable or upsetting emotions. The word trigger, however, takes on a more specific meaning when we discuss triggers in the context of past traumas. In this post, I will offer clarity about what trauma triggers are, what it means to get triggered and why this happens, and how you can cope effectively if you are triggered.

What is a Trigger?

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a trauma trigger is, “a stimulus that sets off a memory of a trauma or a specific portion of a traumatic experience.” A wide variety of things can serve as triggers for people who have experienced trauma, including places, people, anniversary dates, smells, certain tones of voice or body postures, certain ways of being touched or other physical sensations, or situations that resemble some aspect of the traumatic incident. Sometimes triggers are fairly obvious and predictable, such as when a person who has experienced a sexual assault feels triggered by seeing sexual violence depicted on TV or in a movie. In other cases, triggers can be more subtle and harder to anticipate, such as when a person who experienced a fire in their home feels triggered by the smell of smoke.

Why Do We Get Triggered?

One of the functions of our brain is to protect us from perceived danger. Traumatic experiences threaten our sense of safety in the world. Because of this, our brains encode various elements of our traumas as danger signals to try to keep us safe and help us respond appropriately if we face a similar threat in the future. When you encounter something internally or externally that your brain has flagged as associated with a past trauma and therefore unsafe, your body will have a reaction. This reaction is what we are referring to when we talk about being triggered.

The reactions people have when triggered can vary by person and situation. Some experiences that people have when triggered include:

• Flashbacks to or feeling like you are reliving the traumatic event(s)

• Feeling anxious, panicky, or overwhelmed

• Feeling frozen, stuck in place, or shut down

• Feeling like you want to run away

• Feeling detached from your body or surroundings

 It is important to note that these reactions are involuntary. You are not “choosing” to be triggered; rather your body is having an automatic reaction because it thinks that is what is needed to keep you safe.

How to Cope If You Are Triggered

When we are triggered, our brains and bodies cannot tell the difference between the past when the traumatic events occurred and the present where we are safe and nothing bad is happening. Therefore, when we are triggered, we want to help our brains and bodies understand this distinction and register the safety of the present. How can we do this? By practicing grounding.

Practicing grounding means engaging techniques or tools that help you feel centered in the present. There are numerous grounding techniques you can choose to utilize. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

• Reconnect with your present surroundings. Practice the 5-4-3-2-1 method. Aim to identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch or feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.

• Bring yourself back into your body. Press your feet into the earth and notice what that feels like. Make your hands into fists, squeeze tightly, then slowly release. Do this several times and just notice what tension vs. relaxation feels like. Place your hands on your belly and just notice your belly rise as you breathe in and fall as you breathe out.

• Engage in mental distraction. Count backwards from 100 by 7’s. Play a categories game where you choose a category (for example, animals) and then try to identify something that fits this category for each letter of the alphabet (A could be for aardvark, B for bear, C for cat, and so forth).

• Create soothing experiences for yourself. Offer yourself comforting words like “You are safe” or “Everything is okay.” Hold hands with a loved one or hold a pet. Listen to a favorite song. Savor a cup of tea or another warm beverage.

I also encourage my clients to invent their own grounding strategies. Anything that helps you to feel rooted in the here and now would be considered a grounding technique, so feel free to get creative. You may have to experiment with different grounding techniques before you find those that work best for you. Give yourself time and space to try things out and don’t be discouraged if you try something and it doesn’t help.

When To Seek Help

If you find that you are triggered frequently or that being triggered is detracting from your ability to experience and enjoy your life in the present, it may be time to seek therapy. It is a lot of work to manage triggers, and you deserve to not have to work so hard. You do not have to continue to organize your life around your trauma triggers. EMDR therapy allows you to process traumatic memories fully so that they no longer have the ability to trigger you in the present. Contact me today if you would like to learn more.

Sources:

Debiec, Jacek. (2018, September 27). A Traumatic Memory Can Be Near Impossible to Shake. University of Michigan Health Lab. https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/lab-report/a-traumatic-memory-can-be-near-impossible-to-shake

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014, March). A Treatment Improvement Protocol: Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/