How to Stop Getting TRIGGERED Forever

The concept of being triggered, though it may at times be overused, sits on top of a hugely important concept in psychological life. One moment we are calm, the next we are catapulted into despair and terror. It may be important to know how to be scared or incensed when situations actually demand it, but it is also deeply counterproductive to be visited by powerful emotions that aren’t warranted by what lies before us and that fail to advance our interests in any way.

FURTHER READING

“The phenomenon of being ‘triggered’ — though it may, at times, be applied too liberally — sits on top of a hugely important concept in psychological life which demands our respect, compassion and attention. To be triggered is, in its most basic form, to respond with intense fear and anger to a situation in the here and now which, to other people, may seem blameless and unconcerning. One moment we are calm, the next we are catapulted into despair and terror; only minutes ago, the future looked hopeful, now only ruin and disaster seem to lie ahead…”

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Adriana Monteforte

Title animation produced in collaboration with

Vale Productions

[nizasiamehenry]

We suffer more in imagination than in reality!

[DonaldAMisc]

"What disturbs people are not THINGS themselves but their JUDGMENTS about the THINGS." ~ Epictetus

[mahikarao]

"We're triggered now by what we devasted by then" - Beautifully put :'")

[Phot_]

if you have trauma from past or anything, your anxiety will be triggered even tho there is no danger right now. We'll carry that fear with us for many years to come and it will affect every aspect of our life. It's basically like an invisible handicap

[kasperchristensen]

Another useful tool I've learned to use myself comes from Stoicism; specifically a realization of the fact that you can't control what other people do/say/think/feel/etc.; only how you choose to react to them.

[BitterFlower]

The eyes turning into scribbles that eventually fill the screen is so creepy and so accurate to the feeling

[heatherstubbs]

This video is remarkably accurate! My therapist has said, “If a response is hysterical, it’s historical.”

[subiyaamreen]

It is very important to understand your triggers and where they come from, almost all of them are deep rooted in the childhood. Going back to your inner child and understanding what and how it felt and giving yourself permission to navigate helps a lot. Personally self awareness of myself took lot of time and looking at yourself as an outsider helps to see what you are feeling rather than absorbing in the feeling it self. Go back to your childhood and come back with lessons and please forgive yourself and accept everything that’s the only way folks. Wish you all healing ❤

[kierlak]

Been trying to recover from trauma: psychedelics helped to start the ball rolling, IFS therapy for almost a year now. But what really started to shift things was working on forgiveness (it's been very hard and painful work). It's interesting as I get triggered less. It's like the more I am able to work on forgiveness the safer my inner child feels. Perhaps it sees it like that: if I am able to consider forgiveness that means the events happened in the PAST, that I am safe NOW. That I am mature now, I can defend myself now and manage my emotions.

With trauma the concept of time is very important. Our inner child/children usually are stuck in the past. Once we start inviting them into the PRESENT and show them that it is safe now they relax. As a result we relax too.

Trauma changes the brain. The amygdala becomes over-reactive whereas pre frontal cortex gets under active. Result: when triggered we feel strong emotions first, then we don't understand why we react that way. Good news are: it's possible to reverse that.

[tjordanlcsw]

This is all true, but trauma is stored in the body. When one gets intensely triggered one enters the fight, flight or freeze state and it becomes extremely difficult to intellectually process what may be going on. The flooding that one experiences comes from the body and that is where the trauma needs to be addressed and re-processed.

[pan]

I always feel guilty for my social anxiety. I wish I could be more receptive and honest but my brain literally turns off in 99.999% of social situations lately.

[erinsuzy]

I have a trigger that surfaces around a relative who exhibits narcissist behaviors, verbal abuse and toxic gossip. I've gone no contact as much as possible but at family gatherings I can't get out of, my body reacts with panic. I'm trying to fix it but it's harder when someone else is involved.

[mixingaband]

also remember to forgive yourself when you are triggered. It will take a while for us all to process what is actually happening

[lyricberlin]

unless you have people in your life that trigger you on purpose

[stephanimahl]

“We can’t distinguish between something they’ve done that got them sent to prison and something we’ve done that won’t ever be noticed”.
I relate to that SO BADLY.

[XBret]

"We want our awful hunches confirmed" this really resonated with me because I'm always wondering why I actively look at things that I know are gonna trigger me. It never made sense to me why I did this. Been working on my Shadow for over 2 years now, sometimes it feels like I'll never heal this wound.

[oostraub]

Thank you for this. The drawing with the family where the mother is close to one child but the other child stands alone. I have a photo where my mother and brother stand close to each other and I am standing alone. I was neglected and alone all my childhood while my mother and brother were best buddies. I get triggered a lot and my family just don't understands. This is hell sometimes for everyone but I am getting better.

[_blAck]

Once I detached from people they failed to trigger me. I’m around people but they’re just objects in my path. I’m self absorbed and all about me now🧚🏾‍♀️💕🥰😎

[JLakis]

Still working on mine. Discovering trauma based therapy was a true revelation for me. I had been in traditional therapy for so long, and hit a wall. The best thing about trauma based therapy is that many organizations that deal with domestic/child abuse, and the YWCA provide this free or at a low cost. Breathing exercises, grounding mindfulness practices, and loving kindness and gratitude exercises along with yoga and walking my dog are super helpful for me. Having a dog is wonderful in so many ways. They love you. You can cuddle them. They need to go out, so you need to exercise, and consider another creature's well being.

[niaselah]

I would love a video distinguishing triggers and re traumatization.
We normalize a lot of mistreatment and abuse in society and people who were abused before correctly identify mistreatment but they are told they are " just being triggered" basically they are being gaslighted again into normalizing mistreatment and made to gaslight themselves also again.
It's not the same to be in a safe situation and have a memory of an unsafe experience than to again be in another unsafe situation.
Although now being adults, there are so many adults in positions of vulnerability that make it very similar to being a child. You can't quit that job, you can't get out of that relationship, you can't afford therapy, or a gym, etc. Not everyone actually have these options. Sometimes people try to do it anyways and end up in even more vulnerability without the job, etc
We need to acknowledge trigger is not the same as re traumatization