How to deal with Trauma Triggers
Dealing with a trauma trigger or facing the worst situation in your life? then, don’t worry because this article is for you and you’ll find the solution to all your problems. Patients deal with trauma triggers by appointing doctors; every doctor deals differently depending on the severity.
What is Trauma?
It is the response or reaction of the body and mind to any unexpected, shocking event. Different People deal differently with triggers and face different situations in their life. Most of the time, the scenario is terrible, worst, or dramatic. It leaves a long-lasting influence on the body and mind. Trauma’s influence on a person’s life takes days and even years.
It gets stimulated by different triggers, which are the forms of stimulation that revive the memory of a terrible event. Triggers intensity differs as few are less subtle or more. It becomes difficult to sometimes understand, even for a doctor to locate it.
If you went through a snatching or car accident, going into that scenario is a trigger. Nowadays, a breakup or getting out of a toxic relationship can be a trigger for several years. It is too difficult to overcome, and the capacity of every person differs in coping with that triggers.
When you identify the triggers and their type, finding the solutions and approach to deal with triggers is easier.
What is Trigger?
A feeling, smell, sound, or memory stimulates a bad feeling.
In Trauma, people react without warning, and their body stimulates. Reminders from your experience, for instance, hearing or seeing something, remind you of a past event and cause intense physical reactions. The stress of the body increases due to all this.
Thoughts can cause a strong physical response without alert.
How to identify Trauma?
Identifying triggers is fairly easy and obvious to find. For instance, you are watching TV, and it is explaining the same as you faced a few years ago. So it will trigger symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). But other signals are subtle reminders that you don’t react until you face a negative reaction.
Consider when your symptoms of PTSD typically manifest to help you discover your PTSD triggers. To better analyze your triggers, ask the following questions:
- What kinds of circumstances are you facing?
- What is going on in the area?
- What feelings are you experiencing? What kinds of ideas are you having?
- What sensations does your body have?
Outline as many internal and external triggers as possible on a piece of paper. You can better understand your triggers by keeping a record of your experiences and what was going on before you started to have symptoms.
Impact of Trauma:
A deep analysis of traumatic stress reactions and typical responses to Trauma is mandatory for providing trauma-informed care (TIC). Providers should be aware of how Trauma can impact how the patient is treated, how they interact with it, and how well behavioral health services work out.
Trauma impacts each person differently, including one-time, repeated, multiple, or long-lasting incidents. Some people may show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Still, others deal with trauma triggers through resilient reactions or transient subclinical symptoms or effects that don’t meet diagnostic standards. Numerous variables, such as an individual’s traits, the nature, and qualities of the event(s), developmental processes, the significance of the Trauma, and socio-cultural factors, all affect how an incident affects a person.
Different ways to cope with Trauma Triggers:
Life can become exceedingly challenging and unpredictable for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other types of severe stress. Flashbacks and intrusive thoughts might appear anytime and impair your capacity to function.
Avoiding the people, places, and circumstances that cause these feelings and memories may be wise and beneficial. However, depending completely on avoidance can result in more issues than it aims to fix. You can’t always avoid these sensations. Trying to do so can make you less open to opportunities, make you anxious, or even more constrained by your traumatic experience. There are different solutions people use to deal with trauma triggers.
Having only one coping mechanism could also be detrimental because it might not work every time. Instead, it’s best to have various tools on hand when you start to feel the terrifying effects of acute stress. So add these varied coping strategies to your lifestyle.
Use The “Window Of Tolerance”
The window of Tolerance means talking or discussing your mental state. There are two sides to the window. If you are inside the window, that means you are doing okay and happy; if you are outside the window, you are triggered and not feeling well mentally.
Initially, a small window you can have meant the capacity to cope and stabilize with traumatic events triggers is limited. You easily trigger flashbacks and intrusive thoughts, anxiety and emotional numbing along with panic attacks come to mind.
Breathe Slowly And Deeply
It’s a free-of-cost tool that helps you inhale oxygen and carbon dioxide. It is suggested that you inhale for 4 counts, hold for two and exhale for six to eight counts. It gives you inner satisfaction and self-realization of the past moment.
When a deal with trauma triggers Validate Your Experience
The past experiences are painful and real. The name or context of traumatic stress or memory is not normal, but people normally respond to abnormal experiences. Self-validation is critical for healing because it reminds you of the situations and scenarios you go through.
Think Positively For 12 Seconds
Think positively when you are all alone. Peaceful trips, beautiful flowers, or sunsets with deep breathing make your mood happy and relaxed. Focusing on it for a few seconds relaxes your mind. The impact of beautiful flowers and green areas on your health and body is amazing. For the new neuron connection, 12 seconds are enough and develops positivity in your mind, releasing stress and anxiety.
When a deal with trauma triggers Use A Gravity Or Weighted Blanket
When you are having symptoms of PTSD, you face sleep disturbance issues, nightmares, and high anxiety. Patients not getting enough sleep they need can cause problems concentrating, and patients face difficulties at work or even school. It affects the relationships as you get irritated. It is proven through research that using a weighted blanket stimulates being hugged and feeling comfortable, which reduces your stress and anxiety.
Laugh
Research indicates that Laughter is a medicine that is used as a therapeutic method. Laughter reduces the stress from the body by releasing a few hormones that stimulate your immune system and reconnect your brain. So whenever you are feeling low or depressed, watch a funny video to lessen your traumatic stress and recover.
When to see a doctor
If you have thoughts and feelings which remind you of a traumatic event for more than a month, if they’re severe, or if you feel you’re having trouble getting your life back to normal, consult your doctor or mental health physician. Get the treatment as soon as possible to prevent PTSD symptoms from getting worsening. When someone deals with trauma triggers, they face different weird situations in their life.
If you have suicidal thoughts
When a person is dealing with trauma triggers, suicidal thoughts come and patients use one or more of these resources to seek help right immediately if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts:
- Talk to a close friend or family member, you’ll feel better.
- Speak with your pastor, a spiritual advisor, or a member of your church.
- Contact a skilled counselor by calling a suicide hotline; in the US, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255).
- Schedule a consultation with a mental health specialist to take consultation.
When to get emergency help
If you know someone who tried to attempt suicide or an attempt in the future, make sure that someone stays with them to keep them guarded. Dial 911 right away. Or, if it’s safe to do so, take the patient to the emergency room of the nearest hospital.
Difference between Triggers and FlashBacks:
Triggers
A trigger is a stimulus that brings back a painful memory or a particular part of a traumatic experience. Imagine being briefly confined to a car following an accident. You might have started to experience flashbacks of the accident. Many triggers are subtle and undetectable, surprising or catching the person off guard.
People who deal with trauma triggers can be easily recognized and expected. During treatment, it’s critical to support clients in identifying potential triggers, connecting triggers, and intense emotional responses, and creating coping mechanisms for when a trigger does occur.
Any sensory reminder of the traumatic experience in the nervous system, such as a sound, smell, temperature, other physical sensation, or visual scene, is a trigger. Triggers can be any feature that reminds you of or symbolizes a prior trauma, no matter how far away. Examples include returning to the scene of the Trauma, being by yourself, having your kids reach the same age as you were at the time of the Trauma, seeing the same breed of dog that attacked you, or hearing loud and irritating loud voices.
Flashbacks
A flashback occurs when a painful event from the past is relived as if it were happening right now. It contains responses that frequently mirror the client’s responses during the Trauma. Flashbacks are usually only a few seconds long, but their emotional impact can persist for hours or even days. Usually, but not always, a trigger will start a flashback. They occasionally happen out of the blue. Other times, certain physical conditions make a person more susceptible to reliving a traumatic event (e.g., fatigue, high-stress levels).
Flashbacks can appear to the client like an intrusive, fleeting movie clip. Veterans might react as if they were back on military patrol, for instance, if they hear a car backfire on a hot, bright day. In addition to flashbacks, people can relive Trauma through dreams and intrusive thoughts.
Conclusion:
It is understood that people who deal with trauma triggers are usually experienced a worst incident which was hard to face and deal with. Different kinds of Trauma occur, leading to anxiety, panic attacks, and sometimes even heart attacks.
Nowadays, everyone has a different issue in their life, and how they deal with it is different. The coping mechanism affects mental health and physical health.
