How to Combat Emotional Triggers

A trigger or stressor is anything that can lead to a negative emotional reaction. When someone says they are “triggered,” what they usually mean is that something suddenly brought on symptoms related to their mental health, such as a worsened mood, anxiety, PTSD, and more.

Triggers are often connected to trauma. Vicarious trauma relates to stressors that are directed and witnessed by others. There are also related types of trauma, which include types of minority stress like those related to race, sexuality, gender, and religion.

Some of the effects of trauma that you might experience include fear, hypervigilance, depression, anger, loneliness, memory problems, headaches, insomnia, body aches, decreased self-esteem, hopelessness, and feelings of shame or guilt.

Enforce limits.

Know your limits, and don’t judge yourself for adhering to them. Remind yourself that it is acceptable to take a break, and doing so does not mean that you are abandoning the situation. Set a time limit that seems reasonable to you to use a distraction

Create a mental barrier.

Create a mental barrier between yourself and the distressing event. This can be done internally and externally. Internal barriers involve mentally removing yourself from the triggering event. You can build an imaginary brick wall inside your mind between yourself and it.

External ways of creating a mental barrier include temporarily ignoring individuals or media sources that increase stress. Our minds, hearts, and bodies need to rest and recover from all the stimuli we consume on a daily basis, especially the stressors!

Engage in purposeful participation.

When you’re experiencing a trigger or even just observing the world around you, it can be easy to feel helpless or hopeless. One of the ways to combat that is to find small ways to give back as often as you can. Seek out purpose—that is where you discover your power.

Embrace other emotions and thoughts.

Do things that replace your negative thoughts and emotions with neutral or opposite ones. This can include trying out new TV shows, reading a book, playing games with your family or friends, or singing a song in your head.

Widen your focus.

When we are triggered, the tendency to get stuck on negative thoughts creates an extremely narrow focus and intensifies the pain we are feeling. Having a wider focus invites healthy comparisons, which can allow us to consider the bigger picture. This can include thinking about others who are in similar situations and are coping the same as you are (realizing “I am not alone”), or might be coping worse (realizing “I am not as bad off as I sometimes think”), or might be coping better (realizing “by experiencing this situation, I can improve how well I cope over time”). One easy way to expand your focus is to simply acknowledge the things that went well that day before you fall asleep.

Engage in activities.

Do things that let you disengage from your trauma momentarily. These could be enjoyable activities like getting dinner with a friend or going on a long walk

Regroup or reset.

Evaluate your overall anxiety levels to determine if you’re ready to re-engage with the situation at hand. If you find that you’re not ready, reset your break timer and come back to the situation later. This approach allows you to take a break without engaging in unhealthy avoidance.

Source; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-savvy-psychologist/202203/how-combat-emotional-triggers

Reflection;

This article provides some great tips on how to deal with emotional triggers that stem from trauma.

What are some ways you combat triggers?

#Triggers #EmotionalRegulation #MentalHealth