Why Do We Feel “Triggered” & How Can We Overcome This Feeling?

Have you ever experienced a situation that made you feel uncomfortable all of a sudden - like a rug was pulled from under your feet? A discomfortingly familiar experience that left you feeling vulnerable and agitated? This is often what exposure to an emotional "trigger" can feel like.

Commonly known as "feeling triggered", this is the result of an emotional reaction to the mention or occurrence of something that deeply disturbs someone. Feeling triggered is more than just being uncomfortable; for those with a traumatic history, hearing or being around things that might evoke similar feelings can make them feel like the trauma is happening again.

This blog will help you understand the science behind "feeling triggered" and how you can help yourself cope with it, emotionally.

How Do Triggers Form?

Neuroscientists say that triggers come into being when memories of trauma are stored differently than events that are not traumatic.

Also Read: Uncovering the Link Between Trauma and Depression

When one is triggered, the brain can interpret the feelings evoked as the trauma recurring. This can cause similar symptoms as those that occurred when the trauma was originally induced.

Emotional reactions are often caused before we can even realise we feel triggered and upset. This is because triggers are strongly connected to our senses and could even be associated with a concrete habit. 

Types of Triggers 

Triggers can differ from person to person and are internal or external.  

Internal Triggers

These are thoughts, memories, emotions, physical sensations, etc. that come from a person’s internal environment. 

For example, every time you start to feel nervous, you might further self-sabotage yourself triggering a cycle of overthinking. This could be because in the past, every time you were nervous in a situation you received negative feedback from your environment. 

Also read: The Science Behind Overthinking

External Triggers

On the other hand, those factors that are present in a person’s external environment are called their external triggers. It can be a place, a specific situation, an object, or a person. What might seem like a minor inconvenience for someone may act as a trigger for someone who has experienced trauma with elements common to that situation.

An example of this could be: Your partner yelling at you during a fight. It might make you feel incredibly restless and scared because that is what you might have experienced during childhood in your family dynamic. 

While it is not possible to know what might trigger a person, it is always a good idea to offer a trigger warning or content warning before mentioning a traumatic event like domestic violence, death by suicide, grief, non-consensual intercourse.

Also read: Your Guide To Prolonged Grief Disorder

Overcoming Your Triggers 

Acknowledge Your Emotions

Being human comes with the capability of feeling emotions deeply. Feeling triggered can bring to light a lot of emotions, and that is completely natural. Try to treat yourself with kindness, and gently bring yourself to awareness in the present. Healing wounds from the past is a gradual process.

Reflect on What's Happening

Sometimes, you may be experiencing an internal trigger as a response to a relationship dynamic. In such cases, communicating how you feel helps. If there’s someone you’re not familiar with, take a gentle approach toward understanding their behaviour and consider their perspectives. It usually happens that people are completely unaware of your triggers, and are willing to respect personal boundaries when it is conveyed to them. 

Also read: What Is Trauma Bonding?

Take Positive Action

When facing a trigger that leaves you feeling extremely overwhelmed, taking a step back and being with yourself can help you avoid an emotional outburst in an unsafe environment.

Interrupt the situation by changing the environment so that you start to feel grounded after taking some time off. If you’re with people, you can even communicate how you feel and why you need some time to cool off. For example, you can say - “I feel like I might react to whatever just happened right now, so I'm heading out for a quick walk”.

If you’re alone and the trigger may be internal, deep breathing for 2 minutes can really make a difference - try going out to a place where you can indulge your senses, like a park or near a water body.

Seek Professional Help

If you are finding it difficult to manage or overcome your triggers all by yourself, seeking professional help will allow you to gradually work through them.

In therapy, you will learn to process emotions concerning the events that could have formed your triggers, learn ways to soothe yourself when you are in distress and develop healthy coping mechanisms. 

If you feel confused and want to work on overcoming your triggers, feel free to get in touch with us for any concerns you might have related to therapy. We are happy to help!