3 thoughts on “Triggers

  1. chariots

    Well let’s see: I was sitting in a dentist’s chair recently – and after the novacaine shot was given… I knew I was doomed. I have issues with needles, big time. I often pass out because of them. And I almost found a way to pass out while lying down in the dentist chair this time.

    I became unresponsive and barely there. Which lead into tensing up and shaking. And well, my crown didn’t get worked on at all. Instead my freaked out dentist called my therapist (cuz he didn’t know what the heck he was dealing with) and I spent the next couple hours recovering in a vacant room.

    So yes – I can be greatly affected by triggers and I can become very dysfunctional. Thankfully, this sort of thing doesn’t happen as often as it used to. I work full time now and most of my episodes are contained into certain times and places…. I didn’t used to have any control at all….

    If an episode arises at a bad time, I can usually escape the situation in time – to freak out somewhere on my own without disturbing and scaring the rest of the world by my actions.

  2. jigsaw analogy--ellis

    my usual approach to triggers is to accept that they are going to be there, and not try to hide from them. it’s hard to explain to my partner that she really can NOT walk on eggshells trying to avoid them, because there are just so many things that will bring up flashbacks or panic attacks, and they’re not predictable, and frankly, the way i’ve learned to cope with them is to have the flashback or panic attack, and then try to work through what the trigger is.

    there are some things that i know are triggering, and that aren’t that hard to avoid (ie, particular foods that are consistently triggering). there are some things that i know are triggering and that i avoid but i shouldn’t (ie, the dentist).

    but then there are the things that are more random, depending on which part is out, and what else has been going on, and where things are in the bubbling stew of memory that sits at the back of my brain.

    it’s also complicated for me to recognize that even though parts of my system switch in and out when things are calm–my usual state is one of fairly comfortable switching and sharing between parts, and we rarely go for more than a day without several parts being in and out. when things are calm like that, there’s pretty good communication or at least, we can reconstruct what’s happened, and no one does anything that would upset another part.

    but then, there are times when someone is triggered out, and it’s like they’re back in their original state when that happens. so it’s simultaneously a particular part, and that particular part is back in their past method of coping. and when that has happened, it becomes really difficult for someone else to switch in. so that’s scary as well.

    there was an incident a couple of weeks ago where we recognized that what had happened was a major trigger, and what was going on with that. hopefully that knowledge will make a difference in the future. but i’m not going to go around finding things to trigger me that badly again, just to see if we can cope better now that we understand it a little more!

  3. chariots

    I think it’s hard for my partner too – knowing that he triggers me sometimes. But I feel similarly – hey, I’m gonna be triggered at times. O well. Maybe I can learn from it, and maybe it will help me get better in the long run.

    I already decided that living my life in fear of triggers, is no way to live at all. I’d never leave my house and be consumed by fear. Sounds like prison. I don’t want that. So I’d rather try to live my life and be triggered along the way.

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