How to Deal With Trauma Triggers
How to Deal With Trauma Triggers When the World is on Fire…
At the time of writing this blog, operation Metro Surge is happening in the state of Minnesota which is causing a lot of unrest in a lot of states. The difficult part about the state of the world is that trauma is happening all around us on a constant loop depending on where you are. On top of that, any previous trauma that you have went through does not suddenly stop impacting you — if anything, this makes it amplified.
Pair this, then, with the duality of the immense amount of hope, community, and togetherness that is existing along with the terror, fear, and unknown. This leads to a pretty heft trauma cocktail for some humans.
So…how to deal with trauma triggers…while the world is on fire?
What are trauma trigger examples?
If you take an individual that has a history of trauma, maybe from childhood, they are probably aware of the day to day things that trigger heavy feelings. This could be things like loud noise, certain places, smells, etc. The interesting thing, though, is then when you add in the collective trauma of that state of the world, some people find it difficult to recognize triggers and sparse that out from what is currently happening and current traumas.
Some examples of this:
Whistles can be perceived as traumatic from past trauma involving loud noises, but also because of what whistles mean in todays climate
People gathering together to protest can be triggering because large crowds are a trigger from past trauma
Watching news stories of what is happening can be triggering because of the new trauma, but also be reflective of a past trauma in which you watched something horrific on the news or something that you related to
As you can see, how to deal with trauma triggers is often times complex when the triggers themselves are multifaceted and may be coming from the current trauma alone, but also could be being amplified by past trauma as well.
So, how to deal with trauma triggers?
It is important to first state that if you are experiencing a trauma response, the most helpful thing is likely going to be to see a mental health therapist that specializes in trauma. At our clinic, we have clinicians trained in online EMDR therapy and other evidence based trauma treatment modalities, and are always happy to provide outside referrals as well.
Outside of this, here are some very general things that can help bring you down from a trauma response and how to deal with trauma triggers:
Stimulating the vagus nerve (we have a whole blog post on this here!)
Grounding yourself in the present moment — identify some micro details of an object around you, identify anything that there is two or more of in the space you are in
Saying grounding words out loud that resonate — “I’m safe, now”, “That is in the past”
Talking to support people
Naming your emotions and being curious about them rather than judgmental — there is no one way to feel and all feelings are valid
Call or text your local crisis resources if you need immediate professional support or go to the nearest emergency room
What is a trauma trigger response?
How do we know when we need to use those types of tools or when we should reach out to a therapist for support with trauma therapy?
Some signs or symptoms include:
Hypervigilance or feeling like you are on edge all of the time
Difficulty sleeping due to nightmares
Difficulty with eating
Avoidance of people, places, things, that could remind you of the trauma
Flashbacks
How to Heal PTSD Triggers
Our biggest recommendation for healing PTSD triggers is to reach out to a mental health therapists to support with developing an individualized treatment plan and being able to work 1:1 with you and your symptoms.
Some of the tools that our clinic uses to support with trauma therapy are:
TF-CBT — Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Flash
If you are curious about any of these and how they could be helpful, or just have questions on whether or not therapy would be a good fit for your experience, please feel free to reach out to us or schedule a complimentary consultation to talk more about how we may be able to help. We can see individuals and couples in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, South Carolina, California, Delaware, Florida, and Colorado.
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Soteria Mental Health
Specialized online trauma therapy specializing in EMDR trauma therapy online, pregnancy and postpartum therapy, anxiety therapy, and couples therapy. We support clients:
Online therapy in Minnesota | Online therapy in Wisconsin
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Online therapy in Vermont | Online therapy in Florida
Online therapy in Delaware | Online therapy in South Carolina