Tv Triggers

[Freedomfighter]

Do any of you get triggered by certain shows or events you watch on TV?

I noticed, as I was going through a big trigger the other day, that a sports event on TV really stressed me out. The aggressive language used by the commentators that described the actions of the opponents in a sports event triggered me terribly.

I think that is because some of the words they use remind me of past traumas. Aggressive actions in sports are commented on positively and even though they do not apply to my personal life I do realize that aggressive people, similar to the criminals that hurt me, do actually use such language in their private life and actually idolize such aggression.

Do many of you just have to turn the TV off when that happens?

 

[Gs172003]

I don't watch regular TV I watch Netflix or Amazon video so I can pick and choose what I want that day. Keeps that kind of stuff from happening.

 

[Missycat]

Im not sure if its a trigger or a stressor but i cant be in the same room as a tv that is showing Chitty chitty bang bang or the film The Nutty Professor (original version) the sounds, speech and music take me straight back to an horrendous time, like a flashbaxk, one when the sex abuse first started - i was watching the movie and he turned the sound up to hide other sounds and a particular horrible event of abuse occurred whilst the other movie was on tv.
I feel quite nauseous thinking about it now.
If either come on the tv i have to turn over or leave the room and put music on so i cant hear the sound.

 

[EveHarrington]

News. It's maddening. I'm avoiding it now.

 

[Panda Bear]

It's a stressor for sure.

I'm not much of a tv watcher, it's just to difficult. Content wise and lack of brain power.

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

I reached a point weeks ago where I could not watch TV at all.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

News is a big one for me. I actually jump at times. I cant watch it, any of the news media. If im in the room but not watching tv, I find I try to tune it out as much as I can. Its hard with my dad trying to get me involved in whatever is on Fox News but I am getting good at tuning him out as well.

Not much else would I call triggers to me. I watch crime shows but its more of an intrest to me. I do, too obsessively watch, and research, published stories on kidnappings and cults and I think that can get a bit unhealthy but when it comes to triggers, the bar is so high with that (or what i call a trigger).

I would call most stuff on tv a stressor and Id turn the channel. Im not to the point of 100% Netflix and Amazon Video, not when I can turn the channel, though I do watch a lot of DVR recorded stuff so I suppose its the same.

I also learned very fast not to watch ID or any crime channel at night as Ive had very vivid nightmares and 3 times have been killed in my nightmare where I still feel the blood when I wake up and that is a HORRID feeling!

 

[Sideways]

There's a lot of tv shows that I would call stressors, and I avoid them. It's not necessary for me to put myself through that.

Occasionally I can be triggered by something on tv. But I'd agree with the above that primarily the stuff on tv is a stressor. It only becomes a trigger when it is relateable in some definite way to my trauma and starts causing flashbacks, intrusive memories, and occasionally the odd switch.

By the same token, particular tv shows or movies are one of my go-to's for downtime because they are relaxing or one of make one of my parts happy. My angry part is often dealt with by me sitting myself down in front of a zombie movie, and if I've been getting a lot of flashbacks, I actually find watching cartoons that my child part likes can change things around for me.

Watching breakfast tv actually helps me feel a bit connected to the world, because the news is kept very light, and I know that I'm watching the same thing that millions of others are watching at the same time.

Tv is one of those things that definitely requires management. Some of it's helpful, some of it's not. So it can be a tool, or it can be a trigger, depending on whether I use it the right way.

 

[EmmaOwl]

Do many of you just have to turn the TV off when that happens?
.

Yes! That happens to me often. I've gone into panics...although sometimes I'm only a little bothered. It varies, depending on my mood, I guess.

Even if I'm in the next room and can't hear the words, I still have trouble with the news going - it turns out that I've become afraid of the *tone* in news.

I knew I REALLY lost it was when I panicked at a harmless nature documentary going on in the next room! I realized that is was the same tone, a series of declarations in flat statements. It makes sense to me that sports reporting could be bothersome, too.

Edit:I'm sorry, I missed the point about the language itself being the problem. But, I do get triggers in the ways I wrote above, and I do need to turn off the TV.

 

[EmmaOwl]

If im in the room but not watching tv, I find I try to tune it out as much as I can. Its hard with my dad trying to get me involved in whatever is on Fox News but I am getting good at tuning him out as well.

That's my dad, too! Fox News, there's an hour-long show he really enjoys.. I see that I'm lucky that he doesn't attempt tot "get me involved"!.
How do you tune it out? That sounds like a great skill....

 

[lostforgottensoul]

How do you tune it out? That sounds like a great skill...

Haha, that took A LOT of frustrating practice as my dad is the most annoying 75 yr old alive. I love my dad but good lord! So he has to be tuned out most of the time anyway.

I think of it like a line from a good movie "[his] words never reach me and just sort of just fall on the floor".

As to Fox News, which he watches ALL DAY LONG and only makes time for football, baseball, basketball (mostly Gators), golf....or the every once in a while show. So when I get home from work, it gets turned. On my days off, it gets turned. I had the cable guy give me a second remote so I can lol.

When im tuning out im usually on here as if Im reading/writing (dyslexic), I cant seem to pay attention to anything else. My own shows usually get paused for long periods of time for that reason.

If im not on here then im playing a good game on my phone or something. Sometimes i'll put on earbuds and watch Netflix or Amazon Video on my phone but not often anymore as im now kicking him out of the livingroom (I bought my 50 inch LCD & I want to enjoy it damn it!) but if you cant, thats a good way lol.

It is a skill for sure!

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

Actually for me, I had to stop TV completely, I am having my flashback imagery almost constantly, so even people talking about something not related to abuse can be a trigger if they say certain things. At the local drop in center I go to, they play movies, I can't watch them too.
I feel like I am always on edge, I spend most of the day listening to pandora, or sleeping.

My PCP and therapist are working hard at getting me into shepp pratts trauma disorders unit. In the mean time mobile crisis is doing a daily check to make sure I am safe.