Triggers That Seem Crazy

[Upside Down Eagle]

I am wearing a scarf around my neck and a scarf over my head right now. I look weird. It's not the only time I look weird because I am triggered by something (in this case, my hair).

A lot of times I don't even fully understand why something triggers me. I am afraid of softness, and my hair is soft. Afraid of being vulnerable, and softness reminds me of being vulnerable. If it grew back in a day, I would shave my head right now.

I thought maybe it would help if I made a list of triggers that seem insane, in the eyes of normal people but also in my own eyes, and see if anyone on the forum can relate to them. You guys can write up your triggers, if you want to, and maybe find someone who also has them, so you can see you're not alone.

Here it goes.

Food sounds, like marmalade or sticking a spoon in pasta with sauce
The gurgling that the sink makes when I pour water down it, and any trickle of water
Anything that reminds me of my own female constituency, mirrors are fine though
People who whistle or make strange noises with their mouth when talking
The touch of anything sticky, or water where it doesn't belong
Anything fluid that makes strings, like yoghurt

 

[KwanYingirl]

Germs or the potential of them. Snowstorms ok, thunderstorms no. Peaks of mountains yes but only come down via skislope. No cross country skiing through the woods or even hiking in the woods. Certain colors trigger me. Smells can reduce me to tears. Not eating food older than two days.

 

[Sandstone]

No trigger is crazy - or all triggers are crazy. They are simply the things that are bad for us as individuals

Waiting at bus stops
Being in a room with two or more professional women
Boiling frozen peas( - and now I'm having trouble breathing)

 

[Deleted member 1860]

No trigger is crazy - or all triggers are crazy. They are simply the things that are bad for us as individuals

I agree. I'm even afraid to post my triggers because I'm afraid that they will be normal by everyone else's standards even though it makes me a freak to the rest of society.

 

[Sandstone]

For many of us, the traumas that caused our PTSD happened in the midst of normal life. That's particularly true for those who suffered childhood abuse. So they are going to be linked in our brains to normal day-to-day experiences, sights, smells, sounds. It would be much odder if I was only triggered by one winged owls in day light

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

I called them crazy because people Really, Really don't get why I would be triggered by marmalade. One person in my family found out and she looked at me like I came from outer space. I felt really insane. But you guys are right.

I know why I am triggered by it, but even if I explained it to her, I doubt she'd get it.

 

[Polly_pocket]

I am really scared of raw tomatoes. Like I can't even have them on a plate and take them out. It's one of the things I was force fed so it does actually make sense but nobody gets it.

Particular songs are also a big one. A particular brand of shampoo. Also where I sit in a room. If the positioning of the furniture/lighting is similar to a place where a bad thing happened I flashback.

 

[City Slicker]

Having a cold, hospital smells/hospital lighting/hospital sounds and snoring.

 

[Anarchy]

Custard

I can eat it now, but when I was around 6 years old, eating custard was the only activity that seemed to correlate with a young school teacher dragging me off to get threatened by the headmaster. Eating custard would have me in a state of anxiety for weeks as I waited for the inevitable bad result.

fortunately the sharp smelling copier fluid that the headmaster's office reeked of, is long obsolete.

For about 2 years, the colour green.

cheap teenage deoderants and afterhaves, allong with late 1970s prog rock

 

[Kefira]

Christmas trees. More particularly the ornaments. Undecorated trees are fine, even if they're going to be Christmas trees.

Interior columns. Really, I had to turn down a rental because it was a very open floor plan and it had a couple of exposed support pillar things.

Basements. Even though I keep ending up living in them so that's gotten a bit better from exposure, but unfinished cold floors, chilly rooms, rooms that feel closed in are all difficult as well. Particularly when stressed.

For a long time, smell of popcorn particularly the bagged super fake butter varieties.

Also for quite a while orange shirts.

Those are my main "weird" ones

 

[Justmehere]

Hawaiian tropic brand of sunscreen.

Cardboard boxes. Oh dear, o had to explain that one to my friends who helped me when I moved and I was so nervous about cardboard boxes...

 

[Justmehere]

Maybe instead of judging our triggers, or ourselves, we all should judge the perps of our trauma or the trauma itself as being awful or shameful or crazy. They are the ones who deserve such judgment. Not us.