Childhood Is this normal?

[NonnegotiablePeace]

If I see anything that was around prior to my 18th birthday (brand of juice, a building, opening of a TV show, etc) I don't like it, I want it to go away, and I feel the need to fight it. I don't act on this, because I'm an adult, and because I have no idea how one would defend oneself from a shelf of juice. But I always just assumed that this was completely normal. People deliberately expose themselves to things that remind them of happy emotions, so why would it be different for negative emotions? My frontal lobe knows that I'm 18 so it hasn't been a problem, but other parts of me don't apparently when I see things that were around then. And I would be just as happy if every product that existed prior to then was discontinued, or at least rebranded. But this is unreasonable. I was recently told that this was NOT normal, and I'm going to ask my therapist about it, but it never occurred to me that this was abnormal whatsoever. So is it?

 

[anonymous]

I can SO relate to what you're saying!!! I'm floored by all the things that still trigger me many years later! Words are even triggering. I'm not sure why certain thing trigger my trauma, I hope that someday I can just forget it all. I'm not sure if it's considered 'normal', but who's to say how someone is supposed to recover from a monster's actions?

 

[NonnegotiablePeace]

By "normal" I meant not related to trauma. Like a "regular?" person would have this occur too at something that reminded them of something bad. Based on what you're saying this IS something that is a symptom of PTSD? My (non-therapist) boyfriend said that it was flashbacks, but I understand flashbacks to be when you actually BELIEVE that you are back in Korea so you return fire at the backfiring car. And I KNOW where I am; I just don't feel like I am.

 

[EveHarrington]

Do the majority of people want everything from a bad time in their lives, like juice labels and tv show intros, to go away?

No, I don't believe so.

It would take an immense amount of mind energy to think these things about everything that existed during a bad time in our lives.

I have a few trigger items, but they are specific to the trauma location, not my entire childhood.