Triggers : Removal Or Management?

[digger]

Interested to know if people have found it possible to actual stop a trigger being a trigger completely - like removing the bit that tells your brain A is connected to B and we must jump there straight away - or if it comes down to only being able to learn to manage your responses once you are triggered better?

 

[joeylittle]

I believe I've gotten rid of my response to a few triggers. The most notable one is the sound of a door closing - it had the power to send me straight back to the past. It doesn't anymore, not even when I'm hyper vigilant or agitated for some other reason.

 

[digger]

I believe I've gotten rid of my response to a few triggers

Do you know how you've gotten rid of it, like was it the focus of work to remove it, or has it happened out of working on other things?

 

[joeylittle]

It was the result of trauma processing plus training myself to regulate my breathing.

The breathing kept me from totally losing myself at the sound, for a period of months. The processing of the memories linked to the sound then seems to have 'erased' the trigger entirely. For awhile I'd still automatically start monitoring my breathing, even though I didn't actually have any kind of dysregulation as a result of hearing the noise. And then, gradually, I stopped being aware of the sound as anything other than a sound - same as a car going down the street, or a car alarm, or faucet, or whatever.

 

[BlueOrange]

I think it's possible to 'defuse' a trigger. Right now, I'm being triggered by 'book-keeping' - I need to keep books for my business, and I need to get them up to date (what with the end of financial year and all). I'm working through the process.

A few weeks ago, I would think about doing the book-keeping, and I would just shut down. Headaches, walls of static in my head, a full-on Freeze response. I could make no sense of it whatsoever. I am currently (slowly and painfully) teaching myself that its OK to think about the book-keeping - that I don't have to DO the book-keeping (yet) just because I happened to think about it.

A few days ago, I was able to be lucid enough that I saw through the static, and I am now able to recall the abuse and violence that I associate with doing the book-keeping. Given that the events in question were 20-odd years ago, I'm now in a position to remind myself that my circumstances have changed since then .

So now, I'm working on assuring myself that my circumstances have changed. That I was right (at the time) to make this association, but that the association is not accurate today. In the course of writing this post, I've made a plan - soon (not just yet), I'll open the accounting software, not do anything at all, and close it again.

Eventually, I'll have a new set of associations with book-keeping. That doing the books results in tender affection from my wife who recognizes how hard it was for me to do it, and other supportive responses from other supportive people. If I build up enough of those associations, then I stop being triggered by it.


I had a conversation with my father a few days ago, where he mentioned a specific fact about how he lives today - it's something that was the same as when we used to have a horrible, abusive relationship. The fact reminded me of a particular fight that we had, and of being ashamed and humiliated. Ten years ago (which was ten years after the event), that would have been enough to throw me off balance, to need to tell him about why I didn't deserve to be treated the way I was treated on that day. Today, I didn't feel that need. I was able to think "Do I want to stop this conversation, and start a conversation about this reminder, or would I prefer to leave it alone?" I was able to make a decision that was based on what I wanted, based entirely on present feelings and present reality. To me, that's a trigger that has been defused.

 

[sun seeker]

Interested to know if people have found it possible to actual stop a trigger being a trigger completely

I think so. Not committing myself because I don't know what the future holds. There are some things that were triggers when I was working on particular aspects of recovered memories, and now that I have released some of the trauma around them, they don't trigger me anymore. I notice them when they happen and maybe my attention is drawn to them more than most people's would be, but they don't overwhelm me anymore. At least for now.

 

[Deleted member 34424]

It depends on the individual and the trauma. Bessel Van der Kolk mentions that exposure therapy doesn't usually work for trauma victims, especially childhood abuse. When it does, you still have a feeling of anxiety, sadness, dread, etc. so you got rid of the trigger but not the underlying issue/s.

 

[Dissociated1]

Yoga plays a huge role in my life. It keeps me grounded and in the present, and acts like a glue to hold my alters together. The results were not instant. It has been a slow and steady progression since I started practicing 4 ½ years ago. Having taken a break from trauma therapy, my daily yoga practice has become more important than ever to living a peaceful and fulfilling life. And being able to work through things I used to discuss in therapy on my own.

Triggers play two very different roles in my System. Threats to my System trigger the rage contained in my Protector alter. He is the only alter of my System who is not self aware and only comes to front when triggered. I have made very little progress in controlling or decreasing this. Acknowledging his feelings, showing compassion for his anger and thankfulness for the role my Protector serves in my System seems to "turn down the volume" of his reaction.

Triggers also bring on my flashbacks. Things I have seen or heard or done a million times over my lifetime for no apparent reason bring on a tidal wave of emotions and memories stored by one of my alters. The Triggers are complex and often takes days to figure out what they were. But my flashbacks are like an emotional orgasm. There have been a handful of times I re-experienced one over the course of a few days, but once my mind works past the original trauma, I will remember the trauma when I experience the trauma but it no longer causes a psycho-physical response.

 

[BlueOrange]

It depends on the individual and the trauma. Bessel Van der Kolk mentions that exposure therapy d...

I agree - if we consider the 'three phases' approach from the Structural Dissociation book, then I think that exposure therapy is useful for phase 2 (addressing the fear of the facts of the event) but not for phase 3 (addressing the fear of the emotions of the event). Having started recently on my phase 3 work, I can confirm that it demands a whole new set of competencies, and it has been a very difficult and different struggle. However, the basic lessons that I picked up in phase 2 (that fear can be softened) was very important preparation.

 

[Sideways]

I wouldn't say they're gone 'completely', but a few of my major triggers aren't a problem for me most of the time - like older men with grey beards. They used to send me totally round the twist, but most days, they're just another person in the street.

Having said that, if I'm having a particularly hard day or am already anxious for some reason, I seem to be more vulnerable to otherwise neutral triggers. If I'm already having a hard time staying grounded or I'm already particularly hypervigilant, then the old triggers can become an issue again.

 

[anthony]

I've gotten rid of all my triggers. Stressors are different, they have to be managed, but triggers can be removed entirely.

 

[BlueOrange]

I've gotten rid of all my triggers. Stressors are different, they have to be managed...

My feeling on this particular point is that once you've 'broken through' with a trigger, it becomes a stressor - does that match your experience?