What Are Your Triggers?

[freya]

For me it's discussion.

Any remark of the other person that makes me even just think that he/she is going to discuss/argue with me scares me and makes me dissociate.

When the other person does not seem to go into what I'm saying (especially when I've tried to communicate how I feel), I tend to interpret it as the starting signal for a discussion/argument.

Triggers for me also are body language and facial expressions of the other person that (seem to) indicate rejection, anger, withdrawal, disgust. Silence can be a trigger. The other day I was talking to a therapist and she was just listening in silence and I got very uneasy over it. When I told her she said she'd been 'listening with care'. I could NOT pick that up at all...! Silence to me means attack is next.

 

[Kunoichi]

oh wow i have a lot

people getting mad (doesn't have to be at me)
any discussion of rape, molestation or anything
any type of intimacy
martial arts (abuser was my martial arts instructor)
any type of meeting (where i was often emotionally abused at work, martial arts instructor also my boss)
darkness
people knowing where i live
thinking about past
crowds
Cop shows (like law and order and SVU)
....i'll put more later.

 

[TLight]

I found another trigger. Going to bars.........urghh........I'm just prey for predators.

 

[goingonhope]

I'll just say, I identify and Bravo. :clap: IMO, You'all should have some reputation for such thought, work, honesty and exposure. I'm too afraid of participating in this thread. On the other hand however, I'm sometimes still triggered by feelings of exclusion.

 

[Dee]

This is a great thread. I had never considered mine before or even really thought about it at all; I just avoided them subconsciously.

My main triggers are
Classrooms
men who look like my guitar teacher
Tall men
Dirty clothes/greasy hair
Blue blankets
High school hallways
Christmas decorations/snow (Yeah, I'm real fun to be around right now)

Et cetera, et cetera.

 

[Mercy]

Triggers-

doberman dogs
gun fire
the color of autumn leaves
approaching my own house(major panic attacks) - I don't remember that my mother is dead and cannot reach me by phone.
cheering crowd sounds- TV football games
news stories about missing children
TV references to Abu Grab
torture discussions
loud anger not aimed at me- immediate dissociation to child status
loud anger at me - immediate submission and placation:naughty:
red meat
camoflague clothes
hunter's red caps and orange vests
generalized fear can set off a panic attack
being 'lost'- left by myself in a public place-mall, library..:eek:
normal strong male sweat smells-gymns
children being yelled at in public:eek:
being on my hands and knees-body position
lying down on my back in bed-body position:doh:
red nail polish
the smell of alchohol on someone's breath
the smell of carion on the side of the road
silver candelabras and white damask table cloths
strangers at the door/ doorbell ringing
:wall: and more

 

[2notbedefeated]

nursery rhymes read or sung
any expression of anger, verbal or non verbal
yelling screaming
hearing people argue and talking loudly, shouting
Tv movies were the mom was very domineering and controlling, and
Moms that are very distant, aloof and too quiet
people that I can't figure out
men who do not talk much
torture scenes on tv or movies or talk of it
smell of cigarette smoke, cigars
total darkness
feeling critcized
fights
men who are aloof and mysterious
alcohol smells on one's breath
men with blond hair and blue eyes
muggy, mildew smells
dampness in a room
sometimes certain exercise positions
husband on top of me position
when husband asks me to rub his chest
no bathroom nearby
stuck on airplane or bus
loud noises
firecrackers and loud booms
sometimes light green rooms
certain movies or tv series like "24"
movies with men battering and abusing women and children
watching on tv people held hostage, or
people held against their will
great dane dogs
far into the ocean, or in very deep water
these are a few - I didn't realize I had so many

 

[maine123]

My trigers sirens;loud noises smell ;music darkness;gardening;eyes;lights ;touch;driving; sleeping;to socialise; to go out of a night and many more your not alone.never give up on your self your worth it.

 

[fairandcold]

Triggers

I don't think I've found all my triggers as I was just diagnosed with PTSD so am now just becoming aware of my triggers. But here are the ones I've noticed:

horrible mothers in movies, etc. this includes mothers in disney movies.
seeing any kind of death
rape jokes, rape murder stories, pedophilia
suicide bombers ala Middle East stories going on in the news right now

 

[mila]

1. Fireworks, Especially fire crackers - sounds like a gun shot. I don't care for July 4th anymore.
2. Loud, unexpected noises - the gun thing, I guess.
3. Seeing guns. (My husband hunts) That's another one. I worry about him getting hurt.
4. Someone coming up behind me (not sure why - my trauma didn't involve that)
5. My brother in law's brother - accused me falsely - (a** hole)
6. Police cars, sometimes - Well, the police were there to question me. I had to go "down to the station." That was fun.
7. Seeing camping stuff - tents, campfires - Trauma took place while camping out.
8. AND I can no longer watch TV that involves guns. It's not easy finding a movie that my husband and I can watch together.

Thankfully, these triggers don't cause me to freak out any more. I just have one of my "tics" (like a full body shudder), get a bad thought, take a deep breath, and push it out. Think of something else, go somewhere else, do something else.

I never listed them before. That was interesting.

 

[LosFrida]

-Rape/battering/bullying scenes in film or television
-Men with blue eyes
-Meeting strangers
-White vans
-References to bondage
-The words "whore", "slut", 'slave", and "master"
-Any sort of conflict with another person (to illustrate, whenever my ex and I had a disagreement I would later characterize it as a fight, even if voices were never raised and we talked things out rationally).
-Being the only female in a room of men, even men I know and 'trust'.
-Initiating physical contact with someone (even friends)
-The smell of blood
-Having my neck touched. I can't even handle wearing necklaces. Turtlenecks are completely out of the question.
-Sleeping in a completely dark room- I need some sort of light be it light from the street or a nightlight.
-Being touched unexpectedly

 

[CafeAulait]

Losing Perspective When I Am Triggered

I can live a pretty normal life a great deal of the time, but then something happens that 'triggers' me and I seem to lose my perspective on things. It might be something as simple as a comment someone makes that I perceive to be disrespectful or critical in some way. Then it's like I turn into this angry or weepy person who accused the other person of not being more careful with their words. I would like to know if others experience this and I'd also like to know what other peoples triggers are and how they make you feel and act.