Triggers & Life

The past few months, I have noticed more and more how some people respond in the same destructive way over and over even though they continue to end up with the same bad results?

Many of us have unhealthy coping mechanisms when we respond to things like stress, fear, or other emotional states. The majority of the time we are completely unaware of the subconscious processes going on.  A percentage of us reach for a cigarette at times of stress, never realizing that we are setting ourselves up for an addictive pattern that may one day claim our health, and possibly our life. This starts a pattern of behaviour.

Addiction or other self destructive behaviours or habits are learned responses to emotional triggers.  

Responses can be unlearnt and new ones created helping to build a way forward.

The majority of the time responses are not healthy or productive in any way shape or form.  Often we allow forces and outside factors to control our behaviour.  Responses are a reaction rather than a calm and poised response. 

I know that often in my family environment, when I feel devalued, not listened too or trodden on, I become incredibly defensive.  This is my natural defense mechanism. But, underneath it is actually harmful to me in many ways because I never really acknowledge my pain, nor do I really ever address it in a healthy way. 

Instead, I often turn this defensiveness inward upon myself and, in order to numb the pain, switch off emotionally completely. This is an ongoing cycle for me and has gone on for many years.  

Sometimes, we cannot recognize our triggers and our unhealthy reactions to them, it can lead us down a long, tortuous path.

When I worked in the Stop Smoking Service, I learnt how to understand how triggers work and learnt how to teach people healthier ways to deal with them.  Many people turn to food, alcohol, or other substances to dull pain when faced with unresolved anger or other emotions.

A trigger is just a stimulus that evokes upsetting feelings, which can lead to problematic behaviors.

Everyone has triggers, we all have unhealthy ways in which we deal with them, But, we have the power to stop the automatic responses and re-route. The challenge is learning to identify our triggers and then recognizing them when they are happening.

Often, our triggers are experiences, situations, or stressors that unconsciously remind us of past traumas or emotional upsets. They “re-trigger” traumas in the form of overwhelming feelings of sadness, anxiety, or panic.  The brain forms an association between the trigger and your response to it, so that every time that thing happens again, you do the same behavioral response to it.

When neurons fire in the brain, they wire together the situation, emotions, and responses that caused that firing of the neurons in the first place.  Apparently, the sensory memory can be powerful, and sensory experiences associated with a traumatic event may be linked in the memory, causing an emotional reaction even before a person realizes why he or she is upset.

People tend to do the same things in the same way.  Habit formation plays a role in triggering.  Our responses to triggers usually occur at a subconscious level leaving us unaware of what we have created, until we identify the trigger we are doomed to repeat the self destructive behaviour.   

When we know our triggers and recognize them, we realise they are over reactions to a perceived threat.  We then learn a better way to respond that is more useful and a lot healthier. 

As humans, it is easy to get stuck in a pattern of negative emotions such as anger, sadness, or anxiety and react in an extremely emotional way.  In times like this we turn to sugar, alcohol or types of food, because the emotional pain triggers our habitual way of indulging in physical activity that we use to suppress emotion.  

Life is full of triggers.  We all have the choice and the power to respond to these triggers in a way that is healthy and achieves better outcomes.