A trigger is anything that sets you off emotionally and activates memories of your trauma.
Jasmin Lee Cori, Healing from Trauma
Triggers, as Jasmin Lee Cori notes above, can be anything from the sound of a helicopter to a beautiful September morning, like the morning of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Triggers are sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that you may have encountered during whatever traumatic experience(s) you've been through. Listed below are some examples of triggers.
- Visual reminders
- People, either the same person, or a type of person who was with you at the time of the trauma. Eg. a nurse or doctor if you've experienced a medical trauma.
- Places
- Sounds
- Smells
- Thoughts
- Music, movies, or other things that trigger memories
- Life events, such as weddings, funerals, birthdays (more on this in next post)
- Anniversary dates of the original trauma(s)
- Feeling abandoned, trapped, or alone
There are as many triggers as there are traumas. Perhaps, you had just eaten a meal of spaghetti before being sexually assaulted and so spaghetti could become a trigger for you. Perhaps, you hear a song playing that brings back memories of a time in your life when you experienced trauma(s). Sometimes, you're aware of these triggers and sometimes you're not. And, as with many things in life, just when you think you've "figured out" what triggers to watch out for, new ones arise. Besides, some things cannot be avoided without changing your life dramatically. My doctor told me about one of her patients who is triggered by white vans because they remind him of being in a war zone. Imagine trying to avoid all white vans. The only way to do that would be to stay inside and, even then, you might see a white van in a movie or a white van might pull up to your house to deliver something. The article, How to identify PTSD triggers, does a great job of describing internal triggers - such as feelings and memories - and external triggers - such as sights, sounds or other external stimulus. We'll get to how to cope with flashbacks later, but go ahead and read that part of the article now if it interests you.
What happens when you have a flashback?
As you might imagine from the word trigger, encountering a trigger sets off a process that causes your frozen traumatic memories to become activated. Depending upon the trigger, the activation might be small or large and intrusive. Perhaps, you just feel somewhat unsettled. Something's wrong, but you can't put your finger on it. Or maybe you wake up from a terrifying nightmare, sure that the traumatic event is recurring. Flashbacks symptoms can run the gamut from mild to extreme. The severity and frequency of flashbacks will depend upon how many traumas you've experienced, how extreme they were, how long they lasted, and how far along you are in processing your trauma.
Take a look at How PTSD Flashbacks Feel for one man's experience with PTSD. Of course, flashbacks feel different for everyone. In my case, I feel dread, but I also feel emotional pain that isn't always easy to pinpoint. All I know is that if I'm having a full blown flashback, I need to be alone. Sometimes my flashbacks last an hour or so, sometimes more than a day. It all depends. You could say that it's like checking into "the memory motel," but not being able to check out again.
More flashback symptoms
- Panic attacks
- Nightmares
- Anger
- Sense of dread
- Seeing the "movie from hell" play on a continuous feedback loop in your head
- Intrusive memories and thoughts that you can't quiet
- Shame
- Self-hatred
- Depression
- Frustration
I'm sure you get the picture. Flashbacks are no fun!! Check out the video below for one man's experience with PTSD. Robert is a Vietnam veteran who was in the U.S. Airforce and he is eloquent in his description of the impact PTSD has had on his life. Of course, as you'll see in the next post, you don't have to be a war veteran to have PTSD and experience flashbacks.
