Anything can be a trigger, it can be from past witnessing traumas because of your job or because of what happened to your dad, or something in your distant past. Sometimes they are related in weird ways and that is why one trauma can trigger another unresolved trauma. There are big T's and little T's T= traumas as known in the field. Some of my traumas are sounds and smells. Seeing guns used to be a big one for me because I was threatened with them as a child almost everyday, I saw bad things done with guns, but EMDR helped make it so I can see guns on TV or on the news or a policeman carrying one, and not have my mind go straight to my previous unresolved traumas and create physical body reactions due to PTSD. My untreated gun triggers of my past were triggered by a new gun memory of me driving by a business where a live hold up was taking place. I saw the gunman through the glass doors holding up people. I was with my young son and I was scared that we might have gotten hurt by driving by. Luckily I was in therapy at the time, and when I did EMDR on this, my triggers of guns were removed from the recent trauma to the past trauma of my childhood. But it also took care of the trigger of when I went hunting as a child and saw what my dad did to rabbits after they were shot. During EMDR, one memory went to the other ones, ones long forgotten I thought, but the energy was still locked in my body because it was never processed. So EMDR cleared out crap I didn't even know was still bothering me along with the current trauma, all in the same session. My body was so exhausted after that I slept for 2 days straight almost.
I am so happy you will be able to EMDR soon. EMDR sometimes works to remove many triggers, even ones you didn't know you have, at once because many are clustered within us. While the traumas will always be remembered, the intensity of the emotions of them on your body will dissipate so you can be less affected by your triggers. Things will get better withe the right therapist and a lot of hard work. The results are worth it.
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Originally Posted by Trace14
I will have to admit that since my diagnosis with CPTSD I have become more educated on it and other things as well. Often you can find definitions of what you may be experiencing but a remedy or cure is harder to find. My guess is that each situation is so different it would be hard to give an absolute answer. It's been 20 mos now since Dad's suicide and I still get triggers. Not sure if I get them more now, or just don't remember them, or knew what they were before. It does give some explanation as to why I, and others, do not want to leave the house or want to isolate themselves to protect yourself from triggering events, and people. There's got to be a way to get past this though.
What is the most surprising is that some triggers are so....stupid. Things wouldn't ordinarily upset you, so it catches you so off guard and unprepared.
Plus some triggers come from friends and/or family and when you confront them with it they back off from you, not knowing what to say. Or get mad that such a simple saying or action would upset you so much. I understand that it's hard to understand. I can't say I would have reacted any differently before this happened to me. *sigh*
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