I don't understand what trigger means

I am still confused about what trigger means. I always thought it meant that if one of us was triggered and felt unsafe one of the protectors would step in and protect us. That would mean that the young one is stepping out to protect except she is the one who is feeling unsafe. It is her panic that is caused by the sound. So I don't understand that. What good does it do for her to step out and be afraid and unsafe. I can't reason that out in my head.

A trigger is something (sound, smell, word/phrase, person, situation) that reminds you of a negative experience. A person might be walking down the street, and smell fresh cut grass, which could trigger them - they would have an automatic response, such as a panic attack, a flash back etc. So it's not specific to the response in you, it's just describing a reminder. You can dissociate in response to a trigger, such as into another alter, but it doesn't mean that you always will. A lot of the time I will be triggered and one of my little ones will come out, who are vulnerable. It's difficult to deal with. I have to try and come up with strategies to help them to know they are safe.
xo
IJ

This is the first time that one of my young ones was already present when she heard the sound. She panicked and tried to run but others told her to stay in the room. Usually when someone is triggered and they feel afraid one of the protectors will step in front of them and switch to deal with the trigger. This time no one stepped in front of her, she didn't leave on her own and when I tried to come forward she wouldn't move. But she was freaked out and wanted to run. Again in session today the same sound happened and she tried to push past me to be out but I wouldn't let her. I blocked her from coming out because I didn't want to go through the same freaking out as last time. Why would she come out toward the sound when it causes her panic??? I am not understanding this.

I can't answer that one. I do know that sometimes my little one will come out when she's triggered. Did you ask your t about it? They might be able to help you. Perhaps she wants to know what it is, perhaps she wants to be reassured by someone else, there could be many reasons.
Sorry I couldn't help you out more! Hugs!
IJ

because that may be what her job, purpose, reason for being is. Alters with DID are created for a reason...

example my alter Della was created to take on the pain of certain sexual activities, to feel and show those emotions associated with by having to go through those abuses at such a young age. she was created to do this so that I could continue to live a life free of the pain, emotions and memory of being abused in that way.

only that alter can tell you why she was created, what her job, purpose and reason for being is.

suggestion...since you have this close connection to her where you can feel/know when shes trying to take control and you have this strong connection to where you have the ability to prevent her from taking over control, most likely you are able to communicate with her. So ask her why that sound scares her, why she comes out even though that sound scares her and ask her how you can help her to feel safer....

Some times we have no idea what triggered us! Or we simply were unable to identify it yet. But yup, any of the senses, site, sound, smell. I find for some reasons a vacuum cleaner sound triggers me. I hate vacuum cleaners. No idea why tho.

Does anyone know why my young one would come out if she is panicked by the sound? Maybe I just don't understand what triggered means. I thought it meant my protectors would show up and protect. This is how it has always been. So I am confused why my young one wants to come out when the sound makes her feel panic. I don't understand it.

It sounds like you have an idea of what triggering is. As for the rest of your post, it feels like I am missing large parts of the story.

A trigger is like the preset buttons on your radio. The button gets pushed and the radio station plays. The difference is that it is an emotional reaction rather than a radio station. How you choose to respond to being triggered is a separate matter.

Usually when a person is triggered, the actual danger is not present. It is in the past. The fear and anger is real, but it isn't helpful. It is a maladaptive response which brings its own problems.

For all my life I have switched in order to protect us. If something caused fear we would switch to someone who wasn't affected by the triggering thing. That is what I thought it meant to be triggered. Why would my young one come out if the sound she heard reminded her of being abused. Why wouldn't she hide? I can't grasp the reasoning. If what you are saying is that every time a smell or sound or place brought back bad memories of abuse and I would than switch to the one who suffered that abuse, I don't know what I would do with that. Is that what triggering means?

Triggering is different than switching. I think because usually when you're triggered you switch, you've assiciated them together. They are different. I would agree and encourage you to see if you can talk to her, find out what is going on and why she feels she needs to be out.
A trigger can cause someone to switch, but it can also just be a trigger, they are separate things. Every person is different, and as you are in therapy, it might be due to progress you're making. We can't know. I would suggest it would be a good idea to ask your t about it. Sorry I can't help more.
IJ

what does it mean to just be a trigger? what does it trigger?

One experience will cause an emotional reaction in you. Mostly people talk about when something causes negative emotions. For instance, they might see, smell, feel, touch, taste, hear or experience something that causes them fear, anxiety, panic, etc. This is what it means to be triggered. You feel a powerful emotional response based on past experience. So you most definitley are being triggered by the sound.
However, you don't necessarily have the same reaction to all triggers. Your most common reaction I assume is to switch/dissociate. That's just your response to the trigger. That's all a trigger is: an emotional response to something happening in your life. There is no behaviour attached, meaning that emotion may cause any behaviour in any person. It only connects to the emotional reaction, not your body's response to the emotion.

Example
the smell of perfume ---- triggers ----- fear in someone
The sound of a slamming door ---- triggers ---- panic in another person
A thunderstorm ---- triggers ----- feeling unsafe

The fear, panic or unsafe feeling could cause someone to switch. But it could also just get them to avoid those situations, or to want to hide, etc.
Really there is nothing unsafe about the perfume, door or thunderstorm, but if someone has had bad experiences with them, they will automatically cause that emotion in a person, even if it's a completely different day/time/person etc. It's an automatic emotional response.

The sound in my doctors office caused me to go into a full blown panic. I was four or five and trying to run. To get some away from the sound. The only reason she didn't go out is because she decided to listen to the others telling her to stay. But if she didn't listen she would have run out the door and most likely into the bathroom and locked the door. I can't just freak out like that from a sound. I just can't

Thank you all for being there it was important tonight. I was losing it. I get that switching might have been my response to triggers and so I thought it was the same thing. I will try to ask her why she wanted to be out while the sound was happening. I still do not have a clear understanding in my head of the difference between switching and triggering. My t emailed me also to help me to calm down. I am ok now but that's because I switched. The confusion in my mind was too much so I switched. I will read this tomorrow because I won't remember it in the morning. I hope I take it well. Thanks again.

maybe this will help...when a person is allergic to flowers they sneeze...

flowers is the trigger and sneeze is the action/reaction....

when a person hears a loud sound they dissociate....

the loud sound is the trigger. dissociate is the action/reaction.

when a person dissociates (feels numb, spacey, disconnected, switches into alters) it is an action/reaction to a trigger (something that is causing the person to feel dissociates.)

using example from your post.......

confusion in your mind was too much so you switched

confusion in your mind is the trigger and switched is the reaction/action

the fact that one is a reaction/action to the other is the difference between the two.

I am starting to get it. Thank you. The confusion in my mind caused an emotional overload than I switched. Right now I am taking a break from dealing with it. Everyone is respecting my need for quite and I am grateful. I have spent most of my life like this. It is only in the last six to seven years that my alters began making themselves more visible to me. And it is only sense therapy that I can now see them as separate selves of the whole. They are happy about that. I am still trying to trust that our life won't go out of control. But right now everyone is letting me have have my space. We are most often good to each other because we love each other. Everyone. Thanks again for helping me I really needed it last night.

Your little one is coming forward because she is the one who is afraid of the sound and she holds the scary memory. I think that maybe she is coming forward because you are growing stronger. When I switch to a protector it is because a little one is too scared to be in front. Maybe she trusts you and your system enough to allow her feelings to be felt instead of hiding behind a protector. As I grow, this is happening to me more often. I am feeling LOTS more fear and shame that was held away from me for years. It is really hard, but I know it is a good sign...

Thank you for your response. It makes sense when you put it that way. She feels safe in session so maybe our protector felt safe also and did not step out in front. Thanks again it gives me more to consider.