What does it feel like to be triggered?

I know I've been on PC for almost ten years, but I do not have any triggers, so often times when I make posts I can be ignorant on subjects that could potentially trigger someone and there has been a couple times when a member told me I should have used a trigger warning.

What happens if you are triggered? What are the top biggest triggers to be aware of on PC?

each person has their own things that trigger them and what triggers feel like to them...

in general being triggered means something makes a person feel any of their emotions....

example my childrens high pitched excited squeal makes me feel very excited.

another example heights cause me to feel very afraid.

another example a terrific meal makes me feel satisfied and full.

now taking this general term a step further for some people feeling emotions whether what makes them feel those emotions is good or bad can make the person very uncomfortable....

example my childrens high pitched excited squeal while on a camping trip usually means one has ventured too close to the water or too far down a trail or into the woods or they found a wild animal they would love to chase. in this situation though their excited squeal is a positive reaction it can cause my heart to thump to the point where I need to do a quick head count and if needed get up and go see what that squealing child is up to.

here on psych central each person takes care of their own triggers by using the ignore list if they feel someone or someones post is causing them to feel too emotional or bad in any way. each person can also contact a moderator that will look at a post that may be triggering someone into feeling uncomfortable.

I frequently use the ignore list for many reasons...

there are some basic words that the profanity and trigger filter weeds out and that the moderators weed out. most that I know are the general triggering words that just about every website on the web that has this kind of filtering weeds out...

the moderators could probably tell you more about this.

Triggers for me either feel like mania when certain things happen or triggers sudden depression. Also, some triggers can make me want to act on them, for instance SI. For me triggers can be anything sexual, posts regarding suicide, SI, abuse, a shortage of money and many others that I have trouble remembering until I'm triggered. The result can be different depending on the day and how it's going and my general mood.

triggers for me are usually personal things.

for example (and I post this in a lot of threads), my family is my biggist trigger, because of everything they put me through.

death, fire, the sky, etc.

as for what they feel like.. to me they feel like being trapped in an elevator, like their's no button you can press to just open the door and just be free of it.

you just need to ride it out

certain noises/smells too

Good question! I was just thinking about it myself.

I hadn't heard the term before being on here.

I take it to mean something that makes me start getting upset and provoking me to act out in some way.

I'm really glad I learned this is a thing. Once I recognize it, I am able to step back, take a breather, and just relax and let it go.

Maybe mentioning wish to die, suicide, homicide, explicit sexual terms, . . .. . . . I'm OK with all of that, although I'm triggered by other things like how others respond and when read some personal stories. I think triggered means to get upset or feel anxious and fearful by reading something unpleasant to you because of your experience.

For me, "getting triggered" means that something one of my senses (sight, smell, etc) noticed caused me to want to act in a negative behavior. Negative behaviors for me include self injury, substance use, isolation, avoidance, among other things.

The actual thing that causes the triggered feeling sometimes doesn't matter or even make sense. It may be something that has never triggered me before, or it may be something that I know triggers me (i.e. a particular cologne).

Honestly, it is almost impossible to write a post on here, that would not trigger anyone at all. Everyone's triggers are different, and again, some don't even make sense.

My advice:
There are basic topics that have a high likelihood of being triggering to several people, that should probably have a warning attached.
Ex. abuse of any kind, details of self injury, details of suicidal plans or actions, details of homicidal thoughts, any post that has an aggressive feel to it (usually rant/vent type posts)

This is totally my opinion and experience , so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.

Puck

I feel even more depressed, anxious, and can't concentrate I want to out of the place or away from what ever does it ASP. I hated when it happens at work just because you can't leave.

I never knew what it felt like to be triggered until last year. My upstairs neighbor is extremely noisy. It often sounds like WWE Friday Night Raw complete with full body slams in her apartment. I'm not ringside. I'm under the ring.

One sleepless night the noise started. Bang, bang, boom. And the memories came flooding back. I was no longer a man in my mid-50s. I was a 6 year old boy. The noise was my grandmother stomping down the hall. And I knew what was coming. It happened every morning.

You see, I wet the bed. And that wasn't allowed. So she'd come back and check. The bed was wet. She'd grab a handful of hair and an azz cheek and bounce me off the floor. That was a good morning. Other mornings she'd launch herself off the floor and land on top of me. It's a wonder she didn't break my back.

I went through years of that. Every summer.

So that's what the upstairs neighbor triggered. Those feelings. And I started balling like a baby and almost starting screaming "I'm sorry grandma, I won't do it again. Please don't hurt me anymore grandma, please.".

That is what a trigger can feel like.

Well, it kind of depends on what problems are being triggered, doesn't it?

I have some kind of psychosomatic vasovagal response which is triggered by discussion of blood-related medical problems (or something like that; I haven't pinpointed the exact trigger). It feels pretty typical for a vasovagal response: overall malaise, queasiness, feeling both weirdly hot and weirdly cold, reduced cognitive ability, some weird vision fuzziness, and if I don't take measures to prevent it, potential fainting.

But a vasovagal response feels pretty different than a PTSD flashback, I'm guessing.

I've had things trigger strong negative emotions due (I guess) to my personal history. Feels the same as those emotions ever feel.

"Trigger" in psychology lingo means the same thing it does in regular English: to initiate, actuate, or set off. Like, triggering an alarm is going to have a different result than triggering a TV to turn on.

One trigger that hit me one time I really remember was watching a movie where the lady knew stuff that was harmful to the other person. When she went to get into her car it blew up. This took my thoughts back tovthe morning after I caught that the home care person had OD'ed my mom on her morphine & I had my mom taken to the hospital & had filed a report against her with APS & had a confrontation later with 2 other people associated with her that I found in my mom's hospital room. I had gone back to sleep that night at my mom's house & planned on driving my mom's car to the police station that morning to file a report against the home care person with them. I remembered walking out to my moms car that morning with the fear that this home care person's husband who supposedly was an auto mechanic had planted a bomb in my mon's car to shut me up. All illogical thinking in reality but with the traumashevhad put me through the previous week it did not seem impossible. Put the key in the door....nothing....started the ignition....nothing. I started to breath again then my thought went to the break line being cut.but that hadnt happened.

So when the bomb went off in the movie blowing up the car, for me it sent a shock through my body just like itvwould have ifthere had REALLY been a bomb in my mom's car.

Triggers are good at causing flashbacks. My first year having thanksgiving dinner without being alone took me back to the last thanksgiving dinner I had with my mom, only a week before the actual trauma hit with the home care person but it was the meal that made me realize just how seriously ill my mom actually was as she had been denying any problems & keeping people away from seeing her.

Triggers are different for everyone depending on their own personal experiences & traumas they have lived through. Its difficult because what is a trigger for one isnt for another.

Even with all the suicide attempts I had, the talk of suicide doesnt effect me as a trigger...so it is difficult to say what will or wont be a trigger & sometimes the context its talked about in can make the difference also.