Trauma experiences are scary and threaten a person’s safety to the point that they are extremely afraid. Their bodies enter survival mode with the “fight-flight-freeze” response which normally helps us avoid or respond to potential danger. Most recover without treatment within a month.
But about 8% of Americans develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in which the trauma response is persistent with many painful symptoms. After you experience a traumatic event, places, people, sounds or smells could trigger a strong memory of it. One of the main goals in healing from PTSD is to recognize triggers which can set off a wide range of highly undesirable responses. Read on to learn more about triggers and strategies to help you cope.
What Are PTSD Triggers?
PTSD changes the brain in some ways as it grapples with the trauma. One is with memory. Simply put, it doesn’t store traumatic memories as something in the past. Instead they keep being reactivated as if they are in the present. This causes stress and you may be frightened although you know you’re safe.
Your brain becomes overly sensitive after a traumatic event and triggers easily. The amygdala is a primitive, animalistic part of your brain wired to ensure survival. When it’s overactive it’s hard to think rationally. And the prefrontal cortex responsible for thinking and the hippocampus responsible for storing memories stop functioning correctly [1].
This makes it hard for you to distinguish between safe events happening now from dangerous ones that happened in the past. The brain attaches cues like sights, sounds and smells to those memories. These become triggers. When one of them is activated your brain switches to danger mode. This may cause the symptoms of trauma which can include:
- Panic attacks
- Flashbacks
- Intrusive thoughts
- Hyperarousal
- Nightmares
- Sleep disturbances
- Changes in memory and contraction
- Startle responses
7 Main Types of PTSD Triggers
Many triggers fall under one of these seven types:
- People: People who were near a traumatic event or caused trauma can bring out distress trauma
- Places: Those with PTSD might relive trauma when revisiting places that are linked to a traumatic event
- Things: Certain things that were present or somehow involved in a traumatic experience can trigger an emotional response. This might be some clothing, a model of vehicle or anything that held significance leading up to or during the trauma
- Specific feelings: Panic and stress can remind you of how you felt during the traumatic experience, causing you to re-experience your trauma
- Smells: A certain smell can also trigger traumatic memories as scents have a stronger connection to memory than other senses
- Sounds and Music: Sounds or music that are the same or similar to a sound that was part of a traumatic event can be extremely triggering. Sound-based triggers are common among victims of violent crime or ex-military veterans
- Significant dates: Knowing these dates surrounding a traumatic event can be anxiety-inducing for people with PTSD. This can bring on thoughts, feelings and memories related to trauma.
It’s not always easy to identify triggers. You may not always be aware of what provokes your fear, avoidance, panic, anger or aggression. This is especially the case with smells, sights, taste or touch. Begin by observing closely and even taking notes in a triggers journal to see which ones are more common or disturbing for you. A trauma-informed therapist can work with you to do this as well.
Strategies to Help You Manage PTSD Triggers
It’s common to want to avoid your triggers to not have to re-experience the trauma, but it likely won’t help improve your symptoms in the long run. And it significantly impacts your quality of life. Here are some ways to help manage them instead.
Mindfulness and Relaxation
Mindfulness meditation can help lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and help your system regain more balance. Here the emphasis is to focus on the present moment and let go of traumatic memories and tension in the body resulting from trauma. Relaxation exercises are also proven to be beneficial as they help your body relax and accept the situation as it is.
Exposure Therapy
This is one of the most common and effective evidence-based ways to treat PTSD. While you don’t want to be continually re-exposed to triggers without trained psychological support, exposure to your triggers under controlled, supported conditions may be key to your recovery. Prolonged exposure can help remove a trigger from the traumatic context and place it in the present, where it no longer holds meaning.
Exposure therapy is a behavioral treatment for PTSD that helps you change your behavior and regain your quality of life. Imagining a situation that you frequently find triggering, or fully experiencing frightening psychological stress symptoms with professional support, can help greatly. When ready, direct exposure to triggering locations or situations can also be beneficial. Exposure therapy takes time and can be emotionally and psychologically challenging, so trained support is essential.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a well established evidence-based treatment for PTSD. Therapists encourage patients to re-evaluate their thinking patterns and assumptions to identify unhelpful patterns in thoughts, often called distortions. The objective is to develop more balanced and effective thinking patterns [2] [3]. Examples include:
- Overgeneralizing bad outcomes
- Negative thinking that diminishes positive thinking
- Always expecting catastrophic outcomes
The goal is to help the person rethink their understanding of traumatic experiences, as well as their understanding of themselves and their ability to cope.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
CPT is a type of CBT proven effective specifically for PTSD. It is usually done in 12 individual or group sessions. It is designed to help patients learn how to challenge and modify unhelpful beliefs related to the trauma. The patient then develops a new understanding and way of thinking about the traumatic event so that it reduces ongoing negative effects on their current life.
Once the patient has developed skills to continue evaluating and modifying beliefs related to the traumatic event, these can then be applied outside of treatment to daily life. Therapists focus on safety, trust, power, control, self-esteem and intimacy, all areas affected by trauma.[4]
Other Forms of Therapy
Other approaches can also be very helpful depending on your needs, preferences and access to therapists in-person or online:
- Individual psychotherapy
- Group therapy
- Family therapy
7 More Common PTSD Triggers
In addition to the 7 most common triggers listed above, here are 7 more common ones that could initiate a triggered response of panic, fear or anxiety. And there are more [5]:
- Emotional pain: Seeing someone being discriminated against reminds you of your own racial trauma
- Physical Traits: You see someone with a physical resemblance to the person who caused your trauma
- Panic: Remembering a horrible car accident you were in years ago, you can’t unlock your front door.
- Words: Hearing ones similar to when you were sexually abused
- Tone of voice: You met someone with a similar tone of voice of your perpetrator
- Angry voices: Someone raising their voice reminds you when you were verbally abused as a child
Identifying and Coping With Your Own Triggers
It’s best to do some work with a trauma-informed therapist as described above, as the material can be very challenging to process alone. However, if you don’t have that option, start by doing mindfulness meditation and relaxation exercises to release the traumatic emotions held in your body.
Keeping a journal can also be helpful to express your feelings and keep a log of your emotions and thoughts. Try to focus on your self care with balanced nutrition and good sleep habits, as well as exercise. These will help ground you and strengthen your ability to cope with triggers. Talk things through with family and friends you trust. This can help you unburden.
Help Available in Utah
Treatment is available in Utah. Are you or a loved one looking for a compassionate space to heal from trauma or PTSD, other mental health issues or addictions? Our licensed trauma-informed professional therapists and counselors at Corner Canyon Health Centers can provide compassionate help using a range of therapeutic and holistic techniques.
Reach out to our Admissions team now at Corner Canyon. We’re in a peaceful setting bordered by the beautiful Wasatch Mountains.
Sources
[1 ] Bremner JD. Traumatic stress: effects on the brain. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2006;8(4):445-61
[2] Kar N. Cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: a review. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2011;7:167-81
[3] Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. 2017. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). American Psychological Association.
[4] Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. 2017. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). American Psychological Association
[5] Hall, K. 2021. A Guide to PTSD Triggers (and How to Cope). GoodRx.com
