From stress to setbacks, it’s important to know your specific mental health triggers

Each person’s mental health journey is unique. So, it’s vital to learn what affects you (and how), and take steps to manage these triggers.

Quick Read:

• Triggers don’t necessarily cause mental stress, but they can make symptoms worse.
• It’s worth taking the time to manage your lifestyle triggers, so as not to rely solely on medication.

What are mental health triggers?

Anything and everything can happen overnight in the world we live in. Through misfortunes, the passing of a loved one, divorce, family conflict or the onset of an illness, we’re all victims of life’s random circumstances. So, how does all this uncertainty impact a person’s brain?

Individual triggers differ from one person to the next and can be internal or external. Something could affect you significantly, while your friend or partner may be blissfully unaffected by the same event.

An event or circumstance that creates a negative emotional response is known as a trigger or stressor. When we talk about triggers in relation to mental health, we’re talking about something that has manifested or intensified symptoms.

How are triggers formed?

Scientists and medical experts theorise that your brain stores memories of traumatic events differently than memories of non-traumatic events. When triggered, the brain may misinterpret those past traumatic events as present or current ones.

So, your body starts to feel as if the trauma is happening in real-time, creating that flight or fight response. Even if nothing around you is happening, you may still feel dizzy, scared, panicked.

Triggers are basically your brain and body saying, ‘This situation is way too similar to some awful stuff we experienced before, and we are NOT okay with it!’ – The Minds Journal

Types of mental health triggers

• External triggers: A particular person, place or circumstance are examples of external triggers. Typical, everyday circumstances or a slight inconvenience may trigger someone with a mental illness.
• Internal triggers: Internal triggers come from yourself. It could manifest as a thought, a feeling or an emotion. For example, you hear a song that reminds you of your ex.
• Trauma triggers: Strong feelings triggered by a previous tragedy. For instance, gunshots or fireworks may distress you and trigger memories of a time when you saw or were involved an accident or violent crime.
• Symptom triggers: These triggers can be brought on by an onset of an illness. For example, bipolar disorder symptoms could be triggered by sleep deprivation.

How to cope with triggers

At times, it helps to be able to stay away from a triggering circumstance, but realistically, this isn’t always possible. Emotional processing is necessary to learn to manage those troubling triggers that you can’t predict or avoid.

Start with these simple steps:

• Ask for help by finding a therapist, support group or counsellor.
• Daily exercise can help in boosting your feel-good hormones, and reducing body stress.
• Are you breathing correctly? Deep, long sustained breaths help you refocus and ground yourself.
• Start writing your feelings in a journal, close the pages and move on. In a few days, come back to that entry and you may be surprised at how trivial the situation now seems. Journaling helps to put triggers into perspective.
• Think about past responses to triggers, including who or what was involved, where, when, and why it happened. To avoid a cycle of repeated events, look out for patterns and warning signs.
• Create an action plan to handle triggers and emotional responses. Let your family know how to best support you when you are triggered. It could be as simple as needing a hug.
• Speak up when someone is triggering you and tell them about the effects of their actions.

Help at hand

You don’t have to suffer in silence. There’s much help out there for mental health issues, all you have to do is be brave enough to take the first step.

Start by asking friends, colleagues of family for recommendations. Alternatively, check if your company has an employee wellness program through which you can confidentially find assistance.

A mental health professional is trained to teach you how to manage your thoughts and emotions. If you can’t commit to face-to-face sessions, try an online support group where you can posts questions, read others’ feedback and advice, and embrace the fact that you are not alone.

Images: Freepik