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Understanding Trauma & Triggers

Our Support Worker, Rhiannon, has pulled together this blog post on trauma and triggers. Triggers are a common occurrence for survivors of trauma, and survivors of sexual trauma are no different. In this post she explains what triggers are, how they may effect survivors of sexual violence, and self-care tips for those experiencing triggers.

[Read time: 6-8 mins]

What is Trauma?

Trauma is an experience, such as sexual violence, which can overwhelm you and involves a threat to your life or your safety. In everyday life, any of us can have an experience that is overwhelming, frightening, and beyond our control. We could find ourselves in a car crash, witnessing an accident or experiencing a violent or sexual assault. Over time, people can process these experiences without needing support, but sometimes these traumatic experiences can impact us for many months or even years.

Trauma is a mix of upsetting emotions, frightening memories and feeling vulnerable and in danger (even if the danger has passed). Sexual violence often causes trauma, and the effects of trauma can last for a long time; adults may still experience the impacts from something that happened in childhood.

Eventually, the effects of trauma can fade away completely, but sometimes we can be reminded by a smell, sound, anniversary, picture, film, tv show or even another person – we call these Triggers, and we’ll discuss the different types that can impact people further on in this post.

How does Trauma Impact Survivors of Sexual Violence?

Trauma can impact survivors in many ways. These are all natural responses to what happened and there is no right or wrong way to respond to any traumatic experience. Trauma can affect people emotionally, mentally and physically. Below are some of the most common impacts survivors can struggle with both during the traumatic experience, or after the trauma has occurred.

Emotional and/or Mental Impacts

- Shock, denial and disbelief

- Anger, irritability and mood swings

- Guilt, shame and self-blame

- Feeling sad or hopeless

- Confusion and difficulty concentrating

- Anxiety and fear

- Withdrawing from others

- Feeling disconnected or numb

- Avoiding people or places you associate with the trauma

Physical Impacts

- Not being able to sleep and/or experiencing nightmares, night-terrors or sleep paralysis

- Being startled easily

- Racing heartbeat

- Aches and pains

- Fatigue

- Difficulty concentrating

- Edginess and agitation

- Muscle tension

- Flashbacks (reliving the experience)

- Intrusive thoughts or images

When to Seek Support

There are many coping strategies which you can utilise to help yourself if you are struggling with any of the impacts listed above, which we will discuss at the end of this post, but sometimes you may find accessing support helpful if you are experiencing any of the following:

- Having trouble functioning at home or work

- Struggling with severe fear, anxiety or depression

- Unable to form close, satisfying relationships

- Experiencing terrifying memories, nightmares or flashbacks

- Avoiding anything (usually your triggers, identified or not) that reminds you of the trauma

- Feeling emotionally numb and disconnected from others

- Using alcohol or drugs to cope, or numb the experience

- Self-harming or experiencing suicidal thoughts

Types of Triggers

We discuss triggers within support sessions every day. A large part of these conversations involves helping people to understand why their brain or body is responding to something in their environment in a way that may be unexpected. We do this by discussing the types of triggers that can impact people and help them to develop coping strategies which enable them to better manage their triggers.

There are three types of triggers that can impact people with differing levels of severity which include true triggers, distressing reminders, and uncomfortable associations.

True Triggers

True Triggers are where your survival responses (such as fight, flight, freeze, fawn and friend) are activated by something in your environment. This is usually a “felt” sense, meaning it is a body-based response and a real re-experience of trauma. It is not something we are consciously aware of before it happens, and your survival responses activate within 7 milliseconds (which is quicker than the blink of an eye!) If you experience a true trigger, we recommend noticing it, giving the experience space and acknowledgment while also reminding yourself that it happened in the past, and is not happening now (grounding and breathing techniques can help with this). We also recommend noticing it as soon as you feel the trigger, but it can be difficult to manage your automated responses and noticing it after you have been triggered can be easier.

Distressing Reminders

Distressing reminders are something which may evoke a memory of a traumatic experience and cause negative or avoidant responses. It is something that we may have some conscious awareness of, but there can also be unconscious elements too, for example, a song playing on the radio that you choose not to listen to, because it reminds you of the trauma, and so you turn the radio off, having a conscious awareness of the trigger. It is common for distressing reminders to impact both your brain and your body. It is also common for people to be able to describe the trigger, but not necessarily have an explanation for it, which ties into the unconscious elements of the trigger as well (especially if you haven’t identified something as a trigger!). If you experience a distressing reminder, we recommend engaging in soothing behaviours during the trigger, for example, listening to music, meditation, using breathing techniques, exercise, cuddling a soft toy, talking to someone you trust, or anything else that you feel helps to soothe you.

Uncomfortable Associations

Uncomfortable associations are links that we have made in our minds with the traumatic experience. Something that occurs within our conscious awareness, meaning we can explain what is impacting us at that time, for example, knowing you don’t like a particular location because it reminds you of the trauma. Uncomfortable associations impact our brains rather than our bodies because the association comes from what we call our explicit memory. This means we can draw on this memory and talk about it without much issue, even if we find it unpleasant to discuss. Traumatic memories however are stored in our implicit memory, which is why it can be difficult for anyone impacted by trauma such as sexual violence to remember what happened in a sequential order, and instead may find it easier to recall smells or sounds during the experience, which can also become triggers after the traumatic experience has ended. If you experience an uncomfortable association, we recommend reframing your thoughts, a commonly used therapeutic tool which can also help with anxious thoughts and overthinking. Reframing your thoughts can help you to stay grounded within the present without becoming overwhelmed, while also changing the association itself.

Self-Care Tips

Triggers can be terrifying in more ways than one, especially as they can remind us of events that have occurred in the past. Our automatic response to triggers is usually to avoid them as much as possible, because they remind us of a time or an experience we would rather forget. We don’t choose who, what, when or where we will be triggered, and sometimes they become apparent at the most random times, without warning. While it is a horrible experience to be triggered by something, remember, they are an echo of the trauma you have survived, and you can survive the triggers too.

Please note: All the information regarding the three types of triggers was taken from Carolyn Springs teachings and blogs. You can find the link to the article here and a link to her webpage here. Caution advised: Carolyn Spring discusses experiences of abuse throughout her blogs and training programmes which could be triggering for some of our readers, please take care if you choose to engage with this material.

Managing Feelings, Reactions, and Triggers: Self-Care Tips

There are numerous things you can do to help you manage any difficult feelings and reactions you may be experiencing:

Avoid isolating yourself

While this is a natural and common response for many people, it can make things worse. Try to connect, or keep connected, with people you trust and enjoy being with. Maybe think about getting support from a service like Rape Crisis where you are safe to speak without the fear of being judged or disbelieved.

Keep yourself grounded 

It can help to stick to a daily routine, with regular times for getting up in the morning, eating, relaxing, and going to bed at night. Do things that help you to feel better and keep your mind occupied, such as reading, cooking, playing video games, engaging in a favourite hobby or doing a sport activity. We call these distraction coping techniques, and while this list is not extensive, these activities can keep you from focusing too much on the traumatic experience.

Look after yourself physically 

Self-care is so important! Try to get plenty of sleep. Exercise a little every day to help your sleeping habits (this could be a short 20-minute walk). Eat a well-balanced diet, eating little and often can help if you are struggling with under-eating or over-eating (both common impacts from a traumatic experience). Reduce or avoid using alcohol or drugs if you can. While these may help you feel better in the short-term, and are often used to numb experiences of trauma, they can lead to long term problems and health complications.

 Be kind to yourself  

Many survivors judge themselves for what happened or for how they have been impacted by their experience. Remember, your needs are important, and you are not to blame.

 

You are important, and your experiences are valid. Your feelings matter. You do not have to cope on your own. We support anybody affected by any type of sexual violence at any time. If you have been affected by any of the information in this blog or would like to talk to someone about your own experiences, please contact us for support at The Star Centre on 01563 544686 or through our online form.