Overview
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health illness brought on by experiencing or witnessing a scary incident. Flashbacks, nightmares, and acute anxiety are all possible symptoms of PTSD.
Most individuals who experience traumatic situations may initially struggle with adjustment and coping, but with time and proper self-care, they generally recover. But in case your symptoms worsen over time, last for months or even years, and impair your daily functioning, you may have PTSD.
Receiving good therapy as soon as PTSD symptoms manifest might be crucial for well being and reducing symptoms.
What Are Triggers for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)?
A trigger in the context of PTSD is anything that stimulates memories or recollections of a traumatic incident. For instance, flashbacks are often triggered by a trigger. The flashback creates the illusion that you are entirely experiencing the painful incident (or portions of it). This may include revisiting the feelings or physical sensations you experienced during the distressing incident.
While each individual is unique, there are a few common triggers for PTSD. Seeing a person, object, or location associated with the trauma might trigger an emotional response. Similarly, seeing a similar incident on the news or film might trigger symptoms. All of these factors, including thoughts, sensations, emotions, odours, circumstances, noises, and tastes, might re-trigger PTSD.
To determine whether it's simply a phase or something more severe, you may take a PTSD test, which can help you identify if you have PTSD. However, keep in mind that a professional will perform the final evaluation. You may also show your therapist your PTSD test, which may help them understand your situation better.
Types of PTSD Triggers
Triggers are classified into two types: internal and external. Internal triggers are sensations or experiences that occur inside your body. Thoughts or memories, emotions, and body sensations are all examples of internal triggers (for example, your heart racing).
External triggers are circumstances, people, or locations that you may encounter over your day (or things that happen outside your body).
Several common internal and external triggers are listed below.
Internal Triggers
Some internal triggers may include :
- Feeling lonely
- Feeling vulnerable
- Memories
- Muscle tension
- Feeling out of control
- Frustration
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Feeling abandoned
External Triggers
Some external triggers might be:
- Reading news that serves as a reminder of your unpleasant experience
- An argument
- Specific fragrance
- Anniversary
- Seeing someone who brings up memories of a person associated with your tragic incident.
How Do You Identify Triggers?
Some are self-evident. Others are quieter. Indeed, you may not even be aware that anything is a trigger until you have a response. Your PTSD symptoms may seem to arise spontaneously. However, they are often the result of an unknown trigger.
A therapist can assist you in determining your triggers by taking a PTSD test. They may also help you in developing coping mechanisms.
Managing PTSD Triggers
Once you've identified your PTSD triggers, the next stage is to select your PTSD management strategy. Managing PTSD does not need to be complicated. One of the first stages in overcoming this disorder is to speak with a mental health professional. You can do this by going to a mental health professional in person or if you don’t feel like it, you can go for online therapy. Various platforms like BetterHelp provide this service; You can go through BetterHelp reviews to find out how people overcame PTSD through online treatment.
Individuals may also deal with PTSD triggers by joining peer support groups practising mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Often, a mix of personal coping methods and exposure treatment with the assistance of a psychiatrist may help manage PTSD.
Treatments for PTSD trigger
Some of the choices for managing PTSD triggers contain:
- Group therapy
- Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Prolonged exposure therapy
- Family therapy
- Medication
- Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)
Can Online therapy treat PTSD?
The researches have revealed that online therapy is as suitable for treating PTSD as physical therapy. For some people, online treatment is more ideal since they can seek help from the comfort of their own homes. For a better idea, we suggest you read BetterHelp reviews which features personal experiences of individuals struggling with PTSD and how online therapy helped them.