All about emotional triggers | Part 01: What are they? What are they not?
Sometimes, words and phrases from the therapy and mental health world begin to make it into mainstream language. The word trigger, or the phrase feeling triggered, is an example of this.
Maybe you’ve heard someone say, “I get really triggered when …” or “I’m triggered by …” in reference to a situation that is scary, overwhelming, or upsetting. Or, perhaps you’ve seen online content prefaced with a “trigger warning”. This language is starting to make it into our everyday language.
So, let’s break it down. What does it mean to be triggered?
Triggers are rooted in traumatic events from our past.
What it does not mean
Before I get into what being triggered does not mean, let me provide some context as to why I’m including this section.
Some might say that the word trigger has become overused, and that we have strayed from its intended (clinical/psychological) meaning. I think there’s some truth to this, but I also think we should be careful not to dismiss those who use the term “incorrectly”—we might consider that folks are aware of the more formal meaning, but are choosing to use it colloquially, or that they have only been exposed to the newer, less formal version. However, I’m a clinician, so for the purpose of this post and the rest of the series on triggers, I’m going to establish a definition based on clinical and psychological meaning, not informal meaning.
More recent iterations of the word trigger are used in situations where someone feels, as Urban Dictionary puts it, emotionally set off. There is some truth to this, but this definition does not do justice to the impact of an emotional trigger as it relates to trauma or other serious mental health challenges. I’ll expand on that in the next section, but first, let’s list what being triggered is not:
Having an expected emotional response to a disturbing or uncomfortable situation
Remembering something sad or upsetting and having an emotional response to the memory
Experiencing an emotion and being consciously aware of one’s experience
Many folks might casually use the word trigger or triggered to describe the above situations. It’s worth mentioning that we’re walking a fine line of subjectivity—what’s expected for one person might be unexpected for another. The main idea here is that triggers are not simply experiencing an emotion—we experience emotions in response to our environment all day, every day. Our emotions are triggered by things we see, sense, feel, hear, and experience, but there’s more to it when it comes to trauma.
An emotional trigger is something much deeper and more challenging than emotion alone.
Being triggered is much more than “just” responding to an emotionally charged situation.
What it does mean
A trigger is something that brings us back into a past trauma. Even though the trauma is no longer occurring, the parts of our brain and body that were impacted by the trauma become activated when we are triggered. It is as if the threat is still ongoing.
When our past traumas are triggered, it is as if the threat is still ongoing.
When we are triggered, our emotional response is much more intense, and often much more lengthy, than a regular emotion. It can sometimes seem out of proportion to the situation, and it can destabilize us for hours or even days. This is what differentiates the clinical definition of a trigger from the informal one. Being triggered is a deeply upsetting, and often scary experience. It can severely interfere with daily life.
An emotional trigger is a mental health symptom, often experienced by folks who live with C-PTSD, PTSD, anxiety, personality disorders, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, or addictions. Becoming triggered is a complex neurological process that I will break down in a future post. For this introductory post, let’s solidify what being triggered is:
Having an unexpectedly intense, intrusive, and/or prolonged emotional response to a physical sensation, memory, sight, smell, sound, person, place, or experience
Feeling as if your physical safety and/or emotional safety is in grave danger
Often someone who is triggered is not consciously aware of the fact that their response is due to a past trauma being triggered
From the outside, being triggered looks disproportionate to the situation. However, I can say from personal experience and from witnessing people experiencing an active trigger that it feels very real. Fortunately, it is possible to manage triggers by soothing or grounding ourselves, and I’ll discuss this in a future post in this series.
Being triggered can be exhausting, but there is hope for recognizing and tending to what triggers you.
Final note
Language is adaptive. Words and their meanings shift and change with time, and there is deep cultural value to this.
Can we hold an understanding of the word trigger in its neuroscientific meaning, as well as its newer, more colloquial versions? When we say we’re triggered and we simply mean we’re experiencing a big emotion, does this diminish its meaning in relation to a trauma-related trigger? I believe that when it comes to trauma, we need powerful language to describe our experiences, and so as a clinician, I often advocate for maintaining the full weight of the word trigger. At the same time, you won’t hear me correcting someone when they use this term informally, because it is impossible to know the full internal experience someone is referencing.
We cannot slow the process of shifting meanings in language, and I am glad that mental health terms are becoming more mainstream and that people are talking about their emotional experiences. I invite us to make space for scientific knowledge alongside more informal uses and understandings.
