All about emotional triggers | Part 02: The neuroscience of being triggered

We learned in part one that emotional triggers are when our past traumas are felt and experienced in the present. This distressing and scary symptom can be brought on by internal stimuli (like a physical sensation or a memory) or an external stimuli (like a certain sound or a relationship conflict).

It’s important to know that it’s not a choice to be triggered—it is a natural neurological occurrence. Also, while it’s possible to heal and tend to our triggers, they are not easy to overcome; we can’t expect people to just stop being triggered or to move past their triggers. So, why do we become triggered?

Triggers can happen in social situations or in relationships, when we are reminded of past traumas related to abandonment or abuse.

Triggers are present responses to past traumas

Picture this:

Two partners are walking through the park making plans for their upcoming move across town. One partner begins to ask the other if they have made the phone calls they said they would make. They say no, they haven’t. The first partner begins to ask more questions: why haven’t you called yet? When do you plan on doing it? Do you need me to write down the number for you? Would it be helpful if I reminded you? Suddenly, their fists clench, the squeeze their eyes shut, their breath quickens, and they find the nearest bench to sit on. Overwhelmed, they hold their head in their hands and begin to cry. As their partner approaches, they turn away, asking to be left alone.

We know this person has been triggered, but it’s not their partner’s questions that are upsetting them—it’s the fact that their partner’s questions triggered a past trauma. Trauma has left a neurological and physiological imprint. It’s possible that this person was controlled and harshly criticized by a caregiver in the past, or that they were deliberately and cruelly made to feel worthless when they forgot to do important tasks.

For them, it was as if the past was happening in the present.

Being triggered can be an isolating experience, and learning why it happens is one important part of learning how to cope with traumatic stress.

What’s going on inside?

When the person in our anecdote was being questioned by their partner, the part of their brain that detects fear was activated, and it sends a cascade of messages throughout the body that indicate it’s time to respond to a threat. This activation “overrides” the parts of their brain that can respond calmly and verbally to their partner’s questions, which is why the response seems out of step with the situation. It’s as if the thinking and language-oriented parts of their brain are “offline”.

A long time ago, the fear-oriented part of their brain stored a memory of interpersonal trauma that perhaps involved control, shame, or harsh criticism. It’s not a memory they need to access often, but it is stored there in case they need to respond quickly to a similar threatening situation. This powerful response happens because it is a survival mechanism, designed to mobilize us and keep us safe from harm. It does not require linear or rational thinking, nor does it require effective communication skills.

The ways we stay out of harm in threatening situations are typically referred to as fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses (more on these in part three). In our example, the person’s body likely activated a flight response to get them out of the overwhelming situation. While it might not look adaptive or helpful, remember that it is meant to get them out of harm’s way, and this was useful at one point in time. Also remember that the person is re-experiencing a terrifying or deeply injurious moment or time period, so from that perspective, it is appropriate that they would respond with intense anxiety, fear, sadness, or anger.

Understanding how your mind works in tandem with your partner’s can help reduce the impact of triggers—more on that in part five.

A metaphor

Let’s imagine the pathways in your brain as a river with many branches. The water flowing down the river’s many branches represents the flow of neural messages that prompt you to respond to your environment in a certain way.

As you experience the world and the water flows more and more, the branches become wider, fuller, and more deeply etched into the earth. The branch that was formed during your trauma is particularly wide and deep, and the water flows in this direction easily and quickly. This branch is old and very established in your brain. There are also newer, more shallow and more narrow branches that represent the new ways you have coped and learned to respond to triggering situations differently.

Imagine your brain’s neural networks as branches of a river. With time and effort, you can redirect the water into newer branches, reducing the amount of water that is flowing through older, traumatized pathways.

When a traumatic memory is triggered, it’s like a torrential downpour has occurred upstream. The water needs somewhere to go, and it wants to flow into its old, familiar path. The water is powerful and quick. Before you know it, the water has filled the old tributary and the new one remains empty and unused. The triggered response has already occurred and you are now “flooded” with intense emotion.

The new branch that you’ve been working on represents a new path for your brain to take. You just need to keep carving it out, deeper and deeper, until the water can trickle in and start to feel as if this is a familiar and safe path to take when the rains come. Slowly, with time, the old branch of the river can dry up, and the new one, the one in which you respond with calm and clarity, can become the main branch your water flows through. This happens with repeated, mindful effort and a felt sense of safety with others. Just like a winding river, it is not a linear process.

Imagine your brain’s neural networks as branches of a river. With time and effort, you can redirect the water into newer branches.

Final note

I advocate for a non-blaming approach to therapy and mental health. To me, neuroscience is an important part of recognizing that upsetting symptoms like triggers are not your fault. They are the result of complex survival processes that become faulty when they are overwhelmed by traumatic experiences.

Neuroscience also offers insights into how triggers can be tended to and soothed, which I expand on in part three. There is hope for reducing the impact of intrusive traumatic memories on your daily life.