Trauma Signs

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SIGNS OF BEING TRIGGERED

To reduce the damage and disruption that can be caused when I am in a triggered state, my goal is to calm my nervous system down so I can regain some access to my Cortex, figure out what the past trauma is, and resolve it.

Resolving the past trauma will change my reaction to the current situation that triggered me.

But before I can do any of that, I need to first recognize that I am in a triggered state.

That is not always easy.

Below are some common signs of being triggered.

I became aware of most of my signs in hindsight.

(As time goes on, I become aware of subtler and subtler signs.)









PHYSICAL SIGNS

Physical Signs that we are triggered and in Survival mode include:

  • Racing Heart
    Our heart might start beating really fast.

  • Breathing Changes
    Our breathing might become very rapid or very shallow, we might hold our breath, or we might feel out of breath.

  • Trembling
    Our legs or hands might tremble (from the adrenaline coursing through our body)

  • Startle Easily
    It is common to have a heightened Startle Response

  • Weak in the Knees
    Our limbs might become weak because, in Freeze mode, opioids for pain relief are released and blood flow to the limbs is reduced (so that damage to them will be less deadly).

  • Dissociation
    • clumsiness (e.g. dropping things or bumping into things resulting in bruises that, later, we have no idea how we got)
    • losing, leaving or forgetting things
    • accidentally locking our keys in the car or house
    • needing to reread something or hear something repeated several times before we can absorb it.

  • Fatigue
    It is common to feel tired when triggered.
    (We often feel energized, after neutralizing the past trauma.)
    (Though sometimes we need a nap because the adrenaline from being triggered kept us from getting adequate sleep.)

  • Getting Sick
    We are more vulnerable to catching whatever is going around when we are triggered, because energy and other resources are diverted away from the immune system to other areas of the body (such as limbs or heart) that are more vital to immediate survival.

  • Loss of Appetite
    Energy and resources are re-routed from the digestive system to other areas of the body that are more vital to immediate survival.

  • Loss of Libido
    Energy and resources are re-routed from the reproductive system to other areas of the body that are more vital to immediate survival.

  • Body Language
    • Crossed Arms
    • Flinching
    • Cringing
    • Shrinking into Ourselves
    • Stiff
    • Erratic or Jerky Movements.

  • Facial Expressions
    • Flinching
    • Wincing
    • Frowning
    • Scowling
    • Worried or Fearful
    • Blank or Spacey

  • No Eye Contact
    There may be an aversion to eye contact. (Especially true in Freeze mode)

  • No Touch
    There may be an aversion to physical touch.

  • Tone of Voice
    • Monotone
    • Disjointed speech containing unnatural pauses
    • Loud
    • Shrill
    • Booming
    (Evolutionarily, a loud, shrill tone allowed women to "alert the village" of a threat from a distance, while a loud, booming voice did that for men.)

  • Lack of Hearing/Understanding
    The ears may tune out mid-range frequencies, which include the human voice, making it difficult to hear what someone is saying. We cannot understand what is being said if we cannot hear it.









MENTAL SIGNS

Mental Signs of being Triggered include:

  • Thoughts are bouncing all over the place.

  • Racing thoughts.

  • Ruminating thoughts - Going over something that happened (or that we fear might happen or happen again) over and over.

  • Feeling an urgent need to resolve a problem immediately by taking swift action.

  • Feeling an urgent need to talk to someone - to confront, explain, defend, make them understand, or ask clarifying questions.

  • Feeling an urgent need to create new rules or set boundaries around the behavior of other people, so we will feel safe.

  • Feeling an urgent need to notify others about our boundaries and get them to agree to honor our boundaries.

  • Thinking there is only one way to get our need met or only one person who can meet our need.

  • Doubt

  • Indecision

  • Procrastination









EMOTIONAL SIGNS

Emotional Signs of being Triggered include:

  • Feeling Upset (even just a little)

  • Any Negative Emotion - anger, irritation, annoyance, grief, sadness, hurt, fear, worry, embarrassment, humiliation, shame, etc

  • Feeling Down

  • Feeling "Off" (in any way)

  • Ambiguity (feeling two opposing, or exact opposite, ways about something)

  • Resistance

  • No Sense of Humor - that goes out the window, when we're triggered.
    (A sign that we're coming out of the triggered state is that our sense of humor returns, and we can even laugh at ourselves.)

  • Easily Triggered - We are more triggerable, when we are already in a triggered state.
    If we find ourselves getting triggered about things that normally would not bother us that much, that is a big clue that we were probably already triggered about something else.
    (These Secondary Triggers instantly vanish after the primary trigger is identified and the past trauma is neutralized.)













imovebeyondtrauma@gmail.com


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