Emotional Triggers: How to Identify and Manage Them

Being an overly emotional person, I've always been susceptible to easy emotional triggering. It had basically become second nature. Lol. That's when I knew I had to learn  my emotional triggers and regulate myself. Emotional triggers are the things, places, people, or situations that activate intense emotional responses within you.  

The root causes of emotional triggers include past experiences, traumas, or deeply held beliefs. All these have the power to instantly activate your "fight-or-flight" response in any situation. When you are triggered, your body and mind immediately decide to either fight or flee as a way of trying to protect you from the perceived danger. You get triggered when present stimuli unconsciously reminds you of past traumatic or difficult events. 

When you are triggered, your body and mind immediately decide to either fight or flee as a way of trying to protect you from the perceived danger. 

Your brain stores sensory information related to traumatic events, and when you encounter a similar stimulus in your present moment, your brain reactivates the past feelings. Your emotional triggers can be specific sensory inputs such as smells, places, sounds, sights, or even certain times of the day. These triggers can cause various emotional and physical reactions, including sadness, anxiety, anger, fatigue, or even nausea.

Now, in order to be able to regulate yourself, or your emotions, you need to identify your triggers first. This involves paying close attention to your emotional and physical causes.

• Pay Attention To Your Reactions: Be more present and notice when you feel anxious, overwhelmed, angry, sad, or experience strong emotions. Pay attention to physical symptoms as well. A pounding heart, rapid breath, or turning tummy can all indicate a trigger. 

• Retrace Your Steps: Reflect on the events, people, or places that led to your reaction. What is it about the event that triggered you? Think about past traumas or issues that may relate to the current experience or make it seem bigger than it actually is. Does this event remind you of a past experience that caused you trauma?
• Therapy (or AI Therapy): Yes, therapy. I'd advise you to start going to therapy if you can afford it. And if not, use ChatGPT as your therapist. I tell you now: it works wonders. It can help you identify your triggers and much more. This is especially important if your trauma is significantly affecting your life and those around you. Professionals can help you identify, understand, and manage your triggers, allowing you to regulate them. If you want to learn how to use ChatGPT as your therapist, click here.

Okay. So, how can you manage these triggers?

1. Practice Mindfulness and Journaling: Meditation and deep breathing exercises can help you observe your thoughts without letting them control you. Journaling about experiences can enable you to deeply dive into the experience, your thoughts, and feelings around it. This can also help lead you to the root cause of the triggers.
2. Acknowledge and Validate Your Feelings: Don't beat yourself up for feeling anxious. Your feelings are valid—remember that. Avoid self-criticism or dismissing your emotions, as this can make you feel trapped by them.
3. Establish Healthy Boundaries: Identify what you can and cannot tolerate in relationships and interactions. Clearly and respectfully express your boundaries to others. And please, please, please (in Sabrina Carpenter's voice, lol) do this unapologetically. Instead of saying, "Sorry, I'm not going to a bar with you," just say, "No, I'm not going to a bar with you." You don’t need to apologize for prioritizing your well-being.

Finally, recognizing, processing, and transforming your emotional responses is key to healing. This is where you get to challenge your negative thoughts, forgive yourself and those who have hurt you, and practice radical self-compassion. The healing journey is one that requires kindness and patience. When you're ready, you can gradually confront your triggers in a safe, controlled environment to desensitize yourself. It's all possible—you got this!

Have you ever struggled with emotional regulation? Share your experience below!