Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
With PTSD, a trigger is something that brings on memories or reminders of a traumatic event. For example, flashbacks are often prompted by a trigger. The flashback causes you to feel as though you're reliving the traumatic experience (or some parts of it) all over again.
Triggers can include sights, sounds, smells, or thoughts that remind you of the traumatic event in some way. Some PTSD triggers are obvious, such as seeing a news report of an assault. Others are less clear. For example, if you were attacked on a sunny day, seeing a bright blue sky might make you upset.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that happens after a terrifying, traumatic event. Later, common PTSD triggers can cause the individual to experience nightmares, flashbacks, and anxiety. Learning what triggers PTSD is necessary so the individual can figure out how to avoid those triggers.
A trigger might make you feel helpless, panicked, unsafe, and overwhelmed with emotion. You might feel the same things that you felt at the time of the trauma, as though you were reliving the event. The mind perceives triggers as a threat and causes a reaction like fear, panic, or agitation.
People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people.
Recognizing PTSD Triggers
Triggers are everyday experiences that cause people to relive an earlier trauma. People, places, smells, and sounds that are similar to what survivors experienced during the traumatic event are common triggers, said Dr. Ritchie.
The course of the illness varies: Although some people recover within 6 months, others have symptoms that last for a year or longer.
Presence of one (or more) of the following symptoms of intrusion associated with the traumatic event: Recurrent, intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic event. Recurrent distressing dreams about the event. Flashbacks in which the person feels or acts as if the traumatic event is recurring.
Since trauma triggers are not always obvious, you may not realize what is triggering the feelings or memories of trauma. To help determine the cause of these feelings, you can think about what typically happens when you experience PTSD.
Avoidance of thoughts, feelings, people, places, or any reminders of what happened. Difficulty remembering details of the event. Changes in mood, memory, or thinking patterns. Hypervigilance, sleep problems, anger outbursts, or self-destructive behavior.
As it turns out, anxiety and trauma disorders like PTSD can continue to flare up around triggers, such as the anniversary of an event. With grief, the flare-ups are called sudden temporary upsurges of grief (STUG) reactions.
Suffering from severe fear, anxiety, or depression. Unable to form close, satisfying relationships. Experiencing terrifying memories, nightmares, or flashbacks. Avoiding more and more anything that reminds you of the trauma.
Feeling jittery, nervous or tense.
Women experiencing PTSD are more likely to exhibit the following symptoms: Become easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions, experience numbness. Avoid trauma reminders.
During a flashback, you may: See complete or partial images of the traumatic incident. Hear sounds or words associated with the event. Experience physical sensations, such as pain or like you're being touched.
DON'T force them to socialize or do things they're not ready for. Forcing our loved ones to do things they are not ready for may often cause more damage, and worse, trigger PTSD symptoms. It's important to continue to include them in activities and allow them to decide what they are up for.
Simply put, when a person experiences something traumatic, adrenalin and other neurochemicals rush to the brain and print a picture there. The traumatic memory loops in the emotional side of the brain, disconnecting from the part of the brain that conducts reasoning and cognitive processing.
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
Dissociation-a common feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-involves disruptions in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, and perception of the self and the environment.
Complex PTSD comes in response to chronic traumatization over the course of months or, more often, years. This can include emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuses, domestic violence, living in a war zone, being held captive, human trafficking and other organized rings of abuse, and more.
Someone with PTSD often relives the traumatic event through nightmares and flashbacks, and may experience feelings of isolation, irritability and guilt. They may also have problems sleeping, such as insomnia, and find concentrating difficult.
The main symptoms and behaviours associated with PTSD and complex PTSD include: Reliving the experience through flashbacks, intrusive memories, or nightmares. Overwhelming emotions with the flashbacks, memories, or nightmares. Not being able to feel emotions or feeling “numb”