The Triggers Thread (Thread is safe)

[xFlame990]

What exactly are triggers...? /stupidquestionderp

 

If you're talking about phobias and stuff, well, I have trypophobia. My skin crawls and itches like hell whenever I see clusters of small holes... especially in times like if your skin swells up from a sting or something and you can see the white bump of every individual pore and it's so guhhhhhhhhhhh-

[Rosedamai]

It's terrible how you are afraid of spiders and fish, though. Do you get triggered at restaurants if they have aquariums?

Well, usually those aquarium fish aren't too big, but sometimes I get nervous around them, that's it. It's probably because I know that those fish are separated from me by a glass tank. Specifically, it has to be in the same water as I'm swimming in, so fishing doesn't bother me much-although I think that if I were to fish a tuna for example, I might grow a bit uncomfortable.

 

Thanks

Edited November 19, 2011 by ylangylang

[stogucheme]

Well, usually those aquarium fish aren't too big, but sometimes I get nervous around them, that's it. It's probably because I know that those fish are separated from me by a glass tank. Specifically, it has to be in the same water as I'm swimming in, so fishing doesn't bother me much-although I think that if I were to fish a tuna for example, I might grow a bit uncomfortable.

 

Thanks

Well, that's good. It's ridiculous how many things need TWs but don't have them, yeah?

------------------------

And no advice for me? Right above ylangylang's first post. I need it badly...

[Rosedamai]

And no advice for me? Right above ylangylang's first post. I need it badly...

Well, first you can have a serious talk with that person about how it's not a laughing matter, but I doubt that it'll work, so why not go to your teacher/professor about it and have a serious talk? Perhaps you can bring the guy along as well.

 

Of course, there's always the option of kicking him in the nuts, but I'd not recommend that.

[stogucheme]

Well, first you can have a serious talk with that person about how it's not a laughing matter, but I doubt that it'll work, so why not go to your teacher/professor about it and have a serious talk? Perhaps you can bring the guy along as well.

 

Of course, there's always the option of kicking him in the nuts, but I'd not recommend that.

LOL, yeah...I was thinking of actually polling the entire class to make sure I wasn't posting triggering images in my power point to draw attention to the issue (and not trigger anyone). Then, I'll post the results of my poll and make it clear that anyone who includes these would be the biggest jerk ever. I'd also ask the teacher to reinforce this. I'm just worried about how it'll be received...I dunno. Thank you for your help, though. ^^ (And just to make it clear, my question was aimed at anyone reading this- I wasn't expecting you to help specifically. It was really nice that you did.)

[philpot123]

Well, usually those aquarium fish aren't too big, but sometimes I get nervous around them, that's it. It's probably because I know that those fish are separated from me by a glass tank. Specifically, it has to be in the same water as I'm swimming in, so fishing doesn't bother me much-although I think that if I were to fish a tuna for example, I might grow a bit uncomfortable.

 

Thanks

I really don't have triggers, but I share the freak out feeling when something I can't see touches me when I'm swimming. I have a little bit of a phobia of large lake/sea creatures, at least ones that are substantially bigger than me that I CAN'T see.

[Rosedamai]

LOL, yeah...I was thinking of actually polling the entire class to make sure I wasn't posting triggering images in my power point to draw attention to the issue (and not trigger anyone). Then, I'll post the results of my poll and make it clear that anyone who includes these would be the biggest jerk ever.

Why don't you actually do a presentation about triggers? Many people just think of it as a sign of weakness or whatever, probably because they don't really know a lot about it, it'll serve to educate the other people rather than them perceiving you as some freaking out, hysterical person.

 

I share the freak out feeling when something I can't see touches me when I'm swimming.

 

Yeah, it doesn't even have to be bigger than me, if you show me a lake with a shoal of fish about 8 inches long, I would not go into the lake. There's just something about something touching you underwater that's really creepy.

[stogucheme]

Why don't you actually do a presentation about triggers? Many people just think of it as a sign of weakness or whatever, probably because they don't really know a lot about it, it'll serve to educate the other people rather than them perceiving you as some freaking out, hysterical person.

Hmm...My topic is actually "Ableism. You're all ableists, you just didn't know it." (Though I'm really doing ableism and neurotypicalism combined for maximum effect.) So it's close enough that I could remark upon it as another form of ableism...

[Rosedamai]

Hmm...My topic is actually "Ableism. You're all ableists, you just didn't know it." (Though I'm really doing ableism and neurotypicalism combined for maximum effect.) So it's close enough that I could remark upon it as another form of ableism...

I think that would be a good idea-most people don't really know much about triggers and could wonder shy you're acting so vehemently. Plus, if your teacher is misinformed as well, it could also be an eye-opening moment for the teacher.

 

Anyways, good luck

[Princess Artemis]

Hmm...My topic is actually "Ableism. You're all ableists, you just didn't know it." (Though I'm really doing ableism and neurotypicalism combined for maximum effect.) So it's close enough that I could remark upon it as another form of ableism...

Good luck with that topic.

 

I don't have any advice for you, honestly. So far, the only way I can get people to believe me when I tell them gum chewing and certain sounds trigger me is to have a dystonic meltdown :/

[stogucheme]

I think that would be a good idea-most people don't really know much about triggers and could wonder shy you're acting so vehemently. Plus, if your teacher is misinformed as well, it could also be an eye-opening moment for the teacher.

 

Anyways, good luck

Good luck with that topic.

 

I don't have any advice for you, honestly. So far, the only way I can get people to believe me when I tell them gum chewing and certain sounds trigger me is to have a dystonic meltdown :/

Thanks to you both. I was actually thinking of having a meltdown to prove just how real it is, but after the panic attack I suffered just thinking about what would happen if he did that, I'm not really sure I want to. >.<

I will try emailing my teacher, though. Thanks again. ^^

[AngelKitty]

I know exactly how you feel and RAAARRRGH at the people who did that because ARRRGH. People have done things like that to me, too, and it doesn't help in the least that I know it's completely irrational that I feel the way I do about something everyone has to do. I stopped eating with my family except for rare occasions when I was 16.

 

When I found out about two months ago that misophonia was real and I wasn't the only person on the planet who felt like that it was such a profound relief. Still sucked, but...yeah. My dad was the one who found it and I think, finally, a lightswitch went off, since he was the worst about telling me to get over it but now he doesn't so much.

 

I haven't found any good ways to deal with it, unfortunately. Having my family be more understanding about how sound sets me off helps though.

 

It wouldn't bother me a bit if you wore earplugs around me : ) I might ask you to spot me a pair though.

Glad that your dad found that and that he's not pushing you to "get over it" so much anymore. It's so tiring to hear "get over it, get over it" constantly from everyone who loves you and just doesn't understand how it makes you feel. ._. I was never given the option to

 

Fun story: I got into a (non-physical) fight with someone at a store one day because of how she was chewing her gum - it had been a really long day, I had gotten maybe two hours of sleep, and there were five - FIVE - people, two mothers and three kids, sitting in chairs behind me all chewing gum loudly and I just completely and totally snapped. One of the mothers heard my remarks and had her kids get rid of their gum, but it turns out the lady I got into a fight with was the wife of a friend of my stepdad's. Small towns yay. Anyway, they called my mom and my mom went off on me because of it, saying I should just ignore it and get over it. This was before I knew what misophonia was, and I remember telling my mom exactly how it made me feel - the sound incited this horrible, near-uncontrollable rage and there were FIVE of them and I couldn't bear listening to it anymore.

 

As far as earplugs go, it wouldn't bother me if someone wore them around me, either. I buy mine at Wal-mart - I just use the cheapest ones they have, Hear-O's, and it helps a lot. They also sell silicone putty plugs that you can mold into your ears. I've tried those, too, and they block out a lot more sound. All depends on how much sound you want to block out. It takes some getting used to with both kinds, since it also makes it harder to hear people talking, but you get used to it and I don't have much problem with them now. :3

[stogucheme]

Hey! I just found this awesome definition of a trigger!

Trigger - A sensory input or event which causes an instant and unavoidable reaction because of something with which it has been deeply associated in the past. Triggers can be associated with good as well as bad memories (the most famous example is probably the writer Marcel Proust describing the taste of madeleine cake with limeflower tea triggering his memories of wonderful early childhood experiences with a kind aunt).

 

"Trigger" became a common term in studies on post-traumatic stress disorder (delayed stress or Vietnam Veterans' Syndrome). Following the publication of Sybil in 1972, both professionals and the general public started associating being multiple with having PTSD. In fact psychiatrists assumed all multiples had PTSD -- even that multiplicity itself was a symptom of PTSD. Words such as trigger, flashback, etc., common to the language of PTSD support, were widely used by therapists in the 1980s and 1990s, and thus by multiples in therapy who frequented computer bulletin boards and the Internet. Thus, any time material was discussed online that might upset someone somewhere, it became netiquette to insert a "trigger warning" or "spoiler warning". The word acquired an extremely broad definition online, to the point that any negative emotion was characterised as "being triggered".

[Fengari]

Very interesting thread.

 

I've only got three things that I could count as triggers, as in they evoke a sickening physical reaction, bordering on panic. Two of them are strictly situational, so talking about them or seeing images related to them don't bother me, luckily.

The first and the one most bothering me is being in a confined space with too many people. It is most bothering me because these are situations that are hardest for me to avoid, especially as I use public transportation and love going to concerts (yes, I know that is a serious contradiction). It's mostly a very uncomfortable feeling but it can move to panic if too many people bump in to me.

The second is wasps. I freak out when they get too close to me and to complicate things even further, I completely panic if people wave or hit at them to make them go away. This one clearly results from being stung by a wasp that someone else hit when I was little (also, I'm a bit allergic to their stings, not life-threatening, but they really swell up enormously and hurt like hell.)

I am very fortunate to have a husband that knows and understands these triggers, and helps me get through those situations.

 

The only one that is also triggered by images and sounds is injuries concerning people's bones (TW examples: like bones breaking, joints being dislocated, someone falling on their head, where you can see their neck or back bending a way it's not supposed to bend, things like that). Fortunately it starts out with only a feeling of nausea and it's only if I was to keep looking longer that it becomes worse, so it is quite easy to avoid it getting too bad.

 

About trigger warnings: I agree for some things, that act as a trigger to many people, warnings could be made standard. But it is just impossible to warn for everything that might be a trigger to someone as triggers can be the most basic- day-to-day things (just as an example, you cannot give warnings for every instance of someone chewing gum, or someone sitting cross-legged...). I'm not going to suggest which triggers do deserve a standard warning and which don't, because I have absolutely no clue what triggers are common and what is really rare (for example, I would never have expected so many people to have issues with clusters of holes...). Also, it's one thing to make warning rules for the media, it's another to expect common people to give warnings when talking about things or showing people things (in RL or on forums and blogs and such). As said, I could be saying or showing things that turn out to be triggers to quite a few people out of sheer ignorance.

 

I do think it is important to educate people about the existence of triggers and how badly they can affect people, to avoid the whole 'haha, you're afraid of THAT? Let's bug you with that for a while...' problem. I must admit as a kid I used to put pictures of spiders and little plastic spiders all over the place for a friend with arachnophobia to find because I thought her reactions where hilarious, and it was only later that I realised how terrible that was. Although, she never learnt to deal with the plastic spiders as they looked too real to her, she did thank me later for helping her learn how to cope with pictures of spiders.

Edited November 27, 2011 by Fengari

[Tommyknocker]

What are your triggers? Hospital and dentist office smells. Seeing needles and balloons in the immediate vicinity. Balloons popping/loud noises. TV stuff is ok, though I turn away when people are being injected or sewn up on TV. Yelling/Angry words directed towards me.

How did you get them?(TW: Repeated exposure to needles, intense aversion to vocal confrontation/fear of my mother) {Because of my physical disability, I would be in hospitals a lot during my childhood for surgeries and therapy and because of the way I was treated, I can't get near needles without having huge panic attacks. I'm working hard on getting over it. I even got blood drawn without freaking out recently! I have no idea where I got the balloon/loud noise thing, I think it's a side effect of my condition, but I can't STAND loud noises. I really hate it when my mom yells.}

What do you wish people would Trigger Warn (TW) for? I dunno. I don't like to see cuts, but I feel like the more I avoid these, the more they rule my life.

Do you think TWs are needed? Do you think it's wrong not to TW? I honestly couldn't tell you.

Anything else? (Like advice for how to calm yourself down, etc.?) erm...just in case, I'm putting this in white. Ready? {I cut myself. I know it's bad but it's the only way I can cope now} I'm honestly considering taking it up again and it scares me.

[stogucheme]

What are your triggers? Hospital and dentist office smells. Seeing needles and balloons in the immediate vicinity. Balloons popping/loud noises. TV stuff is ok, though I turn away when people are being injected or sewn up on TV. Yelling/Angry words directed towards me.

How did you get them?(TW: Repeated exposure to needles, intense aversion to vocal confrontation/fear of my mother) {Because of my physical disability, I would be in hospitals a lot during my childhood for surgeries and therapy and because of the way I was treated, I can't get near needles without having huge panic attacks. I'm working hard on getting over it. I even got blood drawn without freaking out recently! I have no idea where I got the balloon/loud noise thing, I think it's a side effect of my condition, but I can't STAND loud noises. I really hate it when my mom yells.}

What do you wish people would Trigger Warn (TW) for? I dunno. I don't like to see cuts, but I feel like the more I avoid these, the more they rule my life.

Do you think TWs are needed? Do you think it's wrong not to TW? I honestly couldn't tell you.

Anything else? (Like advice for how to calm yourself down, etc.?) erm...just in case, I'm putting this in white. Ready? {I cut myself. I know it's bad but it's the only way I can cope now} I'm honestly considering taking it up again and it scares me.

This seems very similar to experiences I've had, honestly. Have you tried to go to a counselor? I'm usually the last person to advocate such things, but sometimes professional help is needed. I went from screaming and jumping behind couches to freezing and being uncomfortable. It's a big change, in my opinion.

 

If you want to get yourself over your triggers, there are two main methods that counselors often try. The first is the cold water shock tactic. If you're afraid of flying, they drag you on an airplane and pretend to take off. This method is good for a few reasons: you realize that your fear can't hurt you (as much as you think), and you are forced to face up to your fear. This method is terrible for other reasons: especially with fears that involve needles, the only way to implement this is for you to touch a needle or something. Over all, I dislike this method.

 

The second technique is called systematic desensitization. Pretend the trigger is spiders. First, the counselor makes the subject talk about spiders. Then, they make them look at a picture of one (usually a cartoon version first, then a real photo). Then, they make them touch the photo.

...and on and on until the subject is more or less okay with spiders.

 

If you want, I'm okay enough to search google for images of needles, and can do that for you. (So that, rather than being bombarded with many images, you only have to face one.)

 

Anyway...PM me if you ever want/need anything, okay? I'm here for you.