What is a Trigger in PTS

Have you ever seen police lights in your rearview mirror and get a sudden wave of fear? Your heart rate starts pulsing and you begin to think of every little thing you just did to see if it is you who is getting pulled over?

That my friend is a trigger. And when you have PTSD it can take something as simple as spending time with a 3-year-old child when all of a sudden you have flashbacks to a time and place where you are in trauma.

Triggers are something every person has whether they have PTSD or not. As a survivor of Complex PTSD, I can tell you those triggers come out of nowhere even when you are healthy and far removed from the narc.

Today I am going to help you by identifying ways to deal with those triggers to minimize the effect.

Click here to watch the video now.

Triggers can be both internal and external.

Examples of internal triggers are:

• Anger
• Anxiety
• Feeling abandoned
• Feeling lonely
• Feeling out of control
• Frustration
• Memories
• Muscle tension
• Racing heart rate

Examples of external triggers are:

• Anniversary
• Argument
• Holidays
• End of relationship
• News article
• Social media post
• Seeing someone
• A place
• Watching a movie or TV show

We ALL experience triggers. But today I am going to teach you how to deal with those triggers.

Undesired outcomes of triggers are:

1. Complete lack of confidence
2. Complete lack of trust in others and yourself
3. Lack of concentration and focus
4. Relationship jumping
5. Insomnia
6. Extreme feeling of shame and guilt (low levels of consciousness - force)

Solutions:

1. Deep breathing like that taught in the book Innercise by John Assaraf
2. Expressive writing like that taught in the book The Artist Way by Julia Cameron
3. Present moment awareness
4. Levels of consciousness rise up to power. Notice it takes courage to do so.
5. Self-talk / Self-soothing
6. Mental diet
7. Thought quality - the pruning shears of revision by Neville Goddard (link to pdf on this lecture)
8.  Learn to love unconditionally - forgive them Father for they know not what they do. Remember narcissists love conditionally

Next Thursday we will discuss conditional vs unconditional love. It will take its own video to discuss.

It is imperative that one has a safety plan in place. Visiting with a professional therapist will help. I know it saved my life.

If you cannot avoid the narcissist be sure to come up with several coping strategies like the ones listed above.

 Professional counseling links are HERE!