This Truth Shall Set You Free: You Are Responsible For Your Triggers
Defining Triggers and Trigger Culture
A “trigger” is hard to define. Though this word has made its way into the regular vernacular of emotionally attuned communities, I don’t believe it is often used in a helpful way. I refer to these communities as promoting a trigger culture. In these communities, when someone says, “I feel triggered,” this definitely signifies a relatively strong emotional reaction, usually followed by blame and projection.
Generally speaking, triggers are internal or external units of experience, that align in some way, with our previous traumas. These triggers lead us to begin to re-experience the pain, confusion, and compulsions to protect our self, that accompany conscious, or partially unconscious, traumatic memories. Triggers usually go hand in hand with defenses (or defense mechanisms), in that people often consciously or unconsciously employ defenses, before, during, or after triggering circumstances or people, in order to prevent or mitigate feeling discomfort, anxiety, fear, pain, or an actual abreaction (PTSD episode).
When someone announces the experience of being triggered, there is often the implicit message that whomever or whatever was triggering, must stop being triggering somehow, or they/it will be distanced from. Rarely is a trigger used…
