We get triggered by what outsiders see as “weird” things. A song comes on the radio, and maybe it was the favorite song of the person who harmed us, maybe “our” song, maybe the song that was playing when we were assaulted.
We know all the lyrics. The music gets stuck in our heads, playing over and over at brain-splitting volume. It’s even worse when the song is used in a commercial or as background music in a TV show or movie. The song won’t go away. It will never go away.
Soon, our trauma turns a simple song into a torture and we can’t stop the trigger, so we spiral deeper into remembering the pain. If we are triggered often enough and can’t stop the looping, we might get exhausted from feeling so much for so long.
So we interrupt the trigger as soon as we recognize it. We use our peripheral vision and heart breathing technique right away, or we take a short appreciation walk to clear our minds. We talk to someone safe. We help ourselves get out of the pain, and ask for help from others.
Question for the day: What are my tools and skills for interrupting triggers?