Member-only story
Handling Emotional Triggers
What they are and how to defeat them
Emotional triggers are something everyone with dissociative identity disorder experiences. During therapy, outside of therapy, and in the oddest places, triggers can throw you into feeling out of control and reliving what happened to your child-self so long ago.
This article will examine emotional triggers and how to overcome them.
Defining Emotional Triggers
For now, many mental health professionals attach emotional triggers to post-traumatic stress disorder. However, as you who are multiples well know, people with dissociative identity disorder are vulnerable to them too.
Emotional triggers are your experiences or memories that, upon activation, cause a powerful emotional reaction. Emotional triggers can happen anywhere, at home, school, or even during a party.
Understanding your triggers helps you understand and forgive your behavior and understand that these reactions are your survival response to the original trauma you experienced as a child.
How Does An Emotional Flashback from a Trigger Feel?
Everyone, regardless of their mental state, has flashbacks. As an example, I offer the following scenario.