07/27/2025
What Triggers Really Are (and How to Work With Them)
Understanding the neuroscience, the narrative — and the new response
Most people think of triggers as weakness.
But the truth is…
A trigger is a signal, not a flaw.
That moment your heart races.
When you shut down.
When something small hits way too hard.
It’s not about being “too sensitive.”
It’s your nervous system doing what it was wired to do:
Protect you.
Why This Happens (The Science)
• Triggers are pattern matches from past pain.
• The brain stores unresolved experiences and flags anything that resembles them — even slightly.
• The amygdala (your brain’s threat detector) fires first.
• The prefrontal cortex (logic and regulation) goes dim.
And if you’re neurodivergent, have OCD, or are a trauma survivor — that wiring is louder, faster, and more intense.
It’s not moral failure. It’s survival adaptation.
CBT insight: Triggers are the result of unintegrated emotions, not current threats.
What to Do Instead
1. Name It.
“Something in this moment is touching an old wound.”
2. Interrupt It. (NLP)
Clap. Move. Snap. Shift your posture.
Disrupt the loop before it becomes your identity.
3. Separate Then from Now. (CBT)
“This feels familiar, but it’s not the same situation.”
4. Rewire with Choice.
Ask: “What does a regulated, grounded version of me choose next?”
Reframe It
“What triggers you… teaches you.”
It shows you where your healing still lives.
It reveals what stories still run the show.
It’s a map, not a sentence.
You’re not weak for being triggered.
You’re strong for staying in the work.
And you’re powerful when you learn to respond, not react.
