“Trigger” is a word used in every-day conversation to talk about an upleasant emotion. From a trauma-informed neurological perspective, triggers are external or internal cues that elicit a powerful emotional response, often inducing a state that resembles the original traumatic experience. A more practical definition?
Triggers are anything in the present that are close enough to things in the past that dropped you into fight, flight or freeze or fawn.
Origins of Triggers
The neurological foundations of triggers are rooted in the limbic system, which is involved in emotion regulation, survival instincts, and memory. Specifically, the amygdala plays a critical role in scanning for threats and activating the fight-or-flight response. When a traumatic event occurs, the amygdala encodes this experience as a sensory-emotional memory. This encoding is often non-linear and fragmented, capturing specific smells, sounds, visual cues, or even internal body sensations associated with the traumatic event.
How Triggers Show Up In Your Present
In future situations, similar cues or stimuli can reactivate these amygdalar pathways, initiating what is essentially a survival-oriented alert system. The amygdala signals the body to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, engaging the sympathetic nervous system to prepare for potential threats. This cascade of physiological responses often culminates in heightened emotional states such as anxiety, fear, or anger. For individuals suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex PTSD, these triggered responses can also include symptoms like flashbacks, dissociation, and emotional numbing.
Let me give an evolutionary biology example. You’re in the woods, and the bushes shake. 3 seconds later, a bear pops out and you run like heck, saving yourself and your future progeny. The next time you’re walking and the bushes rustle, you’re triggered into flight mode and you run like hell right away, buying you precious seconds.
What Triggers are Physically
Triggers can vary widely among individuals and may include anything from specific smells or sounds to situations, places, or interpersonal dynamics. Importantly, triggers are not solely external; they can also be internal processes like thoughts, emotions, or bodily sensations. An individual who was traumatized in a situation where they felt helpless might be triggered by subsequent situations that make them feel powerless or out of control, whether those situations are objectively dangerous or not.
Triggers Are Not Defects
Understanding triggers from a trauma-informed perspective requires acknowledging that these reactions are adaptive coping mechanisms shaped by evolutionary biology. While they may seem maladaptive in a contemporary context, triggering the fight-or-flight response to perceived threats could be lifesaving in different environments or scenarios. In a world laden with complex social dynamics and relatively low immediate physical danger, however, these deeply ingrained survival mechanisms can become problematic, reducing quality of life and complicating daily functioning.
To put it simply, the triggers that prompt behaviors are coarse - they can help mobilize your body to do big tasks. But most of us aren’t living amongst bears, and treating each other like big threats like that can damage relationships.
From a trauma-informed neurological perspective, triggers aren’t a kind of defect, but rather adaptive survival responses. If you are getting triggered in relationships or certain circumstances and you need help because they get you stuck, contact me by phone: 612-230-7171 or email through my contact page. Or you can click on the button below and self-schedule a time to talk by phone or video.
Triggers can show up in relationships through reactive shutting down or withdrawing, or fighting. If you want to understand my approach in marriage or couples counseling, see my marriage counseling page.