Triggers occur when you experience something that elicits a strong emotional reaction. Every single person has a trigger. For some, experiencing a trigger does not overly affect their daily life. For others, triggers can be so strong and prevalent that their everyday life and relationships are adversely impacted. Taking time to focus on your triggers will help you better understand your mental health issues. Here are a few tips to help you better manage your triggers.
Acknowledge What They Are
What are your triggers? Often this is a more complex answer than people think it is. When do you find yourself reacting strongly? What is happening? What time of day is it? Are other people involved? Do you respond in this way often? Figuring out your triggers is the first step in learning how to manage them.
Set Goals
How would you prefer to react when faced with a trigger? What about your current reaction is unhealthy or unhelpful? Think about your goals. Create goals that help you work towards better managing your triggers. Goals help to keep people motivated and focused.
Create an Action Plan
Now that you know your triggers and how you would prefer to react when faced with those triggers, it is time to create an action plan. How are you going to react when faced with your trigger? What specific actions are you going to mindfully complete? Having a plan in place will help you respond in the way you want. Eventually, you will begin to naturally react in this way with less thought.
Process Unresolved Trauma
Unprocessed trauma can significantly affect mental health as well as your overall well-being. Work with a mental health professional to better understand how your past trauma affects your current triggers. Often people do not realize how very connected these things are. When you can process your trauma, you can begin to focus on your overall well-being and happiness.
Understanding your triggers and managing them is a significant part of the recovery process and maintaining your overall well-being. As you learn your triggers, you can establish your goals and create an action plan to work through them. Learning to work through your triggers is a powerful skill to have. Here at The Guest House, we have extensive training in helping people understand their triggers and learn to manage these triggers successfully. Call us today to learn more about how we can support your healing journey at (855) 483-7800.