Are Trauma Triggers Hijacking your Brain?

Have you ever been accused of overreacting? The cause may be your reaction to a trauma trigger. Triggers are memories, behaviors, thoughts, and situations that escalate emotional reaction. When you are in this highly emotional state, you lose the ability to make rational decisions.

For some, it can result in overwhelming feelings of sadness, anxiety, panic, and even flashbacks of a trauma. You’re left feeling your brain has been hijacked. So, why does this happen?

Your brain forms a connection between the trigger and the feeling associated with it. How this connection is made in the brain is not fully understood; however, research has shown sensory memory is extremely powerful. Sensory experiences associated with a distressing event can be linked in our memory to the event.

When you encounter the sensory experience you are triggered. The result is an emotional reaction often before you even realize you are upset.

Triggers can be obvious. For example, an inactive soldier who hears a car backfire may suddenly dive for cover. Triggers can also be subtle. A person who smelled incense while being raped might have a panic attack when she smells incense in a store.

The good news is the brain has plasticity, meaning it can be retrained.

Through treatment with a professional counselor, you can learn to identify your more obvious triggers and try to avoid them. When you can’t avoid the trigger or it is subtle, you can learn to apply new skills to calm the brain’s emotional response. A counselor can also help you challenge your irrational thoughts so you can make better decisions and not respond from

Written By: Ann Sheerin, MA