Let’s Talk About What a Trauma Trigger Actually Is

The overuse of “triggered” incorrectly is worsening mental health crises for people with PTSD

Photo by kevin laminto on Unsplash.

Thanks to way too many bad-faith actors online and off, the important psychological term of “triggered” as relates to trauma and PTSD has had its actual meaning twisted almost past recognition. Getting upset because someone doesn’t agree with you or they say something that offends you is categorically not getting triggered.

Trauma triggers are specific to people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which occurs after surviving a violent incident in which you thought you were going to die or almost did. This includes people who have survived combat, war, sexual assault, gun violence, domestic violence, other kinds of abuse like hate crimes, natural disasters, and more. A trigger is something a traumatized person sees, hears, or reads that re-opens their traumatic incident in a huge way.

Being Triggered Looks and Feels Like This

Time slips sideways and you are back in that exact moment of the traumatic incident as if it was actually happening again. The flashbacks to those moments can be so vivid it’s like a hallucination and you might feel like you’re losing your mind.