What is a trigger in psychology

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

In psychology, a trigger is one or more factors that provoke an emotional reaction based on a person's personal negative or positive experience. Triggers affect human behavior, push for rash and often illogical actions. Knowing what triggers are in simple terms and learning to recognize and control, you can get rid of many problems. Including when interacting with other people.

What are psychological triggers

Trigger translated from English has many meanings. Depending on the context, it is used in the meaning of "latch", "trigger". The latter characterizes the concept of triggers in psychology in the best possible way.

This is the influence of a negative or positive experience on a person's consciousness: a certain situation, tactile sensations, even simple words, sounds and smells. As a result of such an event, strong emotions arise, which can cause a state of stupor or push one to rash, illogical actions.

Triggers can be more than just negative. Some events also evoke positive emotions - the desire to achieve the set goal, pleasant nostalgia. Also in psychology, the concept of "neutral triggers" is considered. A simple example - a crowd of people, for example, at attractions, stands in a store, arouses curiosity, not fear.

Interesting! What can mean your pregnancy in a dream for a woman

How it works

What is it in psychology? Triggers cause immediate, almost unpredictable responses. In simple words - an event, a sharp repetition of something bad. And the consequences depend on the temperament, the current state of the nervous system, mood at a particular moment of exposure.

The point is that the brain is not always able to separate real events from fictional ones. Remember how often viewers empathize with the characters in a movie. Fictional events evoke real emotions - pity, anger, empathy.

To make it clearer, a few examples:

1. The smell of perfume - evokes a memory associated with a beloved woman, grandmother or mother.
2. A victim of violence can go into hysterics when meeting someone who even remotely resembles the abuser.
3. The old melody is associated with important events in life. It can be a graduation party, a wedding, a student party.
4. Loud sounds, such as screaming, swearing, can cause feelings of fear, stupor, hopelessness if associated with negative memories. For example, as a child, the child witnessed frequent quarrels.
5. Ordinary words and phrases can also evoke strong emotions. Depending on the situation - positive or negative.
6. Those who have been in a car accident may react to the sound of a car suddenly braking. At the same time, associations arise with fear, pain, etc.
7. If in childhood there was a bad experience with animals, for example, a dog bit, even an adult can feel fear of a harmless puppy.
8. Another example is fear of water is usually associated with the first failed attempt to learn to swim.

The influence of triggers is based on sensory memory, the human brain helpfully draws a picture of events that have ever happened to him. As a result, a distortion of reality is possible, a person is immersed in a situation (memory) in which the trigger was formed.

Undesirable consequences

Negative consequences for a person are associated with negative emotions (fear, anger, aggression):

1. Lack of emotional control. A person can offend, shout at a loved one. Sounds (even ordinary household sounds) and words can provoke a negative reaction.
2. Even adults, successful people in certain circumstances perceive a stranger (close) person as a mentor. It’s not bad if the “mentor” does not pursue the goal of deceiving or getting what he wants to the detriment of another person. But, unfortunately, in most cases, triggers are used by manipulators and scammers.
3. Waste of large sums. Sellers cleverly use trigger trigger mechanisms: greed (all sorts of great deals, discounts from the "only today" series), fear of loss (the last product, limited edition).
4. Health problems. Strong negative emotions can not only ruin life, but also lead to a decrease in immunity, the development of various diseases.

It is important to be timely aware of the effect of the trigger and get rid of it by all available means.

Is it possible to get rid of and how to control

It is possible and necessary to deal with triggers. In severe cases, the optimal solution to the problem is to contact a psychologist who will help identify and get rid of negative memories. Therefore, knowing what it is, people try to engage in self-control of their emotions when feelings can be controlled.

In simple cases, you can get rid of the effects of triggers yourself. Here's a rough list of actions:

1. Weigh each decision, analyze how independent it is. For convenience, you can keep a diary and describe in detail the situation and your own reaction to it. After reading, you can highlight your own triggers.
2. In a critical situation, give yourself time to pull yourself together and make a decision. If you feel anger, aggression, just leave the room (store, office) for a couple of minutes.
3. Do not rush things, move towards the goal in small steps. If you are afraid of the crowd, then you should not buy a football ticket. First, take a walk around the mall.
4. Work on inner harmony by gradually replacing negative triggers with positive ones. Do what you enjoy, which evokes positive emotions.

Knowing what triggers are in simple words, you can understand the causes of negative phenomena, which will allow you to analyze the past. Yes, remembering the unpleasant, difficult moments of life is not very pleasant. But such an approach in psychology will allow you to get rid of pain, feelings of guilt and live a full life.

Summarize

Considering the above, information can be collected in several main theses:

1. Triggers can be controlled, but they must be done correctly.
2. It is important to train your feelings and emotions in a calm state so that when the moment comes, the triggers do not go off.
3. It is worth training to take advice in a critical situation.