Triggered
Triggers: Those subconscious programs that seem to fire out of nowhere, make no sense and just glitch us out.
Most, if not all the things that trigger us have been programmed in our minds based on past events. Imagine with me...
You are 4 years old and your brother locked you in the toy box and ran off with the key laughing at your expense. Meanwhile, you are locked in a dark space with limited movement, kicking and screaming but no one can hear you. Instinctively you switch on the stress response, your heart is racing, you can barely catch your breath. Your head feels like it‘s going to explode, you feel helpless and very afraid.
As a young child, you can't analyse a situation like this rationally. At this age, we want to feel safe, loved and connected. When we are traumatised, we immediately shut down and blame ourselves for not being good enough, strong enough, smart enough. We feel we are at fault, helpless and don’t know how to fix it.
So back to the box, you have been locked in for 5 mins. To a child of 4 years old, 5 mins is an eternity because they live in the present moment. So they are feeling that they will be locked in this box forever. Imagine the impact a traumatic event such as this can have on someone so young.
Eventually mom catches on and scolds your brother for his deeds, after she got you out of the box, she gave you a hug but never thought to address the effect it may have had on you. So your 4 year old interpretation about what happened and the meaning you gave it remain unchallenged.
In those 5 minutes in the box, your brain took snapshots of what caused you such despair and created meaning and made a record deep in your subconscious mind as information for future reference. This is your trigger. Any situation remotely similar to this trigger (belief/the meaning you give it) will set off the stress/fight flight freeze response.
Fast forward to now. You get anxiety attacks at the THOUGHT of getting on an aeroplane. Why? Because, you get locked in a box. You get panicked by the THOUGHT of being excluded because in your mind subconsciously, you are being locked in a box, not being heard or even listened to. You get OCD about locking and unlocking boxes, doors etc because you must be in control so you never get locked away in situations you can’t control.
The THOUGHT of losing control puts you back in the box. You may even be fearful driving because the THOUGHT of having no control of what goes on around you, other people’s driving etc. which your mind deems as unsafe, therefore leave you in a box. Any situation in your life where you feel boxed in, unheard, like the control has been taken out of your hands will be interpreted as being back in the box, so you will find yourself avoiding/reacting to such things.
Your THOUGHTS drive your feelings. Your feelings are subconscious responses often attached to memories of past events.
I could go on but I hope you get how amazing your mind is at trying to keep you safe. However, though those safety measures kept you safe in the past, they do not serve you now. You are basically allowing a recording made by your 4 year old mind to drive your life. Crazy right?
So how do you change this long-standing and very strongly wired behaviour? Here are a few things to consider.
Use your willpower to notice the triggers and choose to behave differently and more rationally. This needs super focus to gain success. Why? Because your conscious brain is not as powerful as the subconscious brain.
You could also use Self hypnosis, meditation, affirmations etc. They are also helpful when used properly to rewire your mind.
Get help to rewire your mind through a professional. Hypnotherapy is brilliant for this. So why not find out more about Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) which uses Hypnosis to get to the root cause of what triggers you and holds you back from spreading your wings and taking flight. It's the fastest therapy, getting you sorted in just one to 3 sessions.
Book a free no obligation Discovery Call to find out more.
