How to Identify Causes of Mental and Emotional Triggers

Have you ever been intensely frustrated by not know what is causing you to experience nagging and uncomfortable emotions, seemingly out of the blue?

We have all experienced this scenario. We are having a reasonably good day, perhaps even relaxing with friends, when we are suddenly overwhelmed by unwanted negative thoughts or emotions. Something in our mental process has caused us to become “triggered” to a negative thought or feeling, that could take hours or days to recover from.

Identifying the causes of these mental triggers is a crucial first step in managing one's mental health and emotional well-being towards a happier future state of mind.

This guide for "Identifying Mental Emotional Triggers" is designed for clients seeking to understand their emotions better, recognize the factors that influence their feelings, and take control of their emotional well-being. With insightful strategies and practical tips, you'll learn to navigate your emotional landscape and respond to triggers with confidence.

Once the reasons for the trigger are identified, the process of resolving them becomes much less frustrating.

Personal Exploration Techniques

Personal exploration techniques are typically used to assist in identifying and understanding the triggers and recognize the underlying pattern that led to the undesirable emotional responses.

The outcome of this practice is to empower individuals to develop a better understanding of their internal conflicts and emotional landscape.

Journalling is one way to provide a record of these experiences. Discussion and reflection from journalling will then create additional present-moment awareness. This facilitates an early warning awareness of triggering situations or thoughts, allowing for more effective management of emotional responses before chain reactions occur and overwhelm.

Seeking feedback from trusted friends, family members or professionals can also provide external perspectives on reactions that indicate trigger reactions.

The steps to effective journalling, in preparation for a discussion with a friend, a loved one or a counsellor, are as follows:

1. Self-Reflection and Awareness

• Keep a trigger journal and record your emotional reactions and the situations that provoke them. This helps you identify patterns and recurring triggers over time.

Labeling Emotions: Label the emotions you experience when you identify a trigger. This facilitates better understanding of your reactions and their underlying causes.

Body Awareness: Pay attention to how and where you feel triggers in your body. Did you experience a touch, a smell, a taste, or hear something that created the reactivity? Record the physical sensations to provide more information about the causes of the trigger.

1. Consider Past Experiences

Childhood Experiences: Reflect on your childhood (developmental history) and past experiences. Often, triggers are connected to unprocessed feelings or thoughts from life events.

What were thoughts and feelings did you experience at the time that that may have contributed to your current triggers?

Trauma History: Consider any traumatic events you've experienced, as these can be significant sources of trigger reactions. Typically, trauma creates a long-lasting emotional response in mental wiring.

Relationship Patterns: Examine relationships and interactions with others to identify recurring themes or situations that trigger strong emotional responses.

1. Categorizing Triggers

External Triggers: Identify sensory stimuli (sounds, sights, smells, textures) that create strong responses based on past experiences.

Internal Triggers: Recognize strong feelings that arise based on thought patterns. Is the thought pattern from a past conflict?

Trauma Triggers: Identify responses which are related to past traumatic events.

Symptom Triggers: Identify physical changes or situations that may be triggering symptoms of existing mental health conditions.

1. Consider Professional Assistance

Psychotherapy or Counselling: Consider working with a Registered Clinical Counsellor who is trained to help you explore your triggers and their origins, and then find ways to change or extinguish unwanted responses.

• : Request that a Registered Clinical Counsellor provide assessments to identify underlying mental health conditions that may be contributing to your triggers together with proven strategies to assist you in resolving the undesirable responses.

1. Understand Common Triggers

Familiarize yourself with common triggers, which frequently include:

• Anniversary dates of losses or trauma
• Frightening news events
• Feeling overwhelmed or stressed
• Family conflicts
• Relationship issues
• Financial problems
• Physical illness
• Criticism or judgment from others.

By applying these strategies and maintaining a practice of self-reflection and awareness, you can better identify the causes of your mental triggers. This process takes time and patience.

As you gain an understanding of your triggers, you'll be better able to resolve the causes of your emotional responses and improve your overall mental well-being.

Consider a life where you can choose to embrace your thoughts and emotions instead of being unexpectedly controlled by them.

Through identifying and then resolving these triggers, you will be able to build healthier relationships, improve your mental clarity, and experience greater peace of mind. Let go of emotional roller coasters and say hello to a more balanced and fulfilling life.

If you are ready to take charge of your mental and emotional health, then contact me to schedule a discussion of how I can assist you

Gerry Bock, MA, CTS, RCC

gerry@bock.ca

604-574-6555