Trauma Triggers: How to Identify & Deal With Them

What Are Trauma Triggers?

Trauma triggers refer to specific people, places, or other stimuli reminiscent of past traumatic experiences. Triggers can be apparent or far more subtle, with some individuals not recognizing the extent of their influence. When confronted with a trigger, people may experience distressing physical or emotional responses, including intense anxiety, flashbacks, or fear.

Examples of Trauma Triggers

Individual circumstances, past experiences, and the specific nature of the event can influence how someone responds to a trauma reminder. Common trauma trigger examples include specific locations, sensory triggers, anniversaries, and identified people. The intensity and type of triggers may evolve over the lifespan.

Here are some examples of trauma triggers:

Sounds

Sound is a typical trauma trigger. Specific noises, such as fireworks, screams, sirens, slamming doors, or songs, may quickly evoke intense emotional responses associated with the past trauma. These sounds may be directly related to the trauma or resemble the trauma (i.e., fireworks reminding someone of gunshots).

Locations & Situations

Specific locations and situations can represent trauma riggers. For example, someone may have an extreme reaction when revisiting the scene of the event, such as a childhood home or previous workplace. Situations that share parallel themes with the trauma, such as attending a crowded conference after being assaulted in a crowded bar, can also elicit a trauma response.

Sights

Sights can also serve as trauma triggers. For example, individuals who experience medical trauma may feel triggered by seeing blood or a hospital. Another person with a history of domestic abuse might respond to seeing someone who resembles their ex-partner. This trigger can be more covert, as patterns or colors can also be unsettling.

Smells

Research suggests odor memory can result in intense emotions, partially explaining why certain smells can trigger trauma responses in survivors. ² For example, smelling a specific cologne associated with an abuser can be distressing for a survivor of sexual abuse.

Emotions

Experiencing emotions associated with a traumatic event can trigger the stress response. Feeling or witnessing someone feel angry, ashamed, sad, afraid, or disgusted can remind the individual of their trauma, often resulting in heightened anxiety, hypervigilance, and distress.

What Happens When Trauma Is Triggered?

When people encounter trauma triggers, they can experience significant behavioral, somatic, and psychological responses. Reactions vary in intensity and frequency. Some people may appear visibly upset, while others dissociate and reflect their reactions inward. Generally, trauma survivors may experience panic, increased heart rate, flashbacks, and a sense of shutting down.

Below are common reactions when exposed to trauma triggers:

• Anxiety
• Sadness
• PTSD flashbacks
• Panic attacks
• Sense of numbness
• Trembling
• Sweating/increased body temperature
• Difficulty concentrating
• Hypervigilance
• Rage

How to Identify Trauma Triggers

Identifying triggers is essential when learning to manage them. A clear sign of exposure includes a distressing reaction to a specific sensory experience. Someone may have an exaggerated or overblown response to a sound, smell, or situation that seems harmless to outsiders. They may struggle to calm down until they can remove the trigger or themselves from the environment.

Below are questions to ask yourself to help you identify trauma triggers:

Before encountering a trauma trigger

• How were you feeling physically and emotionally?
• What were you thinking about?
• Where were you?
• Who was there?
• What was happening outside of you?

After encountering a trauma trigger

• What physical sensations did you have?
• What emotions did you experience?
• What thoughts did you have?
• Where were you?
• Who was there?
• What was happening?

12 Tips for How to Deal With Trauma Triggers

Survivors can take several steps to ensure they feel safe, stable, and calm when and after encountering trauma triggers. Experiment with different strategies to find what works for you. Focus on finding ways to help your mind and body stay grounded in the present moment. Additionally, working with a therapist specializing in trauma can help you process and release trauma.

Here are twelve tips for dealing with trauma triggers:

1. Go to a Safe Place

Trauma triggers can cause symptoms that make paying attention to your environment difficult. Go to a safe place (i.e., a bathroom, private bedroom, parking spot) until your trauma reaction has passed and you can ground yourself again.

2. Use a TV Screen Visualization

Visualize your flashbacks on a TV screen. Imagine yourself changing the channel to a calming program or image. This exercise can provide a sense of control and stability when encountering a trauma trigger. Remind yourself, “It’s over. I am safe now.”

3. Practice Breathwork

Encountering trauma triggers can lead to reliving your trauma. Your body will respond as though the event is happening in the present, and your breathing will likely change as part of the fear response.

You can combat these reactions through mindful breathing. Breathwork requires you to tune into your current body, not your past self. Take a break to inhale deeply through your nose before exhaling to release pent-up emotions and physical sensations in your body. Repeat this process until you feel at ease and calm.

4. Use the “Three Things…” Method

Various grounding techniques can help pull you away from trauma triggers into the present moment. For example, use the “Three Things” strategy. Find three objects in your environment, focusing on their color and visual characteristics. Next, listen and identify three sounds, noticing tone and patterns. Finally, observe the temperature, weight, or texture of three items. This short practice can distract you from a trauma response and provide immediate relief.

5. Create a Safety Plan

Create a safety plan of people, places, objects, and activities to seek when encountering trauma triggers.  Keep this list handy to remind you of tools that help you become calmer and grounded again.

6. Read or Listen to a Message From Yourself

Write or record a message to support yourself when experiencing trauma triggers. For instance, tell yourself you are a survivor with a warrior spirit. Say, “I am safe, and the trauma is over.” Remind yourself you have power over your choices–your trauma does not control you. You can also revisit and review safe persons, helpful resources, accomplishments, and grounding strategies.

7. Distract Yourself

Some people find distractions detour them from the previously established neural pathway between trauma triggers and symptom responses. Healthy distractions include calling a friend, playing with animals, singing, or listening to guided meditations.

8. Engage in Self-Soothing

Self-soothing means engaging in strategies that elicit safety, comfort, and relaxation. Everyone has different self-soothing methods, but even the simplest activities can be beneficial. Consider taking a hot shower, lighting a candle, or cuddling a pet. You can also eat your favorite meal or play calming music. Spend time exploring what makes you feel most at ease and use these strategies to calm your fear response when managing trauma triggers.

9. Use Mindfulness Techniques

Mindfulness involves grounding yourself in the here and now. Being mindful keeps you in the present, helping diffuse anxiety and distress associated with trauma triggers. Consider taking a few deep breaths when feeling overwhelmed. You can also plant your feet on the floor and focus on your surroundings or other visible objects.

10. Reach Out to a Loved One

Seeking support can be essential when taking care of your emotional wellness. Reacting to a trauma trigger is not wrong, but sharing your difficulties with a loved one can reduce anxiety and help you cope. Consider calling a local hotline or warmline if you don’t have a healthy support system.

11. Avoid Known Triggers

Avoiding triggers is not always possible or in your best interest. However, some triggers can lead to distressing and disabling symptoms. Until you can address your trauma through therapy, avoiding specific things can be helpful. For example, you can limit exposure to toxic people or locations that remind you of the event.

You can explore other coping strategies once you heal from your trauma. You can make informed, grounded decisions as to whether voluntarily exposing yourself to trauma triggers is worth the outcome.

12. Practice Dual Awareness

Dual awareness refers to holding two different perspectives simultaneously. For example, you might think about a happy memory while sensing how your breath feels. You can combine various methods to find what works for you. This practice supports emotional regulation and connection with your inner reality.

When to Seek Professional Support

Consider seeking support if trauma triggers result in debilitating and distressing symptoms. Focus on choosing a professional specializing in trauma-informed therapy and PTSD. While PTSD does not go away on its own, therapy exists to help you heal. Take some time to find the right therapist in an online therapist directory or through your physician.

Therapy to help you cope with and manage trauma triggers include:

• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT): TF-CBT blends CBT interventions with trauma-focused interventions to help people process their traumatic experiences and better manage distressing thoughts and emotions.
• Comprehensive resource model (CRM): CRM combines attachment theory, neurobiology, and somatic experiences to resolve trauma and strengthen an internal sense of resilience.
• Cognitive processing therapy (CPT): CPT for PTSD helps people reframe negative thoughts about their trauma, potentially reducing their symptoms and improving overall emotional wellness.
• Internal family systems (IFS): Internal family systems therapy posits that each person has a Self with different parts (i.e., Exiles, Firefighters, and Managers) that carry and defend the Self from the pain of the trauma. IFS helps you connect with the Self to release pain and assist the parts in learning to work together healthily.
• Eye movement and desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR for PTSD uses bilateral stimulation to help individuals process trauma memories and release distress related to the event.