Triggers? Signs of mental health and why it is ok!

We are coming up quickly on one year anniversary of everything shutting down, COVID-19 quarantine, lockdown, whatever you want to call it. The internet has been full of funny memes and gifs devoted to March approaching while we’re all still processing what happened last March! And while the memes might be funny, there is a real ring of truth to the situation.  

Truth be told, what a lot of us are dealing with are triggers.  Triggers are events, people, places, situations, conversations, etc. that set off a series of memories for people related to a certain event (or series of events) in their lives.  Triggers bring back these memories to your mind and can make you feel as though you are living through that event again.  They can often be accompanied by feelings of anxiety, sadness, muscle tension, shortness of breath, etc. If you find yourself transported back to memories of an event and aren’t quite sure why, there could be a trigger lurking.  For example, my own social media memories popped up this week with a trip to the National Zoo this time last year.  That led to thoughts of how different life was this time last year, how carefree things were in comparison, and naturally wistful feelings of wishing life was “normal” again.  Sound familiar? 

So what do we do when faced with these triggers? In general, the idea is to acknowledge them and try to move forward.  Acknowledge them by talking about it with someone: friend, family, therapist, co-worker, etc. You don’t want to get bogged down in feeling helpless and hopeless, but you don’t want to ignore the feelings and thoughts that are there either.  A healthy balance between the two is the goal.  Then focus your thoughts on what is different from last March.  

Having trouble coming up with anything that’s different? Try some of these:

-The world at large has tons more information about COVID-19 than they did a year ago

-Most area schools are working towards opening in person

-Vaccines are being distributed

-What were you able to focus on this past year that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise?

-How have you/your family been able to adapt over the last year to the required changes in your lifestyle? 

-What fears did you have last year that aren’t as pressing today?

Working to reroute your thoughts to things that show the difference between last year and now can help you feel hope.  Hope for that light at the end of the tunnel, that breath of fresh air, that normalcy.  If you find yourself struggling with triggers that are getting in the way of going about your daily activities, contact us to see if therapy can help.  

It can be hard right now to know what symptoms are just dealing with daily life and what are growing towards mental illness.  Some common red flags for mental illness are trouble sleeping, dramatic change in appetite, isolating oneself from others, decreased interest in things that used to stimulating, trouble with grades in school for kids, trouble maintaining a normal workload for adults, crying spells, and trouble concentrating.  A good general rule of thumb is to look for big changes in how one is functioning.  At Hope and Healing we can review your symptoms and help you navigate if therapy will be helpful for you.

Written by:

Meredith Drumm, LCPC, CCTP

Therapist