Triggers

Almost all people that have anxiety / GAD / depression / ... have situations, subjecs, words, things,... that will stir up or worsen said thing. It differs for everyone and sometimes there isn't even anything specific you can pinpoint it to. 

I had a conversation yesterday with a colleague and without them knowing it, he triggered my anxiety twice within 5 minutes. Of course I could tell everyone what they can't talk about, or what situation I can't be in, but that isn't fair on them and it isn't fair on me either. I have to learn to cope with these triggers and try to dismantle them. If everyone I talk to has to watch what they are saying, conversations will fall flat sooner rather than later. 

Of course the circumstances I experience the trigger in, is also of importance. When I have a good day I can manage a trigger better then on days where I'm already feeling anxious. 

I know I have to be careful with the following things:

- pregnancy

- stomach flu

- people with certain illnesses my age and my parents age

- people dying my age and my parents age

- heartproblems


One piece of advice I can give everyone: if you are talking about something with someone who has a mental health problem (and even people who don't have a mental health problem) and they suddenly don't react anymore or they react in a way you are not used to, be patient with them, don't try and dig deeper, don't judge. If they are ready and if they feel safe, they will explain it to you or talk to you about it. 


Have compassion, have empathy and be patient! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being able to concentrate, read & remember while struggling with your mental health

 Aaah, being able to concentrate on things and rely on your memory. For me that's long gone.  I used to LOVE reading books - damnit I have a bookcase full and lots on my Ipad - 99% of them in English as that's my preferred language to read in. Most of them fictional, but some non - fictional and some biographies. Over half of them read and the others waiting to be enjoyed.  I lost my ability to concentrate on something - esp. books or larger texts - a year and a half ago. It can't keep my attention anymore. I have to read, reread and then read it again and I still don't know what I've read. Or sometimes I can read a few pages and they refer to something that already happened and I panick because I don't know what is was anymore. So then back we go. It's really frustrating.  I experienced this before in the past few years but it never lasted longer then a few months. This is the longest I've been without reading. Even reading instructions is difficult som...
Read more

A distraction is momentary - an escape helps you heal

 This quote is from the musical and now Netflix film 'The Prom'. You can find the quote in the song 'We look to you' and when I first heard it, it immediately hit home. The song is about how one of the characters - Mr Hawkins - loves theatre. He sings:  "My days have little glamour. Writing memos, making calls" ......  "That's why I love the theatre. It's how I escape" The stage actor - Dee Dee - answers:  "So, theatre is a distraction? Is that what you're saying?"   Mr. Hawkins responds: "No, a distraction is momentary. An escape helps you heal" "We look to you To take us away From the soul-crushing jobs And emasculating pay When our lives come up short And our hopes are sad and few You whisk us off to some place strange and new We look to you In good times and bad The worlds you create Make the real ones seem less sad The curtain goes up And every now and then it feels as if we're coming home again" Thi...
Read more

One step forward and two steps back

Last weekend and the first few days this week I was coping pretty well. I was feeling ok and there were never tears threatening to spill. I had a minor obstacle on Saturday but I dealt with it and thankfully I already had a good day, so it didn't push me over the edge. And then Tuesday to Wednesday night happened. I woke up startled by my mother who was shouting our dog's name. She had heard a noise and had run to our living room. We still don't know exactly what happened but she found our dog half unconscious lying on her side next to the table leg. We don't know if she woke up, wasn't alert enough and because of that fell off the couch and stumbled to the table and fell over, or she woke up, jumped off the couch and ran into the table leg. We don't know. Fact is that everyone was awake and I was shaking like a leaf. I have always been afraid of the night. When something was wrong in our extended family, or someone got sick, it always happens / happened at nigh...
Read more