# How do you overcome your thought triggers?



## illmatic (Apr 16, 2016)

Last night I got a horrible panic attack when I got triggered by a horrible thought I had during my bad trip of marijuana that kick-started my DP. I had forgotten about this thought and I guess I read something that reminded me of it and immediately went into panic mode and had horrible DP for a few hours.

I was able to calm down with the help of Ativan, and I feel pretty good today.

The thought that triggered me seems ridiculous when I think about it and it's not causing me panic. However I am worried about it happening again in the future.

Is there a way to overcome these triggers, or do you just have to avoid the bad thoughts?


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## Alex617 (Sep 23, 2015)

Try CBT, this is a pretty standard anxiety issue.


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## Zed (Jul 25, 2015)

illmatic said:


> Last night I got a horrible panic attack when I got triggered by a horrible thought I had during my bad trip of marijuana that kick-started my DP. I had forgotten about this thought and I guess I read something that reminded me of it and immediately went into panic mode and had horrible DP for a few hours.
> 
> I was able to calm down with the help of Ativan, and I feel pretty good today.
> 
> ...


We all have triggers or phobias and they all come from the same place - fear. It IS absolutely possible to work through fears and desensitise yourself to them and eventually defuse them altogether. I've done it myself with many triggers.

illmatic.. You've actually started the process of desensitising yourself to this particular trigger simply by acknowledging it and becoming aware of it. Sometimes it's easier and quicker to have someone to talk to about it, but it's possible to shift some yourself as well. It just depends on how much they affect your life as to how you want to approach it... and once you start the process of removing triggers you'll be surprised how many others you'll become aware of. It's all part of healing and well worth the effort.

Sometimes triggers do seem ridiculous but don't underestimate how much impact they can have on your life. You never really know how and why they got there until you start to explore. They and their inherent fears can develop at any stage of life and remain seemingly 'hidden' until you start to look for them - but they can affect you profoundly - profoundly enough to keep you in a constant state of dissociation for instance.

Curiosity is your best friend in doing this work...


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## illmatic (Apr 16, 2016)

Zed said:


> We all have triggers or phobias and they all come from the same place - fear. It IS absolutely possible to work through fears and desensitise yourself to them and eventually defuse them altogether. I've done it myself with many triggers.
> 
> illmatic.. You've actually started the process of desensitising yourself to this particular trigger simply by acknowledging it and becoming aware of it. Sometimes it's easier and quicker to have someone to talk to about it, but it's possible to shift some yourself as well. It just depends on how much they affect your life as to how you want to approach it... and once you start the process of removing triggers you'll be surprised how many others you'll become aware of. It's all part of healing and well worth the effort.
> 
> ...


I truly hope I can desensitize myself to this trigger. At this point, even when I am feeling very very good, when I think about the trigger to see if it still affects me, it definitely does and causes me instant DP and a near panic attack if I can't distract myself. I guess this trigger was hidden away, and I kind of wish it was still hidden. Ever since I discovered this trigger, it seems like I am back to how I was feeling during the first week of my DP, with horrible thoughts and fear of losing control at any moment, etc. I have come out of that before so I know I can, but it is still terrifying. The trigger itself is existential-related so I don't even know if it is possible to overcome it.

I hope I can get over this because at this point it seems like it has made my dissociation worse and I've dug myself into a much deeper hole. It's frustrating because I was so close to 100%, and all it took was one night of not sleeping well and my mind not being clear, then reading a stupid post online that made me remember my original experience and trigger.

Maybe in the long run it was good that I "remembered" this trigger and got over it, instead of it being hidden away into my subconscious.

Question for anyone that has gone through and recovered from existential thought crisis: Should I just find a way to distract these thoughts and not think about them? Or should I delve deeper, read about philosophy to try and get over it? At this point I am terrified and would rather not think about it and just live my life. I know the thoughts are stupid, I've had so many differing existential thoughts and I know they are BS because they contradict each other but it's still terrifying when I think about it.

I realize my mind is just really sensitive right now, so any ridiculous thought that I think of seems to incite fear, and I start asking questions like "what if this" and "what if that" and I scare myself. I was like this during my first week of DP and its horrible.


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## Zed (Jul 25, 2015)

illmatic said:


> I truly hope I can desensitize myself to this trigger. At this point, even when I am feeling very very good, when I think about the trigger to see if it still affects me, it definitely does and causes me instant DP and a near panic attack if I can't distract myself. I guess this trigger was hidden away, and I kind of wish it was still hidden. Ever since I discovered this trigger, it seems like I am back to how I was feeling during the first week of my DP, with horrible thoughts and fear of losing control at any moment, etc. I have come out of that before so I know I can, but it is still terrifying. The trigger itself is existential-related so I don't even know if it is possible to overcome it.
> 
> I hope I can get over this because at this point it seems like it has made my dissociation worse and I've dug myself into a much deeper hole. It's frustrating because I was so close to 100%, and all it took was one night of not sleeping well and my mind not being clear, then reading a stupid post online that made me remember my original experience and trigger.
> 
> ...


It sounds like this particular trigger has a very powerful effect on you. I don't think you've dug yourself into a deeper hole so to speak. I think, if anything it's most likely important for you to work through it - and it sounds like you're doing that. Once a trigger's laid to rest, it won't haunt you anymore. It may come up, but it'll have lost all it's power over you and have virtually no negative effects. Then you can move on...

Working with triggers can be hard going and takes time. It's really a case of baby steps with stuff like this. And don't push yourself, especially if you feel a bit vulnerable or dissociative. I was taught to wait for those 'windows of opportunity' when I felt strong enough to tackle stuff like this and only do a little at a time. Maybe consider writing down some of your thoughts as well, because when looking back, you'll be able to more clearly see the insignificance of what it is that's disturbing you.

Our minds are incredible the way they bring up important things we need to deal with - things that may have been stored away in the subconscious for years and years. I think it's important to trust yourself and your instincts and trust that there's a reason why this has come up for you. We have an innate ability to heal ourselves mentally just the same way we can heal ourselves of most physical ailments.

If your trigger's about existential type things, I wouldn't be reading too much in the way of philosophy. It might be best to avoid those sorts of topics for a while.

Grounding techniques are a great way to reduce the tendency to dissociate and well worth looking into. Dissociation's biggest enemy is being grounded in the here and now.....


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## illmatic (Apr 16, 2016)

Zed said:


> It sounds like this particular trigger has a very powerful effect on you. I don't think you've dug yourself into a deeper hole so to speak. I think, if anything it's most likely important for you to work through it - and it sounds like you're doing that. Once a trigger's laid to rest, it won't haunt you anymore. It may come up, but it'll have lost all it's power over you and have virtually no negative effects. Then you can move on...
> 
> Working with triggers can be hard going and takes time. It's really a case of baby steps with stuff like this. And don't push yourself, especially if you feel a bit vulnerable or dissociative. I was taught to wait for those 'windows of opportunity' when I felt strong enough to tackle stuff like this and only do a little at a time. Maybe consider writing down some of your thoughts as well, because when looking back, you'll be able to more clearly see the insignificance of what it is that's disturbing you.
> 
> ...


Spot-on advice, thanks so much for your posts.

I do feel like I am "conquering" my trigger already. Like you said I explore it when I am feeling good and trying to make sense of it, in baby steps, and it's affect on me seems to be diminishing each time I think of it.

Anxiety can really be a bitch. With no anxiety the trigger has no affect on me.

I do think it is good that this came to the surface instead of being buried in my subconscious.

The mind truly is amazing


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