what to do if triggers of a past event are everywhere?

[Anonymous]

I can't seem to focus on doing anything without thinking about this and there is reminders about it everywhere that I can't seem to escape. It makes me feel so angry at everything. Has anyone else dealt with this, what should I do?

[Anonymous]

change of scenery
plan things to look forward to
stay busy
give it time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:change of scenery
plan things to look forward to
stay busy
give it time

+1

Takes time and exposure in small doses. Have been there for sure. Hugs, OP.

[Anonymous]

You need to root yourself in the here and now. Find 5 things you can see. 4 things you here. Three things you can touch. Two things you can smell. Maybe one thing you can taste. Run cold water on your wrists or drink something cold. Or touch something cold. Remind yourself that whatever it is is not happening right now. It is done. Over. Oe that you are safe. I will set a time to allow myself to think about it. 9am on Saturday. Or whatever. So, if I am thinking about it on Wednesday - nope, wait until Saturday. You can think about it on Saturday. You can't let it take over. I acknowledge the thought. "Ok, so I recognize that thought, that is okay. But let's think about dinner instead." I also have a thing I am looking forwardnto, even small, every day. And fun stuff all the time. I remind myself that I can choose to be happy about the hot coffee I am going to get, the play I am going to see, the friend to hang with, or whatever activity.

[Anonymous]

Yes! I think what is going on in our government has poisoned every aspect of our society. You are seeing things that trigger you because there is no safe place to get away from the hate. You’re not the only one walking around angry. Every trauma survivor is being triggered. I am trying to work on feeling this anger in my body and releasing it through breathing techniques and it’s helping. I also try not to engage with people. Do what brings you joy.
And yes this is political because our government is torturing us.

[Anonymous]

Op here: I've tried to do a lot of things but no matter what I just feel like my life is over after what happened, It's been 4 months so it hasn't been that long but eating sweet food is the only way I can stop thinking about it, but besides that I can't go outside or go online without a reminder right there. The date it happened, the time of day, what I was doing, I can't escape those things.

[Anonymous]

Therapy. I went through a traumatic event in a group setting and several of those that were in it has PTSD and needed therapy for the reasons you state. I am very good at compartmentalizing things (which isn't always the healthiest by any means) so I was able to just power through until I was at a point where it was just background noise in my life.

[Anonymous]

I dont know how life altering your event was, but I'm going through something similar. The event was hurtful and traumatic, but not life altering. Still, there are reminders almost everywhere, including throughout my workday...and for me work has historical lyrics been an escape.

It is so inescapable, I just finally had to give myself permission to feel it. I was trying to fight the idea that anything could have so much power. Instead, I've accepted it and allowed myself to name and feel the pain and grief. It's not gone, but it's much less. Just admitting that this thing really hurts has allowed the hurt to feel less consuming.

It might not work for most people, but writing it down in chatgpt also helped me just get it out with some responses that actually have helped me reframe the experience as well as my response to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes! I think what is going on in our government has poisoned every aspect of our society. You are seeing things that trigger you because there is no safe place to get away from the hate. You’re not the only one walking around angry. Every trauma survivor is being triggered. I am trying to work on feeling this anger in my body and releasing it through breathing techniques and it’s helping. I also try not to engage with people. Do what brings you joy.
And yes this is political because our government is torturing us.

^ Good example of OCD.

OP, sounds like you might have "Pure O" or "OCD" if compulsions or aversions accompany the thoughts at all. Above example is textbook example of "Pure O".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here: I've tried to do a lot of things but no matter what I just feel like my life is over after what happened, It's been 4 months so it hasn't been that long but eating sweet food is the only way I can stop thinking about it, but besides that I can't go outside or go online without a reminder right there. The date it happened, the time of day, what I was doing, I can't escape those things.

You are trying to "not think about" whatever it is that's bothering you. That's impossible to "deliberately not think about something".

So set aside a slot of time each day (make it random so it doesn't become a ritual) and think about it, and what can you learn from the incident. Say 10 min or 30 min, whatever you think best.

Then outside of that time slot when you catch yourself thinking about it, "redirect" your thoughts to something and refocus on the new redirected topic of thought. Being "present in the moment" is a good way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! I think what is going on in our government has poisoned every aspect of our society. You are seeing things that trigger you because there is no safe place to get away from the hate. You’re not the only one walking around angry. Every trauma survivor is being triggered. I am trying to work on feeling this anger in my body and releasing it through breathing techniques and it’s helping. I also try not to engage with people. Do what brings you joy.
And yes this is political because our government is torturing us.

^ Good example of OCD.

OP, sounds like you might have "Pure O" or "OCD" if compulsions or aversions accompany the thoughts at all. Above example is textbook example of "Pure O".

That was not Op's post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! I think what is going on in our government has poisoned every aspect of our society. You are seeing things that trigger you because there is no safe place to get away from the hate. You’re not the only one walking around angry. Every trauma survivor is being triggered. I am trying to work on feeling this anger in my body and releasing it through breathing techniques and it’s helping. I also try not to engage with people. Do what brings you joy.
And yes this is political because our government is torturing us.

^ Good example of OCD.

OP, sounds like you might have "Pure O" or "OCD" if compulsions or aversions accompany the thoughts at all. Above example is textbook example of "Pure O".

That was not Op's post.

Yes, I realize that. Hence the "OP" part.

[Anonymous]

You have to process the grief around the trauma you experienced. Four months is still early. Not to be trite, but therapy is advisable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! I think what is going on in our government has poisoned every aspect of our society. You are seeing things that trigger you because there is no safe place to get away from the hate. You’re not the only one walking around angry. Every trauma survivor is being triggered. I am trying to work on feeling this anger in my body and releasing it through breathing techniques and it’s helping. I also try not to engage with people. Do what brings you joy.
And yes this is political because our government is torturing us.

^ Good example of OCD.

OP, sounds like you might have "Pure O" or "OCD" if compulsions or aversions accompany the thoughts at all. Above example is textbook example of "Pure O".

I already have OCD but that's seperate from and has nothing to do with what I'm experiencing now regarding this event.

[Anonymous]

I lived through that, OP. It was really hard. I didn't move, so it was even worse. I just had to take enough time to process the pain. For me it took years. Maybe try therapy to make it go faster? This was not something I even thought of trying at the time.

Wishing you well, OP.