Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex mental health condition in which a person feels intense panic and fear when encountering various experiences, people, or thoughts that somehow relate to a previous traumatic experience. PTSD triggers are the things that create that intense memory or flashback. Learning about these triggers can help to develop strategies for avoiding or managing them effectively. One of the components of a trauma therapy program like the one we offer at Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston is dual diagnosis treatment. To learn about this treatment option, please contact our team today at 866.516.8356.
What Are PTSD Triggers?
PTSD triggers can be anything that reminds a person of a traumatic event. Just as those traumatic events are unique, so are the triggers that bring them back. A smell, visiting a location where a person used to use, or just hearing a specific phrase can create a risk of re-experiencing that trauma. Because of the intensity of those experiences, a person may find it terrifying to be around those triggers. The memories and flashbacks can be so real that it’s hard not to feel the physical and emotional toll of them repeatedly. In some cases, these triggers lead people to use drugs and alcohol to manage them.
What Are Some Examples of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Triggers?
Various types of triggers can occur. Internal triggers are those things that happen in your thoughts and emotions. Some of these triggers include feelings and emotions such as anger, anxiety, or vulnerability. You may also feel frustration, stress, or sadness.
External triggers are easier to control. These are factors around you that lead to those traumatic memories becoming more evident. Some examples of these include:
- Anniversaries of specific events
- Ending of a relationship
- Visiting a location where the events occur
- Certain people who were involved in the traumatic event
- Smells or sounds
- Holidays
- Watching movies or television shows about similar events
If you’re experiencing these triggers, it may be worthwhile to seek mental health treatment.
How Trauma Therapy Aims to Help
It’s not possible to eliminate all risk of every feeling these things again. While you may avoid going to places where things have occurred, things like holidays are hard to avoid. During trauma therapy, a big part of the healing process focuses on eliminating the connection of the trauma to these triggers. This type of mental health treatment can create new opportunities for you to heal and overcome what’s happened to you. You don’t have to relive what’s happened to get to this point, but you do have to learn how to let the pain of that trauma not hurt your future. A trauma therapy program makes that possible.
Call Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston Today
Many people use drugs or alcohol as a way to deal with the PTSD triggers they experience. Substance use may help them forget or push those thoughts and memories aside for a short amount of time. However, soon, the addiction becomes a dependency, which leads to health problems as well.
The best route to treating this is a dual diagnosis treatment plan. It will use numerous types of therapies to help a person work through the past trauma and the addiction while effectively enabling a person to heal. Some of the treatments we offer to help with this include:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Men’s rehab
- Women’s rehab
- Family therapy program
- Group therapy program
- Individual therapy program
If you are battling any of these or other PTSD triggers and have drug or alcohol addiction, let the team at Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston help and guide you. Our team will work closely with those who need support and guidance to heal from their addiction fully. Reach out to us today by calling 866.516.8356 or connect with us online for more insight and support.
