Training Your Brain To Be Calm, Confident And Resilient
<article class="post-973 post type-post status-publish format-standard category-blog entry" aria-label="How to Help Yourself When you’re triggered"><header class="entry-header"><h1 class="entry-title">How to Help Yourself When you’re triggered</h1>
<p class="entry-meta"><time class="entry-time">12th August 2019</time> by <span class="entry-author"><a href="https://johnnolan.uk/author/coachjohn/" class="entry-author-link" rel="author"><span class="entry-author-name">John Nolan</span></a></span> </p></header><div class="entry-content">
<p>You can probably think of an occasion where
the feelings you were experiencing at a particular moment were stronger, more
intense than the situation really deserved. Something from your past had been awakened
or ‘triggered’. Sometimes people are aware of what these memories are; sometimes
they just experience the emotional charge from the past event.</p><p><strong>These awakened memories can be one of the major elements of anxiety attacks, panic attacks, phobias and PTSD</strong>.</p><p>Briefly, what’s going on in your brain when this happens is that your more ancient brain structures, those associated with fundamental survival, are starting to take control. Something has awakened these regions in your brain because your brain detected a potential threat. This <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">‘flight or fight’</span></strong> system has detected a match between what’s going on in that moment for you and some past difficult experience.</p><p>When this survival mechanism starts to take
over, the thinking brain (the big bit at the front) starts to shut down. This front
brain is associated with you as a thinking conscious person. It is also
involved with social connection. You may recognise that when you’re triggered,
especially with a strong event, you’re unable to think clearly. This is because
that big thinking bit at the front of your brain is currently shut down. </p><h2><strong>What
you can do to awaken your front, thinking brain</strong></h2><p>Firstly, if the memories/events are big and problematic for you, there are ways to take their emotional potency out of them. I use <strong>Havening</strong> and <strong>Memory Reconsolidation</strong>. Please call me if you think this is an issue for you and we can talk about it.</p><p>There are numerous ways you can help yourself. Remember that when the ancient survival mechanism in your brain takes over, your thinking brain is not available to you. <strong>Preparation is the key</strong>. This requires you to do some planning ahead of the next triggering event.</p><p>A way to re-engage the thinking brain, one that
has been used for thousands of years, and that is backed by the evidence of modern
brain scans, is to reach out and connect with other people. The simple act of
connecting with other human beings starts to awaken the front brain, forcing it
to start working again. It also triggers a safety response in our brains.</p><p>As a simple solution, plan in advance who
you can talk with – by phone or even text message? So long as your brain
perceives this human connection then it will start to awaken your thinking mechanisms.
The stronger the connection, the more you interact, the more this brain
structure will wake up. </p><p>You won’t need to contact the other person
every time you’re triggered, just as a way of coping with the more challenging
times when you realise that your flight or fight centre is so strongly taking
over that you’re finding it hard to think clearly. Some clients I work with
will need to do this almost every time; others will have set up the connection
with their key person but only use it when they know that things are getting
really difficult.</p><p>But what if your lifestyle doesn’t permit
you to reach out to connect with another person, for example, if you’re at
work?</p><p>What can also work very well is using our
imagination to connect with another being. Remember that to our brains, a
well-imagined event is indistinguishable from an actual event. Religious
figures are often chosen: imagining being in the presence of a religious figure
and interacting with them. Of course, it doesn’t need to be a religious figure;
other people I know have had success with imagining themselves in the presence
of a great philosopher, or scientist, for example. The secret to making this
strategy work for you is to deliberately practise, even when there is no
triggering going on. </p><p><strong>Your triggering mechanism is a natural defensive brain process</strong>. With a little understanding of what is going on between your ears, you can prepare in advance, ready for the next time it happens. You can practise strategies that will help you to be prepared to help your thinking brain regain control.</p><div id='jp-relatedposts' class='jp-relatedposts' >
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