What Are Your Triggers?

[AsheSkyler]

Good grief, where did you grow up? Sounds like a war zone.

That was my late teens, early adult life when I finally was able to find a guy to date. All the guys I like didn't like me 'cause I was so strange, and all the guys that liked me I didn't like because they stayed drunk or high. On the very few occasions I found somebody who liked me that I didn't mind dating, they turned out as diagnosed bipolar. It must have been Aspie loyalty or something why I didn't have enough sense to get rid of them faster because I'd keep trying to help them with their anger issues and more often than not I became something to get their anger out on until I'd get fed up and abandon them.

 

[forstem99]

For me it's loud music. I've always found it extremely intrusive to the point of having a meltdown from a sense of psychic invasion. Severe paranoia and depression.
You can imagine what University was like!
I recently had new neighbours move in downstairs replacing the quiet couple who had been there for years. I went from stable and strong to a wreck in the space of 3 days....

 

[Harrison]

Loud music
Crowds
Screaming kids
Angry people
People messing with my stuff

 

[wyverary]

Whenever I break or can't find something. Instant meltdown.

 

[ZackSkylar101]

For me these are some triggers:
- People touching me - Generally don't enjoy this, particularly skin-skin contact. More like light pressure then heavy pressure.
- Loud music with lots of bass - Starts to make me feel quite drained from being around it.
- People talking a lot in a group - Similar to the last one.
- Bright lights, particularly those in some shops (a particular type of fluorescent light that instantly starts to irritate me when I'm exposed to it).
- People moving my stuff (for example: if I have my desk arranged in a specific way, someone rearranging it)/sitting in my part of the room (for example: if I have a chair I normally sit in, them sitting in my chair) - I've classed these two together. They are sort of triggers, because I get irritated when they happen and am more susceptible to other things that could cause me to elicit the response.
- Housemates being in a part of the house/flat that I want to be in/generally housemates interacting with me when I am at home - In this scenario I generally just avoid going in/seeing people. By the time I get back to my place after going out I just want to be away from people and without this part I wouldn't be able to cope particularly well with everything else, so I need that barrier.
- Big crowds of people
- 1 on 1 interaction when it gets too intense - Generally once this finishes I need to spend an hour or so walking to try and get myself to feel like me again.
- Being crushed in or not being able to move from somewhere due to other people - sort of a mixture of the crowd (if a crowd was static) and the touching trigger.
- Seeing trauma (deep tissue burns and some other parts) - Having to do this for my course occasionally at the moment and I'm not dealing with it particularly well (to be honest, just thinking about it at the moment is freaking me out a little bit.)

There are probably more things, but I'll stop there for now XD

Coping mechanisms:

Generally I just try to get away from the situation and internalise feelings until I am able to. If there is someone nearby who understands then I will mention it to them. I try to avoid things that could cause these feelings. If I am in crowds or a busy place and if people are going to touch me, I've started to bite my finger a little bit, which seems to work a little in keeping me going. I have learnt to walk really quickly, so I use this to dart through crowds to get away from them and to where I want to go.

If it is light, I switch to my tinted glasses. If it is sound, I put on my noise cancelling headphones. I use food to help me out a reasonable amount. If I am out shopping then I buy myself a chicken and sweetcorn sandwich, some sort of juice (currently going for mango) and some crisps and then try to find somewhere where there are no people that I can sit down in. I have also found that gummy worms and Haribo works well at getting me to calm down, so I try to keep some of those around.

In a lot of scenarios I just try to deal with it. If it is getting pretty bad then I assume that if it continues I will get a migraine or something like that, so I take codeine and ibuprofen, but generally I don't try to do this unless it is getting quite bad.

 

[Aspergirl4hire]

I'm new to all of this, and I find it helpful to think on the keys. Given your definition of trigger is to go into fight/flight/freeze, mine must be...

* being talked over in meetings--notably, people who won't follow the rules set by a meeting goal and agenda when both are explicitly set. Fight. Not always on-the-spot.
* raised voices (shouting, laughter). Flight.
* oblique conversations or "static" - ie, when people talk to me and I'm aware of hidden meanings, but my head can't figure out how to convert signal-to-noise ratio. I have lost a lot of opportunities because the part of my head that perceives hidden meanings that it can't translate also can't cope with the divided attention problem for the entire conversation. I think about "what did that really mean" and then struggle to take in the next oblique bit, and the next...Tactful people. Diplomatic people. Their words don't mean what I think they do. I don't understand as much as they think I do (I have pretty good coping skills, initially). I keep getting corrected on the use of the word "fight" when they want me to say "conflict" and I don't understand the difference. Freeze/hide in plain sight.
* Any conversation involving HR. They can't be trusted. Freeze/hide-in-plain-sight.
* Online application forms. They now ask for identification of disability for federal reporting purposes. My shrink says it's a ruse to weed people out. Since you can be fired for lying on the form, I don't know what to do. I've done both. Nothing seems to help. Freeze, meltdown, and then go ahead knowing I'm doing the wrong thing and feel awful the rest of the day.
* Networking events. They involve most of the above, usually. Freeze followed by Flight.

ADDED:
* Having someone shout at me, specifically, triggers all three behaviors in a rapid sequence.

 

[SlytherinDixon]

Oh wow... A trigger list, coming up.

Please don't laugh at these, by the way... I'm fairly ridiculous.

Change, as in moving or my routine shifting, or the actual money object.
Chaos and disorder.
Loud children.
Too many people in my living room.
My mother just... Practically existing. All she does is complain and yell. Seriously. Seriously.
My little brother arguing with me, or with my mom.
My little brother yelling at his video games (which we all do, but he is so excessive...).
My dog barking at absolutely nothing.
Non-Asian people in the Asian food section at Wal-Mart.
People obnoxiously talking loud at a restaurant.
This one girl on HEXRPG. She just totally makes me want to scratch my eyes out.
Getting dirty after a shower.
The smell of sweat.
Seeing myself in a mirror.

 

[Arlais]

*flexes fingers*

Let's do this.. wasps, crowds, bright and/or flashing lights, open-plan spaces, sudden noises, bananas, travelling on motorways, escalators & elevators, loud music, time deadlines, getting my hands dirty, being told I'm "doing it wrong", noise of social chatter, feeling trapped with no escape route, people talking to me when I'm trying to think, when I've made plans and those plans have to change...amongst other things.

 

[handbanana]

Walking through crowds where there are bicyclists and skateboarders (its like walking through a crowd where people are going to punch you but don't)
Smell of body odor (mostly from international students, I'm ok with american/European/Canadian)
The sound of someone's music coming from their earbuds
Medium to loud conversation in close proximity to me while studying
Stiff denim

 

[Juturna]

Negative critism/feedback. If I get told I'm not doing something the way I should or am doing something wrong, I feel just terribly stupid. It really is random to when I'll understand take it - I think it has to do if I'm working on said thing at the time. But if like somebody randomly comes to me and tells me x (even with warning) I kinda shut down.

Sometimes I get full depressive episodes from them, and often they become hard to think about. Like I stay ashamed for years, even if ir's just a little thing.

But even if you tell me positive things about myself, I often don't believe them either - unless they're prepared to give a deep explaination as to why they think that, so either way I'm not really... I'm basically stuck up a creek with no paddle :|

 

[Rudy Schmidt]

- People holding or touching my things, or being in my bedroom

- Very overbearing people (always having to talk, loud, etc)

- Anger from other people, or even believing (often erroneously) that others are angry with me

- Rudeness (not saying please and thank you, demanding instead of asking, unnecessary shouting or swearing, etc etc etc)

- Being around people and not being able to retreat (people always calling me back, wanting me to talk to, or do something, etc)

Most of mine come from other people's behaviour, looking back on it.

 

[Graelwyn]

Criticism.
Babies screaming.
Too much stimulation (as in crowded, noisy environments)
Being jostled, pushed past (really makes me angry)
Lack of understanding about my condition (ie - being told to 'grow up' or 'get a life' in response to some of my aspie issues)
Perceived rejection.
Forced change of routine.
Disappointment.
Clothes digging into me.
Losing someone in a crowded/unfamiliar place.
Losing things.
Forgetting things (why is it always the toilet rolls I forget, yet I remember the non essentials, lol)
My OCD - getting stuck in repeating the same things.
Lack of sleep.
Anyone kicking my chair when in a cinema/theatre.
Being told what to do by those in authority.

 

[Rudy Schmidt]

Another one that sends me from zero to panic stations in about five seconds - not being able to find something I need. For example, a key, or a remote. I rummage, I circle, I repeat the phrases "it can't possibly have just disappeared", they get more and more shrill, and my blood pressure skyrockets, and frequently I have to go to a dark room and breathe in silence for a minute or two. Don't know why this particular situation affects me THAT BADLY, as I'm usually extremely even-tempered, even in bad situations.

 

[Progster]

Rejection
Tobacco smoke
Sound of gunshot or other sudden loud noises.
Thunder and lightening
lifts (elevators)
TV and radio commercials
bright flickering lights
eggs
whistling, loud high pitched noises

 

[Dirtdigger]

Loud music
Bouncing basketballs
Yapping dogs
Cigarette Smoke
Bright lights
Being laughed at
Being rejected
Being ignored
Change in my routine
Being criticized, picked on called names
Being treated like I'm stupid and only bad things happen to me.
Hair Spray
Smelly perfumes
Gnats and flies
These are the main ones that I can think of.

 

[NlGHTgirl]

Smell of body odor (mostly from international students, I'm ok with american/European/Canadian)

I accept body odor because I can't stand perfume! eek!

Loud music

Smelly perfumes

Perfumes and laundry detergent!!!! UGH! It gives me a headache to be near that aisle in the store!!!!!!! TIDE day break fresh was on sale, I should have known better! I actually had asthma attacks to use that stuff (normal stregnth). Must be a reaction to the chemicals?

(I'm not sure how Aspie I am) I also have a thyroid problem where I can't smell or taste very well when my gi tract is slow. There might have been brain trauma too. (car accidents, play ground as a child, etc etc)

oddly (?) I love sunlight! It helps me become super cheerful! However, too much sunlight or (MOSTLY too much sounds, and/or combined with too much light) sounds will give me a "headache" but it's not a "real" people migraine headache. "EVERYTHING" is UNBEARABLE, EXTRA LOUD. It drives me nuts! The noise comes through like PAIN!!!!!!!! If I retreat from the sensations, everything will be quiet again. There are kids around me, so I know noise.............. My sister has migraines! it's like that, sensitivities, but if i leave the area, the pain goes away!!!!!! (True migraine sufferers would be sOoOooooo mad at me! to solve the issue so quickly!)

 

[Wooaspie]

When I think I have social interaction finally figured out and then I fail, usually in an epic manner. When I reflect on it and realize how far from hitting the mark I was, that's when the meltdown starts.

 

[Suzanne]

Loud and angry voices, gets me in a panic when a man's face is contorted with aggression
Some smells
Silence
Freak out when I see a tea towel over a shoulder
Plates and cups on the floor
Disorganisation
Change
People changing. Find it hard to deal when I see constination and always think it is aimed at me. Due to years of practise, but unknown to me, I can read expressions too well.
Being asked to do something different to the norm
Knowing I am right, but that is ignored
Talking but no one listening
Meeting new people, because it means the unknown for me and I cannot cope
Pre judging me
Saying: what would you know? Or, you can't talk, you don't have children
Being asked a question and mind is blank and several hours later, know the answer.
Not having my word taken. Ventured to say I am an aspie and get. You cannot go on the Internet and think you have all these problems or just shrugging me off and yet, flipping heck, these people know something is not right, but they don't ask
Tons more but can't think of them right now

 

[Maelstrom]

[QUOTE="Dan Metevier, So, I'm going to move on to your question about "recovered memories. My understanding is that some people were given strong suggestions by rather unethical therapists that there might have been abuse in their history. I am very careful not to do this [/QUOTE]

Good answer, It is very easy to implant false memories with a contaminated line of questioning. Police end up with false convictions sometimes because of this, by implanting facts in conversation that should have been withheld for verifying the truth. A astronomiacl amount of harm can be done to good people with this.
So shrink you ask allot of very basic, vague, questions, you just fishing with a wide net or what???

 

[GhostWriter]

I use the word "trigger" to mean anything that someone sees, hears, touches, smells, senses, imagines, tastes, and so on, that activates their "fight/flight/freeze" survival mechanism (causes a meltdown, a fight or argument, a high degree of distress, avoidance, etc.).

If you're willing to say, what are some of the strongest triggers of which you are aware?

Thank you!

I agree with Dogwood Tree's list up to

I use the word "trigger" to mean anything that someone sees, hears, touches, smells, senses, imagines, tastes, and so on, that activates their "fight/flight/freeze" survival mechanism (causes a meltdown, a fight or argument, a high degree of distress, avoidance, etc.).

If you're willing to say, what are some of the strongest triggers of which you are aware?

Thank you!

I go along with Dogwood Trees list up to Sexual attraction. Also agree with 'the Bad One' & the 'Lack of Distraction....'. I would add:
Any kind of mistreatment of animals
Condescension- a 'baby talk' tone of voice
Manipulation
Unnecessary Details
Etc...

I use the word "trigger" to mean anything that someone sees, hears, touches, smells, senses, imagines, tastes, and so on, that activates their "fight/flight/freeze" survival mechanism (causes a meltdown, a fight or argument, a high degree of distress, avoidance, etc.).

If you're willing to say, what are some of the strongest triggers of which you are aware?

Thank you!