Trauma trigger

A trauma trigger represents some form of experience that triggers a traumatic memory in someone who has experienced trauma. Triggers can be in the form of individual people, places, noises, images, smells, tastes, feelings, animals, films, scenes within films, tones of voice, body positions, bodily sensations, weather conditions, time factors, or combinations thereof. Triggers can be subtle and difficult to anticipate, ^{1, 2} and sometimes exacerbate Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition in which trauma survivors cannot control the recurrence of traumatic or repressed memory.^{3, 4} A trauma trigger may also be referred to as a trauma stimulus or a trauma stressor.⁵

Therapy

The first step in helping trauma survivors begin the healing process involves establishing a safe environment, in particular, an environment in which the survivor does not feel threatened with recurrence of the original trauma, and also feels safe from encountering situations that will trigger the memory of the original trauma.⁶ Because traumatic memories are stored differently in the brain, their recurrence is often difficult or impossible for the survivor to control.⁷ Creating a living condition in which a survivor feels protected from trauma and from people or situations that will trigger traumatic memory enables the survivor to begin the healing process, in which survivors integrate their dissociated traumatic experience into acknowledged memory and are able to reconnect with their surroundings.⁸

Visual Media

Film and other visual media represent a unique form of trauma trigger. Because of the increasingly realistic portrayal of graphic violence in visual media, trauma survivors encounter life-like trauma triggers while watching movies or television.⁹ Moreover, these trigger scenes can be difficult to anticipate during the course of a film, and therefore can be difficult for a trauma survivor to avoid; by the time the viewer is aware of the content of the scene, a traumatic memory may already be triggered. Even if a survivor can anticipate a trigger, having the presence of mind to leave during a film can be difficult, and leaving may cause embarrassment and even stigma.^{10, 11} Trauma in film and other visual media represent an area in which cultural sensitization and support may reduce stigma for trauma survivors and help in the healing process.

See also

* Flashback (psychological phenomenon)
* Trauma
* Trauma in film
* Posttraumatic stress disorder
* Acute stress reaction
* Glossary of trauma terms
* Emotional dysregulation
* Survivor syndrome
* Repressed memory

Notes

# Post Traumatic Stress Disorders in Rape Survivors. [http://www.survive.org.uk/PTSD.html]
# Schneider.
# Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, A Real Illness. [http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-a-real-illness/complete-publication.shtml#pub4]
# Herman, 37, 42.
# Fagan and Freme.
# Herman, 155.
# Yehuda, 110-112.
# Herman, 159-174.
# Ephron.
# Phillips. As evidenced in the following article, in which most people report leaving during only 1-2 movies in their entire life.
# Matheson. In this instance, a man ends a relationship with his girlfriend for leaving a movie after a scene of graphic violence.

References

* cite news
last = Ephron
first = Dan
title = Battlefield flashbacks
publisher = Newsweek
date = 2006-10-01
year = 2006
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200610/ai_n16942632
accessdate = 2007-12-20
* cite journal
last = Fagan
first = Nancy
coauthors = Kathleen Freme
title = Confronting posttraumatic stress disorder
journal = Nursing
issue = Feb 2004
publisher = Findarticle.com
accessdate = 2007-12-20
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3689/is_200402/ai_n9386332/pg_1
* cite book
last = Herman
first = Judith Lewis, M.D.
title = Trauma and Recovery
publisher = BasicBooks, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers
date = 1992
isbn = 0-465-0876-5
* cite news
last = Matheson
first = Whitney
title = Have you ever walked out of a movie?
publisher = USA Today
date = 2002-06-07
url = http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/candy/2002/2002-06-12-candy-question.htm
accessdate = 2007-12-20
* cite news
last = Phillips
first = Michael
title = If a film made you flee, here's your ticket to deride
publisher = Chicago Tribune
date = 2007-07-05
url = http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/talking_pictures/2007/07/if-a-film-made-.html
accessdate = 2007-12-20
* cite web
title = Post Traumatic Stress Disorders in Rape Survivors
url = http://www.survive.org.uk/PTSD.html
accessdate = 2007-12-13
* cite journal
last = Schneider
first = Stephen
title = Slasher Movies
journal = St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
publisher = Gale Group
date = 2002
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419101116
accessdate = 2007-12-20
* cite journal
last = Yehuda
first = Rachel
title = Post-traumatic stress disorder
journal = N Engl J Med
volume = 346
issue = 2
date = 2002-01-10