Over the course of a therapy session with Rachel Needle, a clinical psychologist in West Palm Beach, Florida, patients sometimes say they feel triggered by a variety of things, from everyday annoyances to devastating reminders of traumatic events.
These events vary so much that the word trigger has lost much of its meaning, Dr. Needle discovered. While the term has its roots in trauma psychology, the way it is applied clinically does not always align with how it is commonly used.
In a popular thread with more than 400 comments on Reddit, users shared “uncommon triggers” that remind them of unpleasant past experiences, including spaghetti, the smell of body wax, or food in wrinkled bags.
Yael Schonbrun, a clinical psychologist at Brown University, said that while there are benefits to incorporating psychological terms like triggers into the public lexicon — doing so can reduce stigma and create cultural shorthand to help people describe their feelings and experiences — there can also be downsides.
Overuse of the word trigger can undermine the experiences of people with a history of trauma or mental health disorders, she said, and prompt others to handle challenging experiences in unhealthy ways.
What does “trigger” really mean?
In psychology, the word trigger has most often been linked to trauma.
A trauma is “an overwhelming event that overwhelms a person's ability to cope,” said Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist in Cleveland and senior counselor at the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University.
Traumatic memories affect people differently than other memories do, Dr. Damour said. When reminded of a traumatic event, some people may feel as if they are re-experiencing it, rather than simply remembering it: “like they were back there, like it was all happening again,” she said. This involuntary re-experiencing is known as flashbacks.
A trigger is a cue or experience that can trigger a flashback, Dr. Damour said, adding that it could be a place, smell, sound or situation that “suddenly causes a person to go back in time to a traumatic event.”
Because flashbacks are so disturbing, many trauma survivors try to avoid triggers, Dr. Schonbrun said. Avoiding a trigger provides a feeling of security and relief that signals to the brain that the fear and avoidance were justified. But avoiding it can only make things worse, he said, because it reinforces anxiety.
Psychologists often use a form of treatment called exposure therapy to help people overcome trauma by having them recount traumatic experiences in a safe environment, Dr. Damour said. The goal is that, over time, people will stop associating their triggers with immediate danger and learn that they do not need to be avoided.
The word trigger is also sometimes used in other mental health contexts, Dr. Needle said, usually to describe identifiable signs that increase symptoms or problematic behaviors. For example, people diagnosed with substance use disorders, eating disorders, or bipolar disorder may refer to those cues as triggers.
How 'triggered' is used outside of psychology
When people use the term trigger to refer to everyday things that cause discomfort or offense, they risk conflating traumatic experiences or mental health problems with everyday challenges, several experts said.
There is a big difference between being affected by something and actually developing clinical symptoms, Dr. Needle added.
Using triggers to describe negative everyday experiences can also cause people to misinterpret discomfort as danger. They may begin to think of annoying experiences or everyday challenges as harmful, rather than seeing them as opportunities to learn and grow, Dr. Needle said.
If people interpret all negative experiences as harmful or traumatic, they may also “see themselves as permanently damaged rather than able to handle situations,” Dr. Needle added. Some studies suggest that so-called trigger warnings, which are used to protect people from potentially emotionally distressing material, can also reinforce avoidance and anxiety.
The fear of feeling uncomfortable when faced with certain things can even damage relationships, Dr. Schonbrun said.
When a person says they feel triggered while arguing, for example, the comment could “act as an emergency brake,” he said, ending what might otherwise have been a constructive dialogue.
Sometimes the word trigger can also be used in a sarcastic or derogatory way, Dr. Needle said, as in, “Oh, you're just triggered,” to minimize someone's legitimate negative reaction to a comment or action.
“It's basically a way of saying that your response is 'your problem,' a sign of weakness or oversensitivity, rather than acknowledging that something genuinely hurtful was said or done,” she said.
Expanding our vocabulary beyond “triggered”
Given all of these potential dangers, what should people do or say when they hear the word in conversation or are tempted to use it?
When Dr. Damour hears people casually say who “feel triggered,” she does not reprimand them. “I usually just say, 'tell me more about that,'” he said.
Dr. Needle suggested that people try to reflect on their difficult experiences and use more specific words or phrases to describe their feelings, such as “that really frustrated me” or “that reminded me of something difficult that happened in the past.”
“That kind of language is more accurate,” Dr. Needle said, “and it also helps people understand what you're really feeling and needing in that moment.”
