Learning what your fears are. You don’t always know what you fear and fear is not always noticeable. When you picture a person whose fearful, you think of a person verbally or physically acting out. However, fear that’s deep down inside of us; buried for a long time is not always recognizable. Why? Because we have gotten really good at hiding our pain and fears,
even from ourselves. Who would have thought that, right? My suggestion comes from my own self-awareness.
One way is paying attention to your emotions and anxiety. Those are two big triggers… When your emotions get the best of you, boy do they really get the best of you. Especially if you’re a woman because we generally experience higher levels of emotional stimulation than men. Fear can come out in emotional outbursts, racing heartbeat, needing to escape, feeling detached, feeling powerless, our attitude, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety, or panic attacks.
Start by truly pay attention to your body for the signs of havoc in your life. For example, feeling the need to escape (and acting on up – i.e. going to your bedroom for long periods) is easy to ignore because it may be part of your “everyday” life now. You’ve become so used to burying those feelings alive. If, however, there is no clear escape, then a common alternative response is to deny the fear, pretending that it does not exist. This is not a way to live and it’s not healthy for your mental status. I know you will benefit from these 3 tips of recognizing and facing your fears through trauma.
Understanding your triggers. Did you know that fear is related to anger? Fear can also morph into anger when the fight-or-flight reaction goes down. I seriously did not know that and it makes sense now. Being on my own path of trauma recovery. I am learning a lot by working on some deep self-reflection. It’s important for me to share my 💡 “light bulb” moments because it’s not every day that I get to speak and share with others who can relate. I believe sharing is caring and I do truly care!
In the past, the fear I was experiencing at the moment would turn into anger and I know why. I also thought this was “normal“.
What I didn’t know, is that I was internalizing my fear and over time it became internal anger and eventually external anger too. – Petra Clarke
I’d like to share a few common triggers that I have experienced myself. I am now aware of these and can sometimes recognize them at the moment or shortly after; being misunderstood, chaos/no order, disrespect, invading my comfort zone, and inconsistency. Here’s a list of some most common symptoms of PTSD by which I hope will help you identify some of your triggers.
⬊ Common PTSD Symptoms ⬋
- Intense feelings of distress when reminded of a tragic event
- Extreme physical reactions to reminders of trauma such as nausea, sweating or a pounding heart
- Invasive, upsetting memories of a tragedy
- Flashbacks (feeling like the trauma is happening again)
- Nightmares of either frightening things or of the event
- Loss of interest in life and daily activities
- Feeling emotionally numb and detached from other people
- Sense of a not leading a normal life (not having a positive outlook of your future)
- Avoiding certain activities, feelings, thoughts or places that remind you of the tragedy
- Difficulty remembering important aspects of a tragic event
- This list was collected from @blackbearrehab.com
Start seeing fear as an opportunity. Fear can be used as a tool to help us identify problems and solve them effectively. It’s a guidepost, a red flag that warns us when something needs attention. Once the discomfort of the initial wave of fear passes, I try to examine it more closely to see what I can learn from it. It won’t always be easy but over time it starts to form a good habit. You might find this strategy works for you and you can add it to your wellness toolbox.
You may fear failure, change, or something else that’s more difficult to pinpoint. What has worked for me is reflecting on my fears and paying attention to how much they affect my life. No matter what it is that scares me I am learning how to acknowledge it, confront it, and take ownership of my fearS so that nothing can hold me back in life. I choose to accept fear as a motivator, new levels of focused concentration, and a form of emotional energy. By owning your feelings you’ve taken the first step toward gaining control over the situation.
The Ugly, The Bad, The Good; becoming Stronger!