I was reading around during the blog party and came up with a good topic for my entry this week. Several different bloggers talked about this so I’d like to give credit to all of you for jogging my mind a bit.
What kinds of things cause you to trigger? “Trigger” to me just means something that causes me to revert back into depression, frustration, or anger. I have learned to avoid as many triggers as possible but some still slip through. Do any of these things trigger you also?
FRIENDS who are hot and cold. You are their best friend one minute and the next week they have no time for you. Then once you have written them off, they call again and say “Where have you been? I want to get together.” I judge my close friends by this standard: would I call them in a mental health crisis for some support? If I would not, they might be a friend but not in my inner circle. I need people I can count on.
Now this doesn’t mean I expect anyone other than professionals to seriously help me when I am in trouble. But when I am really down, I want to hear…how can I help? do you need me to come over? should I call someone? Do you need the crisis team? I don’t need to hear “I hope you feel better…I have a hangnail!” Due to all this hoopla, I have culled my friend list down to nine good friends. I also have a second list of people I am friendly with but can’t count on. I’ll send them Christmas cards.
VIOLENCE in movies and TV shows. I just don’t care for violence or suicidal actions in film. My movies don’t have to be happy or comedies, but I like documentaries, dramas, and general fiction movies with strong character development. Sex or bad language doesn’t bother me but forget rolling heads.
CROWDS can get scary for me. I feel very alienated in a large crowd, like at a busy mall. A packed movie theater also triggers me. I like to sit of the end of the row. I hate tripping over people and have them tripping over me to get out. There’s something about a crowd. This sounds crazy but I want to go up to everyone and ask them their story. It’s strange but I want to know everyone.
FREEWAY DRIVING is my nemesis. This is a pain in the ass. I have to get back to it. It triggers me to sweat and panic. I can envision myself just pulling over and stopping. Ick!
BEING LONELY can bring on depression. I can feel lonely in a crowd like many people. I don’t like it if no one is home. My pets are some company but not the same as a person.
BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ON TV are ultra depressing. No matter how much weight I lose I will not be gorgeous and have perfect teeth and hair. It seems, however, like everyone on TV is fantastic. Even though I know a lot of makeup, wardrobe, etc. go into that beauty.
RELATIVES who look for trouble. We have a cousin who sits around and waits to be insulted. He makes up whatever he can. This triggers me to want to stay away from people.
FUNERALS cause me to cry without end. I just don’t do well. I skip all funerals except the ones I MUST attend. Most people seem to understand.
HAIR DRYING is stressful for me. I am better now at getting a shower, but now I hate to blow dry my hair. I get impatient standing there and it seems to take forever. In reality, it takes about five minutes. I will often cancel on an activity because my hair needs to be washed. But at least I am better on showering.
HGTV is a huge trigger. I do not want to watch other lucky people get their house totally re-done. (see above image) There’s nothing wrong with my house, but watching others have their decorated bugs me. Especially when they stand there and complain about the designers.
FACEBOOK. What can I say? There’s something lonely about grandbabies, kittens, and puppies. I don’t get into the whole “like” thing, but know that people get insulted by not enough likes. I cut my FB friends down to about 20. I still get depressed over them. Some of them I was close friends with at one time but we have all moved on. Sad.
TECHNOLOGY frustrates me like nothing else. I want to set up a FB page for my book. I want to tweet for my blog. I want to learn the WP blog changes. I struggle. I want to edit my book with Word. Technology life is hard. I can get angry when I get too lost.
So what triggers you?
