Will Triggers go away?

Hello,

In January I turned 25. In December of 2010, I decided to start Therapy which has been helpful dealing with depression and other steressors. As of today I still haven't discussed the abuse with my therapist. She is only aware that it has occurred. I know it has been a definite avoidance on my part. I asked my fiancé to purchase The Courage to Heal Workbook for me and i have been able to begin SLOWLY processing things while using it. Since age 8 I have been unable to sleep with the lights or TV off, closets have to be shut, I cannot take baths only showers and I have to sleep on the side of the bed furthest from my bedroom door. Has/is anyone else experiencing this? If so, how are you dealing/dealt with it?

Hi Rim,
Thanks for you question. The short anwer to your question is that some triggers go away more easily than others. Usually a trigger means that there is some part of your recovery that you still need to deal with. The trigger usually goes away when you are emotionally ready to deal with that part of your recovery. However, I must be honest with you and tell you that remembering more details about the abuse can cause triggers so I would suggest to continue going slow in therapy. Do not push yourself to talk about everything at once or to do the Courage to Heal readings and exercises all at once. Exercise, believe it or not, can be helpful with dealing with triggers because triggers are caused by our emotional fear, exercise is good for help to calm the brain, reduce stress and boost our brain's happy hormones (endorphins)....On a side note, yes, I use to have the problem of not being able to sleep with the TV off, still have to have closet doors shut though The TV thing however, went away about 6 months after I got into therapy and support group but for me, alot of my other triggers went away because I took a class called "Power of the Subconscious Mind," which taught me how to deal with bad memories. Helped my recovery BIG TIME! There's a book of the same name written by Dr. Joseph Murphy...Also, about the TV thing, I started setting my TV on a timer to shut off after like 2 hours, eventually I got to the point where I was able to sleep with it off. Also, have you tried one of those small night lights to keep by your bedside? Some triggers I asked a friend, etc. to be with me as I faced it for the first couple of times, then tried it on my own thereafter. It WILL feel uncomfortable the first few times but will eventually start to feel better.

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Sylvia

Rim wrote:Hello,

In January I turned 25. In December of 2010, I decided to start Therapy which has been helpful dealing with depression and other steressors. As of today I still haven't discussed the abuse with my therapist. She is only aware that it has occurred. I know it has been a definite avoidance on my part. I asked my fiancé to purchase The Courage to Heal Workbook for me and i have been able to begin SLOWLY processing things while using it. Since age 8 I have been unable to sleep with the lights or TV off, closets have to be shut, I cannot take baths only showers and I have to sleep on the side of the bed furthest from my bedroom door. Has/is anyone else experiencing this? If so, how are you dealing/dealt with it?