Stressors and Triggers!

Stressors: anything that causes strain or internal stress.

Triggers: the cause of a situation, event or a circumstance to take place or happen.

First we will talk about stressors: 

Scenario: You are at work and your project is due tomorrow and it’s not nearly finished. You then go home and look at the mail that is stacking up on the table; most of them bills and unopened letters. The kids are asking what’s for dinner while running, jumping and playing all over the house. The wife is saying “honey we need to go shopping” and the dog is constantly barking at something. Everything is hitting you all at once and you can feel the pressure slowing building up. 

Life can be full of stress and stressful situations that we face on a daily basis causing us to react and sometimes make hasty decisions. 

There are short term stressors that are temporary and long term stressors that will not go away. We often place a lot of stress on our own-selves internally. There are always external situations that pull us…wanting us to do something, give something, be somewhere or apart of something. You get the idea…we all have a plate full of life.

Do you know what your stressors are? If not, you need to begin by thinking and watching out for those specific circumstances and situations that stress you out. Be more mindful of what is happening at that moment it happens and how you feel. Take a moment to feel and think.
Here are some examples of what may be considered
stressors:

• For some women…taking birth control pills is stressful
• Worrying about a triple by- pass surgery or major surgery coming up
• Excessive uncontrolled flatulance (gas)
• Physically hurt and not being able to do all that you use to do
• Total rejection and separation from someone you love
• Miscarriage or lost of a child
• Major life changes and major moves
• Death of a family member or close friend
• Worrying about finances and bills?
• Going thru a Divorce.
• And the list goes on and on.

Now that you understand more about stressors..next question…do you have a stress management plan? How do you relieve stress? 

Some stressors are good stress because it shocks us into action. We get up and get busy allowing the stress to become a tool that we use to push us to complete our task and goals for the day. Every time we think about that particular stress and what would happen if we don’t complete the job today, we get up and get busy. This is good stress and we use it as a motivator or tool.

Let’s talk about Triggers: 

Triggers can begin most of the time through an external event, a situation or circumstance, but they are not always external. There are times when our internal thinking or mental outlook triggers stress, depression or any number of other disorders. Sometimes the medication that we take can trigger a mood swing in us and alter the way we feel and or think. 

Here is are some example of triggers: 

1) A husband and wife go to a party. Every time someone would ask his wife to dance, it would trigger the husband to fly off into a rage. Jealously or guilt and sometimes a little of both could be the reason for the trigger. 

2) Some days you think about your situation and how hopeless it looks, then you shut down and get depressed with feelings of helplessness. It’s called “stinking’ thinking”. When you make a decision to go to your room, close all the curtains or isolate yourself, shut down and allow yourself to become overwhelmed by your thoughts. Your thoughts just became an internal trigger for your mood swing.
Friends and Love ones Beware!!

This is the time of year when most of our suicides happen. Pay close attention to your love ones, friends, relatives and acquaintances . Pay attention to their behaviors and the signs. Browse the page and read, share your comments and life experiences but most of all…Be Happy!! Be blessed!!

Elder Rick H. Carter