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Old 10-12-2017, 10:52 AM
  # 7 (permalink)  
Vivisectus
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Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 55
Semi-related question: how many people here find themselves getting triggered by things that are neutral for normal people? I am willing to bet there are people here who get anxious when they hear the sound of a key turning in a lock, or who start to feel angry when the phone rings. Who start to feel resentment when they hear the sound of someone snoring, or who suddenly feel suspicious when they smell a heavy scent of aftershave or perfume.

The last one is a biggy for me. There are certain perfumes I just never want to smell again if I can help it, and when I find a pillow that smells like it I get anxious, and certain fights play out in my head.

Put a regular person in a forest, and they barely notice leaves rustling in a bush. Put a regular person in a forest full of tigers for 6 months, and you will find that the same sound will trigger terror, a massive adrenaline rush, and perhaps even make them run like hell before they have even had time to think about it.

I think a lot of people who have lived with an alcoholic are a little bit like that. We have learned to identify signals that indicate threatening stuff is about to happen. And even when we know in our rational minds that there is no immediate threat anymore, seeing the signal will still conjure up the same feelings. It may even bring back memories.

It takes time for conditioning like that to fade, they tell me. And the more time you spend at peace, the quicker that will happen.

Mindfullness techniques are really helping for me.
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