My triggers have gotten better over time. At the height of my self-injury, seeing anyone cut and bleeding (intentionally or not) on TV would set me off.
I keep track of reviews. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is the only recent YA novel that I thought might trigger me, and I knew going in. I read about 50 pages of it and then put it to the side because I realized it was getting harder for me to deal with it over time.
I'm okay with most of TV because I only half-watch (I'm always either on the computer or collaging at the time), but even so I always keep a remote near me because ads for certain weight loss products make my anxiety skyrocket. The second I hear even the beginning of it I turn the TV off until I'm sure it's over.
I don't see most movies in theatres for this very reason. It kind of sucks that I have to do it, but it's not worth paying $12 to get panicky and not have any way to stop it.
On the other hand, my therapist has been encouraging me to watch things that press at the limits of what I can handle, because I'm more likely to respond emotionally to a TV character doing something than when it's me. It's always a case of figuring out the middle ground between "doesn't trigger me at all" and "triggers me way too much," and sometimes I get it wrong, but I like to at least have the option.
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Date: 2009-06-25 09:27 pm (UTC)I keep track of reviews. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is the only recent YA novel that I thought might trigger me, and I knew going in. I read about 50 pages of it and then put it to the side because I realized it was getting harder for me to deal with it over time.
I'm okay with most of TV because I only half-watch (I'm always either on the computer or collaging at the time), but even so I always keep a remote near me because ads for certain weight loss products make my anxiety skyrocket. The second I hear even the beginning of it I turn the TV off until I'm sure it's over.
I don't see most movies in theatres for this very reason. It kind of sucks that I have to do it, but it's not worth paying $12 to get panicky and not have any way to stop it.
On the other hand, my therapist has been encouraging me to watch things that press at the limits of what I can handle, because I'm more likely to respond emotionally to a TV character doing something than when it's me. It's always a case of figuring out the middle ground between "doesn't trigger me at all" and "triggers me way too much," and sometimes I get it wrong, but I like to at least have the option.