Unpairing Triggers: How to Rewire Your Brain and Overcome Anxiety

💡Our brain has a built-in mechanism to remember dangers on a subconscious level, but sometimes it pairs something safe with a danger reaction, creating triggers.

🧠Triggers are common when people have an intense anxiety reaction to thinking about or talking about something frightening, like past trauma.

📚Avoidance of triggers only increases anxiety. Facing triggers in a safe manner can unpair the danger response and decrease anxiety.

⚡By facing triggers and surviving, your brain learns that they are safe, resulting in a decreased anxiety reaction around them.

🔄Rewiring your brain involves facing triggers in therapy, writing about them, or sitting with something that scares you to untrigger the trigger.

What are triggers?

—Triggers are neutral stimuli that are linked with a danger reaction, resulting in an anxiety response. They can be things, thoughts, or situations that remind someone of past trauma or cause intense fear.

How does avoidance affect anxiety?

—Avoidance of triggers actually increases anxiety. Every time we avoid something that is safe and survive, our brain thinks it's a successful strategy, leading to heightened anxiety around that stimulus.

How can I overcome triggers?

—You can overcome triggers by facing them in a safe way. This can involve talking about them in therapy, writing about them, or simply sitting with something that scares you. By doing so, you unpair the trigger from the anxiety response.

Does rewiring the brain require professional help?

—While professional help can provide valuable guidance and support, rewiring the brain can also be done through self-help techniques. It's important to choose methods that feel comfortable and safe for you.

Can rewiring the brain eliminate all anxiety?

—Rewiring the brain can significantly reduce anxiety around triggers, thoughts, and situations that previously scared you. However, it's important to remember that experiencing some level of anxiety is a normal and adaptive response.

00:00The brain and body have a reflexive response to danger, such as stepping near a rattlesnake on a hike, involving a surge of adrenaline and fear.

00:30When exposed to extreme fear or trauma, the brain can pair something safe with the danger response, creating triggers.

01:55Triggers often involve an intense anxiety reaction to thinking about or talking about something frightening, such as past trauma or assault.

02:46Avoidance of triggers only increases anxiety, as it reinforces the brain's association of that stimulus with danger.

03:14By facing triggers in a safe way, such as talking about them in therapy or sitting with something that scares you, you can unpair the trigger from the anxiety response.