How to Recognize Painful Emotional Triggers and Stop Reacting in Anger

a post by Erin Grace for the Tiny Buddha blog

“Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

There I was again, regretting the spiteful words that had cascaded out of my mouth during a heated argument with my partner.

I felt that old familiar feeling, the burning in my solar plexus that bubbled up and erupted like a volcano, spilling out expressions of anger, blame, and criticism.

It had been a rocky few months, my partner was struggling to find consistent work, and our credit card debt was on the rise. Suddenly anger kicked in and I lashed out, accusing him of slacking off and guilting him about me being the only one working.

As the words spilled from my mouth, I knew deep down that what I was saying was hurtful and untrue. I could see that my partner was trying his best , but my anger had taken over, causing suffering that I would later regret.

This was a familiar pattern for me. I’ve frequently reacted emotionally, without understanding why, and caused suffering to myself and my partner and chaos in our relationship. I spent the next few days beating myself up about my reaction and wondering, why do I never seem to learn?

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The Myth of “I’m Triggered and it’s Your Fault”

a post by Sharie Stines for The Recovery Expert [via World of Psychology]



What, exactly, are triggers? Triggers are those moments and circumstances in our lives that cause us to experience an emotional response that is not in line with the event that caused it. Another term for experiencing a trigger is feeling that response of, “You pushed my button!”

A trigger event causes an emotional flashback, where we feel very strong emotions, often uncontrollable. Most of us assume that the trigger was caused by the perpetrator – the person who did whatever occurred that caused our negative feelings. The truth is, each one of us has triggers that originate within ourselves. Other people are not responsible for our trigger responses.

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How to Identify Your Emotional Triggers and What to Do About Them

a post by Kerry Campbell for the Tiny Buddha blog


“Awareness is the birthplace of possibility. Everything you want to do, everything you want to be, starts here.” ~Deepak Chopra

Ever wonder why some people respond in the same destructive way over and over even though they keep getting the same bad results?

Many of us can relate to having unhealthy coping mechanisms and responses to things like stress, fear, or other agitating emotional states. Often, we are unaware of the subconscious processes going on and we may, for example, instinctively reach for an alcoholic beverage at the end of a long, hard day, never realizing we are setting ourselves for an addictive pattern that may one day claim our health, or possibly our life.

I know this was certainly my situation. But, I was unable or unconscious of how to get out of this pattern of behavior – until I learned to identify my emotional triggers and re-route my unhealthy habitual responses.

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Been there, done that, lost the t-shirt and learned a lot on the way.

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