Have you ever found yourself getting upset or angry at a specific situation and wondered why? Perhaps your response was a lot bigger than the situation warranted.
This could be an emotional trigger. But what exactly are they, and what impact do they have on your life?
Let’s find out more about emotional triggers in university and how these can affect you.
What are Emotional Triggers?
University may have exposed you to emotional triggers at some point. You cannot know what triggers you if you do not know why they are there.
Emotional triggers can be identified if you take the time to look for them. They can present themselves emotionally – such as helplessness, disappointment or betrayal – or physically – such as sweaty palms or an upset stomach. These feelings are usually linked to past experiences and memories and manifest when you least expect them.
How Can These Affect You?
If left alone, these emotional triggers can make your life rather difficult. You’ll find yourself avoiding certain places or particular topics of conversation because of past experiences.
At university, emotional triggers can present themselves in many ways. For example, having problems with a certain lecturer because of negative memories from a previous teacher, which may cause you to struggle in that class.
Or maybe you did something special for a friend or significant other, but they didn’t even notice. You may get more frustrated or disappointed than you normally would because of a past memory, such as overachieving for an indifferent parent or partner.
All of these and more can cause strained relationships between you and those you interact with.
What Can You Do About It?
You aren’t alone, everyone gets emotionally triggered at some point.
While it’s easy to get frustrated and lash out at people, maybe take a second to figure out why this particular situation is making you angry or uneasy instead of ignoring or running away from the problem.
Whilst escaping the situation may seem like the easiest thing to do in the moment, you can’t escape every situation. No matter how hard it may be, sorting through these emotions will help you in the long run.
Meditation or writing in a mood journal can help you both find the causes of some of your emotional triggers and help you to sort through them. Talking to a professional about these feelings can help you to overcome your emotional triggers in university.
Dealing effectively with emotional triggers can be tough, but it isn’t impossible. Don’t allow past experiences to affect your life and learning opportunities now.
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