Have you ever felt emotionally triggered because of something you saw on the news, in media,

or in real life?

Welcome back to Savvy Psychologist.

I'm your host, Dr. Monica Johnson.

Every week on this show, I'll help you face life challenges with evidence-based approaches

of sympathetic ear and zero judgment.

There are so many things happening in the world that are potentially triggering for us.

Events in the news like people getting murdered, or being the victim of serious bodily harm,

or similar themes depicted in entertainment we consume can trigger us.

So let's first define what a triggering event is.

A trigger or stressor is anything that can lead to a negative emotional reaction.

And an individual says they are triggered.

What they typically mean is that the stimuli brought on or worsened symptoms related to

their mental health.

These could be a wide range of symptoms related to mood, anxiety, PTSD, and more.

And we'll get into that in more detail later.

Triggers are often connected to trauma.

Bicarious trauma relates to stressors that are witnessed by others.

There are also related types of trauma, which include race-based trauma and other types

of minority stress, like those related to sexuality, gender, and religion.

These sorts of trauma describe the chronically high levels of stress faced by members of

oppressed groups due to the interpersonal experiences of bias, prejudice, discrimination,

...