First Field Dressing First Field Dressing - SBT | Page 9

Part 2a
Trigger Points
Now we have our Braking Strategy or Safety net in place we can now start to look at what trigger points give us
stress and set off our illnesses.
A quick bit of analysis first. What are triggers? Triggers are simply things that remind us of traumatic events.
These can be sights, sounds, smells etc. Imagine someone who has heard explosions during their time in the
forces. A sound of a car backfiring may suddenly bring the thoughts of the incident flooding back into our minds.
These thoughts come back at such an intensity that we can actually relive the event as we were actually there.
These are called „Flashbacks‟. This can causes us to have nights of restless sleep, waking up with nightmares,
etc. They will also have a great effect on our normal daily lives as the thoughts take over and we become more
and more disconnected from normality. In a nutshell this is PTSD. This causes Anxiety, Depression and allsorts
of other mental illnesses. But don‟t panic! By using simple techniques we can bring these under control simply
by a little understanding. This will help to lessen the effects of PTSD and help those that are treating us to
understand a little better.
Let‟s firstly make a record of what happens and when. We shall start by using the thought record below.
Date & Time
When did you
start to feel
bad
Situation
Describe:
•The event leading to the
unpleasant emotion
and/or;
•The stream of thoughts
leading to the unpleasant
emotion
Emotions
What emotions you felt
e.g.. Sad, Angry
Rate strength of emotion
1 – 10 (1 being not bad,
10 being the worst)
Automatic Thoughts
Write what thoughts
went through your
mind just before you
felt the emotion