Why Some Are So Easily Triggered

We hear a lot about a term these days that we really didn’t hear much in the past: being triggered.

What does it mean?

"In counseling, we use the word “trigger” to refer to the intense emotional distress you may feel suddenly when you’re faced with something that reminds you of a past traumatic experience. A trigger can cause you to react as if the trauma were happening again. You might hear a fire engine siren and feel immediate fear. The sound reminds you of a car accident you were involved in.

Even months or years later, just hearing the siren makes you suddenly sweat, have heart palpitations, speed up your breathing. Your mind and body react as if the crash were occurring all over again, though you may not even be in a car but instead out walking in your neighborhood with your dog. And yet, you can’t figure out why your body and mind are reacting as if your life is at risk.” (https://health.osu.edu/health/mental-health/what-does-it-mean-to-be-triggered)

According to this being triggered is a matter of there being unfinished business in the soul of a wounded person.

To be sure, life can be traumatic and the measurement of how traumatic something is to us has to do with many factors among them being the sensitivity of each individual, the level of intensity of the traumatic event, events or lifestyle, the age at which the person began to experience it, and so on.

In other words, each person’s wounding and subsequent pain is their own.

In addition, I have come to understand that PTSD is not limited to the experiences of military personnel and first responders. Of course, the nature of those callings does heighten the chance that they might be exposed to this as adults.

However, I believe that all people have experienced some sort of trauma in some way. Marital strife, separation and divorce can cause it. Hospitalizations of the person or others who are significant, the loss of a pet, deaths of loved ones, moving from one place to another, car accidents, house fires, natural disasters…all these can bring trauma into one’s life.

Something WILL happen. (We can thank Adam for that one.)

The resultant wounds in our minds, wills and emotions may be ignored and may be buried for the rest of our lives. Most people seem to choose to do that rather than grapple with them as they come into our lives. The reason for that, it seems, is that they start coming into our lives when we are very young and not at all equipped to deal with them. So, we try to keep surviving anyway.

My observation after all these years of ministry is that these wounds still, to some degree, hurt.

This is where being triggered comes in as the quote at the beginning of this piece told us.

Life happens and when it does something which has occurred might remind us of the initial trauma. That will unleash all the emotions attached to that wound which has been entombed in that soul.

This can be OVERWHELMING.

Therefore, the emotional bloom which accompanies this is understandable.

I believe that it’s not our fault when we have events which come into our lives that may or may nor result in wounds. This is especially true of the wounds which are introduced to us when we are very young; but, it is also true for whenever trauma comes into our lives.

Things happen in this fallen world.

(The one exception to this has to do with when we choose to remain in a place in which traumatic things repeatedly happen to us. If we stay there…WE become part of the problem.)

As adults, though, we DO have the responsibility to deal with the damage left behind in our souls due to the things that satan and life bring to us.

So, why are so many so easily triggered today? From my perspective, there are several reasons.

The first is that people seem to remain functionally juvenile far beyond when we might consider them to be of adult age. Many become legal adults according to the laws of their communities but are allowed to be immature. It’s as if first world society behaves like over protective parents and guardians.

The result is that when God allows them to feel the pain associated with the wounds…pain which is intended by Him to direct them to seek healing from the pain they, instead, shift the responsibility to do so AWAY from themselves and to whoever made them “feel bad”.

If becomes everyone else’s responsibility to walk on eggshells hoping to somehow not trigger the weak ones.

Today’s “wokeness” has empowered this toxic dynamic and one element of wokeness is that it always shifts responsibility AWAY from the person who should be responsible and ONTO anyone else. This is a satanic tactic designed to keep the wounded in bondage.

The scenario we see played out all around us is that the wounded are encouraged to protect their woundedness by whining and complaining whenever someone else purposely or accidentally triggers them. The immediate purpose for the wounded person’s outburst is to make the person who triggered the wounded person instantly regret doing so, causing them to feel guilty for another person feeling bad for the wounds placed there by someone else or a disaster or whatever.

Hardly anyone ever seems to address the wounded person, empowering him or her to take steps toward healing. Instead, the wounded person is encouraged to wallow in the pain, allow the wounds to remain…and most tragically, to live in an identity based on their wounds.

For Christians, this is especially spiritually wasteful and exceedingly sad. God intends for us to live out of identities based first and foremost on the Lord Jesus Christ – not out of some trauma orchestrated by the devil or the Fall of Man.

What can we do when someone blames us for “triggering” them?

We have to know that the human soul often will either be dominated by the mind (thinking) or the emotions (feeling). God’s design is that we think first, decide (will) and then act (the body) and THEN feel.

How do I know that? Man was originally made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). Reading the Word, we can see that this is the way God operates. While He DOES have emotions, He never allows them to dominate him.

Satan uses trauma which he orchestrates to cause our emotions to go berserk. Some people spend their entire lives being hyper-vigilant, their emotions pegged out and burning out their adrenals. They are constantly on super alert for the next trauma.

The devil loves this.

They are in bondage to past trauma(s). The ones who are like this and who have been coddled as victims are the ones who cry out, “You triggered me!” when someone accidentally causes their emotions to spill out all over everyone.

As startling as this can be when we first encounter it, let’s try to remember that this is not who the person is; rather, this is a coping mechanism he or she has been taught to use for survival. The REAL person is under all that. That person needs our compassion.

“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:8-9)

Because wounded people are often dominated by emotions (or have worked hard to try not to feel anything), they are often focused on their feelings. It takes some energy on their part to be able to focus enough to THINK through things.

It takes compassion and love on our behalf to help them.

When the first bloom of emotion yields a “You’re triggering me!” (expressed or not), let’s set our minds to ride that out. Its an automatic reaction to the stimulus the person feels whenever we say or do something that sets them off.

Once that wave of emotions passes we can apologize, if we want, for accidentally tripping that alarm. Then we can begin building relationship or utilizing whatever relationships we already have in place with the person.

Relationship is always the key element in ministering to anyone. We must find and acknowledge our common ground and start there.

Once, the wave of emotion has passed I’ve asked people if that reaction happens often. If they say it has, I acknowledge how exhausting that must be. I ask if they are tired of it happening. If they are, we can begin addressing how healing can happen.

I hold a MA in Counseling and I’ve been ministering in counseling and discipleship for over 33 years. I’m equipped to address these things but I understand that not everyone is.

Often, our role can be to direct a person to someone who IS equipped to help them. 

“So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.” (Luke 8:40-42)

“While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, ‘Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.’ But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.’ When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, ‘Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.’ And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise.’ Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat.” (Luke 8:49-54)

…and…

“Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’ And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, ‘This man blasphemes!’ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’—then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ And he arose and departed to his house.” (Matthew 9:2-7)

This was the man who was lowered through a roof so Jesus could heal him. His friends knew they couldn’t heal him but they knew someone who could.

To be clear, Jesus is still the only One who can heal others. If you bring someone to a counselor or minister for healing, please be aware that they depend upon Jesus for healing. We people do not heal anyone; rather, we accompany others to the Lord and it is HE who does the healing.

This brings us to a couple of other subtopics which I will address as I bring this piece to a close.

The first is the reality that while only Jesus can truly heal, VERY few people will even humble themselves before Him for salvation – much less for healing. This means that the best they can hope for is to medicate the SYMPTOMS – but, the cause…will remain.

We must be aware of this and be ready to encounter it. It’s their choice. We need to walk away. But there is still something we can do.

(More about that in a little bit.)

The other thing is that many people seem to enjoy their victim mentality. In a world stripped of meaning, accepting a false and sad identity based on what has been done to them is apparently somehow comforting to so many people. These literally see themselves in terms of the rejection and attacks brought on their bodies and souls.

For people committed to seeing themselves this way, it is almost impossible for them to renounce that and turn to Jesus for healing AND identity. And, sadly, this includes many people who claim Jesus for salvation.

Again, we must be aware of this and be ready to encounter it. This is their choice. We need to honor their desire to retain a disabling limp in their souls. But, again, there IS something we can do.

We can PRAY for those who suffer and who remain under the false belief that they have to be this way for their whole lives.

There was a day when Jesus made a proclamation which I consider to be His purpose statement for His time on the earth:

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Luke 4:18-19)

He still wishes “to heal the brokenhearted”, “to proclaim liberty to the captives” and “to set at liberty those who are oppressed”.

In other words, if a wounded person wanted to, they could let this be “the acceptable year of the LORD” for them. So, I pray for people to get so tired of their torment that they cry out to the Lord for relief.

“Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, ‘Who touched Me?’ When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, ‘Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'’ But Jesus said, ‘Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.’ Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, ‘Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.’” (Luke 8:43-48)

This woman was healed because she was sick of being sick. She kept taking chances so she might be healed. She had faith she could be made well.

Let’s pray that others will experience what she experienced of Jesus.

Let’s never forget that “with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

Amen.

I hope this piece has explained some things we see in the world today and has given you hope to help people you encounter.

God bless.

Pastor Mike McInerney       

Mike McInerney Ministries, Inc.

Decatur, TX

© April 21, 2025