Mundane Triggers: Am I Alone?

i don't think it's weird at all! i have a literal COLOR as one of my biggest triggers- and tbh, it makes sense that mundane/common things become triggers! the whole point is theyre *common*, so there's more chances to associate it with trauma

i'm tokophobic, and most people think talking about that in public, even in detail, to strangers, is a totally normal thing. i had gotten a lot better about it for awhile but then it got brought up a few too many times at bad times and now i'm almost as bad with it as i was in high school. people aren't very good at understanding what having a severe trigger is like, especially if they don't have any themselves or have positive association with the trigger. it's easier to understand a "normal" trigger - like seeing blood, arachnophobia, or things that directly and clearly relate to common traumatic experiences - than it is to understand something which is otherwise mundane. i remember reading an explanation of "strange" triggers where someone's trigger was fried eggs and how people never understood. it doesn't help either that "trigger" has been misused so many times at this point, both by people who consider anything that makes them somewhat uncomfortable a trigger and by people making jokes at the expense of mentally ill people. uneducated people seem to think "trigger" means "i don't like it". i find that CALMLY explaining my symptoms and feelings when triggered, and doing so when i'm not actively in the upsetting situation, can help people understand why it's so important and stressful for me. and a gentle reminder as well that trying to entirely avoid the upsetting situation will make the trigger worse; it's best to try and encounter it in small doses and in situations you have control over, and to step back when you need to. continuing to work on the underlying trauma is also key. best of luck