I love the show, "The Crown." I was binge watching last night, and I got to the final show of the first season. Long story short, it showed a confrontation between the Queen and His Royal Highness. She finally put it out there that she knew he was a philanderer (had proof), and had been for some time. His dialogue was full of denials, then blame shifting, rationalizations,and then he began gas-lighting her! I almost had to stop watching. Later that night I had a nightmare involving my Ex and some of the things he used to gaslight me with! It took me awhile to settle back down and go to sleep. I realize it's only a TV drama, but even today I was somewhat unsettled. I have come to find that I have a form of PTSD when it comes to the lying and gas-lighting - working on this with a therapist using "Tapping." Needless to say, I "tapped" a lot that night!

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, in what capacity and how did you deal with it?

I get triggered quite a bit by television shows and even books.

I'm reading a series of books right now where I swear the author has had nothing but negative experiences with women because all the women in his books are catty bullies, and seem to hate men. When I read his descriptions of how awful some of these women are behaving towards others and the men in the books I want to reach through and strangle them, OR, I want to read the man finally stick up for himself and put the woman in her place.

It's quite frustrating!

I know all movies, TV shows, books, etc. just pull from experience, so you can bet the people in your show have been subjected to that behavior in their lives in the past and use the show to powerfully send that message.

I'm starting to get more and more choosy with what I watch anymore - I used to enjoy sitcoms, for example, but anymore I find that what they think of as "humor" is really just really nasty sarcasm and gossip. That's not entertaining to me at all. So I don't watch sitcoms - haven't watched them in years, actually. In general I tend to stick with watching educational kind of shows like cooking shows or science, nature, history, and the like. I don't really even like watching competition game shows much because sometimes the people will get really nasty with each other. That's not entertaining to me at all.

I probably need to start being more choosy about my books, too!

Oh! And I've heard of tapping - I'm participating with a group right now that's got a lot of spiritual practice to it and they're encouraging checking out tapping. I haven't done it myself. I guess there's a guy on YouTube who has a ton of tapping videos you can check out and try.

((((((((PnP))))))))))))))  your reaction was totally 100% NORMAL....  PTSD is when a sight, smell, sound, word, gesture, brings up old trauma, unresolved, and it feels like NOW when it is not..

the Amigdala (sp) part of the brain governs the flight or fight response, so it has to act "faster" so if a big black bear from the North woods comes at me, I am gonna get an adrenalin shot and run like hell..no thought, just RUN....the upper part of the brain, frontal lobes, etc., are the executive or higher functions of the brain..the reasoning part, which acts slower...so what I do when I feel that quicken heart beat or that sucking in of my breath or my body tensing, I first BREATH   BREATH and FEEL the breath going in my body and in doing so, the upper parts/executive parts of my brain can "catch up" and I can reason things out...the breathing gives me time to notice...."oh yea, that was then, this is my NOW and my NOW won't put up with that  xxx  or that ooooo...I am safe now with me"

it has worked for me pretty good if I only can remember  DONT react...Breathe then I can respond with loving self talk to me...actions that make me feel safe....acknowledging that that DID happen, but its NOT in my life anymore.....

I get totally triggerd when I see posts on facebook or other stuff about torture of children and animals....IF i can help the poor child/animal, I am ready to jump in and help...If I cannot help??? I avoid those kinds of pictures, videos because what is the point??? i can't do anything so I avoid....in that case it is reasonable to avoid certain triggers....

I get absolutely nauseated, almost  (no where near as bad now as I set a boundary and most often, remove me from the offender)  wanting to vomit when lewd and crude sexual remarks are made to me....I have to BREATHE first so as not to jump on their head and stomp their brains out, so when I breathe an calm down (both parts of brain in sync) I tell them (depending on who they are)  that that kind of talk is not acceptable to me and if you want to stay friends---DO NOT talk to me that way....if it is stranger, i walk away..no words...no nothing...I am GONE and that is all from my offender making lewd and crude /sexual remarks about my body to me...He talked to me like I was a whore, not his daughter...so I hate those remarks...but there again...I BREATHE.....let myself settle...calm down....notice where I am at and that I am safe now, I can take care of me now, I can disallow this from happening to me....the beast is gone...."ding dong the witch is dead" sort of self talk....it works for me

so, my friend, you are just feeling the aftermath of your trauma and working the program as hard as you are and blossoming as nicely as you are, I have all the faith that you can overcome this too......it will take time...It took a while for him to mess you up...it will take time for you to "unmess" you up via this programme....................HUGS and more hugs

I dream often, some are pleasant, some not so much. Often I can identify the trigger. It can be something from a movie I watched, show or something I read that day, even something that someone said. I've realized when it's something unsettling, I can usually attach it to something I haven't resolved. My dreams are pretty straight forward, not so difficult to figure out. 

I tend to like lighthearted fun movies and shows because I'm looking to be entertained not emotionally wrung out by drama. I've had my own tyvm. Thanks to Alanon I've created a good amount of space between myself and those in real life with drama seeking behaviors.

I won't watch certain types of movies because I find them upsetting. I often steer clear of movie re-enactments of actual tragic events. There is one that got global attention. Since I was there, that is a definite trigger for me.

I have tried at times to share my experience  but I can just share so much before needing to say something like "That was a very sad time for us all, so I would prefer to not keep talking about it if you don't mind."

At times, I can sit through documentaries about such events because real footage and interviews inform which can be important. Movies made for the big screen with well known actors can sometimes sensationalize things, compromising dignity and losing perspective of reality. So in those instances, I typically choose to just retain my "real" memories and not watch. 

In my life, when I say where I am from I am inevidently asked "Were you there when .." I often have to draw a boundary around the discussion.

It's a bit like expecting realistic understanding of alcoholism from people who haven't lived with it. People tend to innocently and curiously say things that are upsetting and that bring about a feeling of aloneness in me. Of course, if you haven't actually experienced something you're not going to understand it on the same level as someone who has experienced it.

My life is happy, joyous and free today. I like it that way. I pay close attention to what I let into my consciousness if at all possible. If it doesn't feel safe for me emotionally, I don't force it, suck it up or "should" on myself. In other words, I don't say oh it's been a long time, the icky feeling you're feeling will pass in another minute just stick it out. There's no need for that. Let others enjoy a movie or show if it doesn't trigger something in them but I can enjoy something instead that feels good for me. Everybody's got their stuff and this is not a compare and despair thing. It is for me a self love thing. Suffering through something is optional. I'll take serenity over that any day.

I realize sometimes I can be manipulated by these shows, movies etc. because the story turns to something unexpected. In those cases, it's a crummy feeling to be affected by it but thankfully with the help of my higher power the moment, the nightmare is just a passing thing. Thank you for the topic and your share (((puppiesandposies))) You are definitely not alone concerning emotional triggers. TT