My therapist's one-line rule about meltdown triggers finally clicked

My therapist in Portland told me 2 years ago to 'name the exact second you feel the shift' and I thought it was too simple to work. But last Tuesday at the grocery store, I caught myself getting hot over the self-checkout beeping, and I actually said out loud 'this is the 3rd beep after my card went through'. That tiny moment of naming it stopped the spiral cold, which never happens for me. She also said to track the time between the shift and full overload, and mine was always under 4 minutes. Now I carry a small notebook to jot down the trigger word right when it happens, and it's cut my shutdowns from about 5 a week to maybe 1. Has anyone else tried naming the exact sensory or social trigger in the moment, or does that feel too forced for you?

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mark67612d ago

Did you find it works better when you say it out loud vs just writing it down, or is the notebook mainly for after the fact? I'm curious if the naming part needs to be verbal for the brain to catch it.