Triggered

Triggered is the new buzzword in the people helping profession and it's doing way more harm than good. Find out more in this mini podcast.

Grasshopper Notes are the writings from America's Best Known Hypnotherapist John Morgan. His podcasts contain his most responded to essays and blog posts from the past two decades. 

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Transcript

Triggered

I think the word “triggered” has been hijacked by some well meaning “people helping” folks who pass it along to their clients and unintentionally make them less responsible for their behavior.

Truth be told, I hate the new meaning it’s been given. 

It gives people license to claim that they’re not responsible for their reactions. “I was triggered” is nothing more the old “the devil made me do it” defense in a brand new suit of clothes.

I recently heard the sister of the man who attacked the judge in Las Vegas, say he was “triggered” by the comments of the judge, which gave him license to not be responsible for his violent actions. 

Reminds me of a story I’ve told many times . . .

About 40 years ago I was conducting a seminar for a computer company in Augusta, Maine. I was discussing the difference between a reaction and a response. I asked a young strapping lad of 28 what he would do if someone called him a derogatory name. He said, “I’d whack them.” I then asked him if he knew who Billy Martin was. He said, “He’s the former manager of the New York Yankees.” I asked if he knew how old Billy was. He said, “Late 50′s.” I further probed if he knew anything else about Billy. He said, “Yea, he gets in fights in bars.” I then asked him if he would be getting in fights in bars when he was 58. He said, “no way.” I then asked, “What magical metamorphosis is going to happen between now and then to keep you from whacking people who call you names?” I then added, “What if when someone calls you a name, you pause and then say, “if you knew me a little better, you may like me more’.” He smiled and he got it.

If name calling or someone’s actions “trigger” you, you’ve got some work to do, namely learning to throw in the clutch and get a wedge between stimulus and reaction.

Being triggered translates in real terms to being conditioned. But you don’t get an excuse for your conditioning when you violate the law or overreact to someone’s characterization of you. 

“Triggered” is the new justification word. People are being conditioned to condone what they do by using that phrase, “I was triggered. It’s their fault, not mine that I did that.”

This new use of triggered is getting people to move further away from responsibility and getting married to justification.

Is apparent to anyone who takes a look, that personal responsibility is a disappearing trait in our society. It’s being shot down by the word “triggered.”

All the best,

John