Depression and Anxiety - Unexpected Triggers
May 31st, 2008 by zania
Some times it can be little, quite unexpected things which trigger a bout of anxiety, sadness and even depression and you never know it is going to happen until it is too late.
Earlier today, I was checking out emails from the blogs I follow, when I found a post about images and the way our reception of images depends very much on our own life experiences. I agree with that completely and was curious as to what was behind the post (from a freelance writers blog) as it appeared to have been made with the intention of clearing up a few outstanding issues in the comments.
So I clicked over to the post and straight away noticed there was a debate going on, particularly about one specific picture. It appears this image had upset some people in different ways, while others found it to be completely harmless and even beautiful. My curiosity aroused, I clicked on the link to see the image in question…
Big Mistake! Instant anxiety attack followed by an almost overwhelming flood of depression.
The image in question reminded me of a very stressful time in my life and one which I would much rather forget. In a rush, it brought back all the fears from that time and the sadness.
I showed the image to my husband and he understood why it had affected me the way it did, but without that knowledge, he saw it as just another picture and his thoughts about it were humorous above anything else.
Luckily, it was only a small anxiety attack and the sadness and feeling of depression lifted after a while, because the trigger was from something in my past which I have dealt with the best way I can. I have worked on my defence mechanisms for this ‘issue’; it was just that in this case I hadn’t had time to put them into place until after the event.
Do I think it was wrong for the website owners to display the image in the first place? Of course not. Out of the thousands that have looked at that image, I am sure that we all received it differently according to our personal life experiences.
It is not the publisher’s fault the picture made me feel anxious and depressed. Just my particular life history.
But I will be avoiding the page with that image from now on and maybe this will teach me to trust others when they say that something has upset them.
But I doubt it 
