A Thought on Healing, Triggers, and the Fear of Going Crazy
Have you ever had a thought like: βI think I am going crazy.β or, βI am losing control of my mind”?
The moment you do, everything in your body tightens. You start monitoring. You scan for evidence. Am I acting weird? Do other people notice? Why can I not calm down? That single thought β βI am going crazyβ β sets off a chain reaction.
Now you are watching your symptoms. Your heart rate. Your breathing. Your thoughts. You are focused on the feeling of being out of control⦠which, ironically, makes you feel more out of control.
And the loop begins.
β The thought makes you anxious.
β The anxiety becomes the proof.
β The proof strengthens the belief.
β The belief intensifies the fear.
It is a feedback loop. A meta-cognitive spiral. You are not just anxious β you are anxious about being anxious. You are not just overwhelmed β you are convinced that being overwhelmed means something is deeply wrong with you.
This is where meta-cognitive therapies comes in. It is not about reliving trauma or excavating every memory or going back through everything that ever hurt you. Instead, it is about gently interrupting the cycle. Not the original event, but the way your mind tries to make sense of it now. And one of the most powerful tools we have for this?
A metaphor. A wound. Imagine you cut your leg. A clean, shallow wound. It stings a little. It is bleeding. You do not need surgery. You do not need to dissect what caused the fall for six weeks straight. You wash it and stick a plaster on it. You let your body do what it is designed to do: heal. But what happens if you keep poking it? What happens if you peel back the bandage every ten minutes to check on it? What if you scratch at it because it itches, or keep asking βwhy did this happen?β or βis it healing fast enough?β or βwhat if itβs not healing at all?β
You irritate it. You inflame it. You reopen the wound. It is not the original cut that is the problem any more β it is the picking.
Your mind is no different.
When we experience something traumatic or overwhelming, yes β sometimes there are things to process and work through. But not always by force. Sometimes, the most healing thing you can do is give it a gentle clean β acknowledge what happened β and then stop picking at it. Let the mind do what it is meant to do: move forward.
Yes, triggers might pop up. Yes, you might feel something uncomfortable. But every time you resist the urge to spiral into the βwhat does this mean about me?β narrative β every time you let the wound stay covered β you give yourself a chance to recover. Healing does not always come from doing more. Sometimes it comes from trusting your mind to right itself, the same way your body always has.
