In this concise YouTube monologue, Brad Schipke explains that individuals can indeed trigger their own PTSD symptoms. He introduces two categories of triggers—external (e.g., a sudden loud noise like a dropped computer) and internal (e.g., a negative thought that spirals into a distressing memory). While external triggers are obvious, he emphasizes that internal thought loops are a common, often unnoticed way people self‑induce PTSD episodes.
Can you trigger your own PTSD? Well, yes, it would actually probably be pretty easy to do that yourself. It really just depends on what your triggers are. The first thing to understand is that there's 2 types of triggers. There's internal triggers and there's external triggers, both of which could theoretically be triggered by yourself. So if you drop your computer and it makes a really loud noise, that could trigger you. But a more common one is the internal trigger. So if you start thinking about something and you have a negative thought, and then that negative thought reminds you of something else, that continues to spiral you out of control down this negative loop, that's a really easy way that most people trigger their PTSD without even knowing it.
