Patterns thatTrigger Symptoms:

Symptoms of Being Overwhelmed

The examples below maybe what it feels like for you when you are triggered by your partners acting out behaviors. These are symptoms of the sexual addiction induced trauma. The symptoms can feel like un-discharged energy in your body, that indicates a pattern that has developed in the aftermath of an emotional or physical threat of a trigger. You may experience the overwhelm of being On or Off with your emotions, Fight, Flight, or Freeze.The pattern and symptoms of Fight/On can look and feel as listed below:

•   High Anxiety  
  
•   Panic
  
•   Hyperactivity
  
•   Exaggerated Startle
  
•   Inability to Relax
  
•   Restlessness 

•   Hypervigilance
  
•   Digestive Problems
  
•   Emotional Flooding
  
•   Chronic Pain
  
•   Sleeplessness
  
•   Hostility/Rage 

The pattern and symptoms of Freeze/Off

•   Depression
  
•   Flat Affect
  
•   Lethargy
  
•   Deadness
  
•   Exhaustion
  
•   Chronic Fatigue 

•   Disorientation
  
•   Disassociation
  
•   Complex Syndromes
  
•   Pain
  
•   Low Blood Pressure
  
•   Poor Digestion
  

You most certainly can move from On to Off, grief has no borders, but you may have a tendency to respond/react to one more than another. Create a safety plan for your mental and physical well being; call someone, see a therapist (APSATS.org) be a part of a group that supports the trauma model for partners of sex addicts.

Taken from "Spouses of Sex Addicts: Hope for the Journey" Francoise Mastroianni,
www.traumahealing.com


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