Nam... definately yes.
I think carp probably summated it about as good as it gets.
You can read one thing here which is PTSD related, but not related directly to your trauma, and it does nothing to you. You can read another post from someone who has suffered similar to one's trauma, and it could really hit home, bring up all sorts of tensions, anxiety and symptoms, as the trauma hits you where it hurts, nearly like it is your own.
It would be like putting you and me in a house, fly a blackhawk over the roof, it will affect me, but not you, vice versa with your trauma, expose us both to something related to yourself, I will get no effect, you will get triggered.
What we learn from exposure, is what triggers we can, and cannot, deal with and handle appropriately. Some triggers will always require some level of avoidance, some will no longer become triggers the more you are exposed to them.
Carp really smacked it on the head for me with this statement:
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Sometimes I avoid a trigger for a while, sometimes I feel like facing it head on and it works for me. Other times I need to avoid crowds, other times I don't...it makes little sense to me, I think it makes less sense to my doctor, so I am not sure I go into it in great detail about it.
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That makes perfect sense to me!
Triggers are not always a trigger, ie. helicopters can fly around my house with no effect what so ever, but a blackhawk, chinook, gunship, etc etc, military style aircraft, if they fly on my rooftop or near me, it becomes a trigger for me. So not all aircraft are a trigger, just military style aircraft, and not even all of those, only particular types that are related to some of my operations.
This is one trigger I cannot handle, as I was exposed to it for quite a while when we lived in Townsville, it affected me constantly, even as I got better, that one thing would still affect me. Other things that used to be a trigger for me, either have no effect on me now, or very little compared to when I initially identified them as a trigger.
Another example could be a person that got trauma from a car accident, in which whilst getting in any car was a trigger for them initially, they have most likely moved past that point to now driving again, though every time they see the same model car that they had the accident in, that triggers them. Doesn't matter how many times they look at it, how long they look at it, or even trying to touch the car or get into it, they break with symptoms, but can turn around and get in any other car and drive away.
Another person might look at it another way, and may only be able to drive the exact car they had the accident in, because the accident was so horrific, but they survived within that car, so that now becomes the only car they feel safe in, even though it is the same model car they had the accident in. All other cars are not an issue providing they are not within them travelling.