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I got into a conversation with a stranger, and the issues were close to my heart.

I was badly triggered, I started to shake, and I slowly started to cry.

I was able to calm down and continue the conversation, but I felt uncomfortable. I didn't want to walk away, because it is important to me to stop running away from difficult situations.

I explained to her that the conversations was getting really difficult, and that some issues were triggered for me. She seemed to understand.

I don't know why this happened with a stranger...but I've been feeling really uncomfortable and embarrassed.

I just need to share this. I hope to get some feedback. Thanks.

I wanted to add that this hasn't happened with a stranger before, this level of triggering. This is totally new for me.

There are things about the interaction, me, and the other person which combined somehow to make this situation really triggering. I am still working on identifying and understanding the factors at play.

Everyone has bad days, PD or not. I hope the stranger was understanding. I had a similar situation. I had had a super bad day, and this pharmisists assistant was really rude. When I went to speak to her manager, I started crying a couldn't stop. She was very understanding and helped me resolve my issue anyway.

Yes, of course it's happened for me, many times.

Yesterday... words on this screen, typed by someone I've never met or seen, led to thoughts that led to emotions and boom, I was hurt and angry.

But because I'd also seen images and words and thoughts from the same person and others nearby who I have also never met, I was able to choose responses that stopped the pain very quickly and get back to working effectively on what I was doing.

Yesterday.. words on this screen, typed by someone I've never met or seen, led to thoughts that led to emotions and YAY, I was laughing and coughing and slapping my knee.

And the same thing happens hundreds and thousands of times each day in every large motive theater and on television sets all over the world... lights on a screen, images of people and things.. not real people and things... recorded sounds of people's voices.. not real voices... move us to respond powerfully.

If they didn't, IMO there would be no television, no movies, no books, no computers because nobody could make any money from the process of emotions and thoughts triggering other emotions and thoughts and round and round we go.

Yukky experiences like yours can be a great reminder that we cause a lot of our suffering ourselves by how we react to our thoughts and to images and sounds made by others. It's so natural it's automatic. But we're capable of dealing with it before it gets to hurting too much. If we know how and if we know when. And we can learn those.

maybe I was just having a bad day

this happened in person, not online

Apple. I hope it didn't feel like I was minimizing your experience or your feelings. Surely I was not. The point I was making is that such a reaction is perfectly normal. Our emotions can be triggered by many things and many people. Some we know and most we don't. In my opinion, we're made that way as a survival mechanism. Some create positive feelings, some create the opposite. What we do about the reactions determines how we feel throughout the day and throughout life. But there is no stopping the reactions. They will be flying at us forever.

"Big boys don't cry"??? IMO, they do if they know what's good for them.