In the early 1900s, Russian Physiologist Ivan Pavlov, measured the saliva that dogs produced when he brought them food, as their bodies prepared to digest the food. Then for a while he rang a bell at the same time he brought the food. Then he rang the bell but did not bring food. The dogs produced saliva exactly as if he had brought them food. In other words an unconscious physiological response was produced to stimulus that would not have normally produced that response.
This is called a conditioned response and usually happens to us more powerfully with bad or fearful things. These responses can be very specific. One lady got terrified when she heard drinking glasses clink together because it reminded her of the start of an earthquake. After I had bad news by email, even opening my email application made me very uneasy and nervous. One song could immediately trigger good memories or bad ones. Smells can evoke responses again both good and bad.
There are two important things to remember about conditioned responses.
1. We can produce our own conditioned responses, so can develop a resourceful state of successful, confidence with which we can address situations like exams, conflict public speaking etc. (see Healthy Habits Blog article Emotional Thinking)
2. These responses can be altered, changed or eliminated if we know how This is called Extinction. For a non emotional response like the dogs’ response to the bell, all it takes is to regularly ring the bell without bringing food and the response will diminish or extinguish over time. This process is much more complicated when there is a strong emotional association such as happens when there has been a fearful or life threatening incident. However it is possible with time and a variety of techniques, to use these conditioned responses to alter the emotional context and extinguish even traumatic conditioned responses.
As always, consult with a qualified health professional if you have any health concerns including mental health issues.