Trigger Warning: Trigger Warnings

YetAnotherCommenter · 2013-01-05T14:20:21+00:00

Honestly, if a trigger warning is just "content advisory: the following material may distress some people for reason X, read with caution" I don't really have a problem with them.

But they've become grossly overused.

Trigger warnings were intended for people with severe PTSD. They aren't simply there for "things you might dislike" or "things you might disagree with."

Not only that, but people can get PTSD over a huge number of things. I have a mild case of PTSD over my time in high school so I tend to find that certain high-school-related material distresses me and gets under my skin. However it doesn't result in a completely-dissociated-from-reality-flashback. It might make me angrier than usual, sure... but its a hot button issue, not necessarily a "trigger." And it certainly isn't the kind of "trigger" that gets warned about.

Warning people that certain material might be confrontational to their sensibilities? Fine! Good, even!

But please, please, not everyone that has suffered something has a case of extreme PTSD.

TL;DR - In theory trigger warnings have a totally reasonable function. In practice they've become overused to the point of being a complete joke.

deshki · 2013-01-05T15:08:47+00:00

The survivor culture is designed around people who have identified with what happened to them, so they like to have lots of reminders (because it's not a very stable identity), and that's what trigger warnings do. I do think it's a shame because it makes it very difficult to develop other resources. It's just one big endless round of tea and sympathy.

MechPlasma · 2013-01-05T16:37:47+00:00

I've got... not a trauma, but basically if I get reminded of when my girlfriend went missing a few years ago, sometimes I just completely shut down for a while thinking about it.

Fun fact: One of those times was reading this article.

Fun fact: Trigger Warnings are goddam useless because they don't protect you from things that actually 'trigger' you.

See, not only are 'triggered' moments usually from something really unexpected, but even when they are used properly (eg: let's say someone in r/Confessions was writing about a similar story), I'm gonna bloody know what they're writing about pretty early on. I do not need a Trigger Warning to tell me that a post starting with "My girlfriend went missing" might involve missing loved ones!

...oh yeah, and that's just the "reasonable" Trigger Warnings. Then you have the ones warning about single-sentence posts or completely nonsense triggers.

Also, the one exception is trigger warnings in Tumblr tags, just because you can use that to make sure those posts don't come up on your Dashboard.

guy_smieley · 2013-01-05T16:48:41+00:00

There are three issues here. 1. The double standard. 2. At what point do we draw the line between fun and bullying. 3. How much is anybody responsible to intervene. I'm afraid the only answer I have is the pessimistic one. 1. Everything is always a double standard, just try to be on the right side of it. 2. Nobody draws any line but what best rewards them self. 3. Nobody will ever intervene except to loot the victim. What you need to do is not to decry the unfairness, but accept that unfairness is the basic quality of life and start personally taking responsibility for finding yourself in the weaker position. I'm sorry that's not the nice answer. The world isn't nice - in fact a school environment might be one of the most psychologically stressful environments you are likely to be in in your life (there are much worse environments, but you aren't going to be in them).

theskepticalidealist · 2013-01-05T18:39:30+00:00

I need trigger warnings, for trigger warnings.

Grapeban · 2013-01-05T12:52:36+00:00

Yeah, because trigger warnings are so fucking hurtful to you if you don't need them and don't see their use, clearly trigger warnings are oppression manifested.

Why don't you go advocate about an actual issue?

Title	Trigger Warning: Trigger Warnings
Author	bluharmoni
Upvotes	23
Comments	32
Date	January 5, 2013 10:11 AM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/16040i/trigger-warning-trigger-warnings/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/trigger-warning-trigger-warnings.1603336 https://theredarchive.com/post/1603336

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