Trigger Warning:An Artcle About Trigger Warnings

surger1 · 2014-07-04T18:33:38+00:00

I've got Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I care deeply about this stuff. So much so I am working on a game called "Triggered" to convey in game mechanics what having my flavor of mental illness is like. This is the context from which I speak.

Even the mere mention of “trigger warning” tells someone that a topic is being discussed, which means that they’ve already been triggered by the trigger warning, so the whole concept of trigger warnings is nonsensical by default

Fucking wrong. No a trigger warning does not fucking trigger. I don't think trigger warnings are very useful but this is just fucking wrong.

Our brains process things in a stack. Starting from the external inputs (eyes, skin, ears, etc). All the way through all the nervous system through the layers of the brain. All a trigger is, is at some point something very extreme happened and you reacted. A trigger is a set of reactions that take place earlier than cognition in this stack based on previously experienced stimulus.

So a trigger warning is text, when it goes up the pipeline it reaches cognition without setting off the very specific things that constitutes a trigger.

The issue with trigger warnings is that they ignore how you ACTUALLY handle triggers. None of you know my triggers and none of you should be expected to. Some of them make sense because I'm a human and humans dislike pain. Others are more subtle and hard to explain because they arrived through prolonged exposure to a situation. I hate awkwardness. It can cause me a lot of anxiety and if I experience very awkward situations I will be triggered by thinking about them later and it will be a pretty bad time. As such I appreciate knowing that I am about to view media that uses awkwardness for humor. I have gone to watch shows and had people that know that trigger tell me I should probably not watch it and I have been glad. That is all a trigger warning is! Informing people that they may be triggered. But it's fucking impossible to know what anyone else's triggers are. Assuming you know is stupid.

You approach triggers personally by managing your own. Avoid the stimulus that triggers you. Learn grounding techniques to bring you back out of triggers and stop hanging around assholes that don't respect that your brain gets stolen from you based on previous experiences.

So if you write a long piece on getting raped and beaten. Then I would expect you might have sympathy for others and try to warn them that it could cause discomfort. However assuming that saying "trigger warning" will cover your bases on getting triggered is deluded about what triggers are.

This article is frustrating because it appears the author has an issue with how people who have been sexually assaulted use trigger warnings. And how they sometimes stress their emotional impact too much. I can't stand to watch the office. It's well written but too fucking triggering for me. It's a terrible experience to even see most clips. But the only way to live in this world is to accept the office is popular and that I will have to be triggered by it from time to time. It happens, I don't like it but I ground myself and move on. I get when people expect you to walk them through their triggers it is frustrating. But it still remains that triggers are very real things. You have no obligation to not trigger people but if you know that what you are saying could trigger your audience then fucking give them that information ahead of time.

He talks about these things from his perspective but as a person who comes to this subreddit because of how mens mental health gets treated. I don't really want this guy influencing anyone's opinion on mental health. He seems ambitious but ignorant. I mean comparing being exposed to triggers like a phobia shows he doesn't fucking understand. Exposing yourself to the triggers only deepens the neurological response. You have to do Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to work through the responses, slow controlled exposures to analogous situations.

outhouse_steakhouse · 2014-07-04T21:47:38+00:00

Like many things in radfem/SJW ideology, the trigger warning is something that was originally valid and useful in a specific restricted context, but was parasitically seized on and appropriated by extremists with an agenda that is nothing to do with helping anyone. I see it being used all too often as a cynical, well-poisoning way of shutting down debate and silencing dissent from the official dogma.

TRPACC · 2014-07-04T20:47:11+00:00

Trigger warning originated in therapeutic settings where people with PTSD would be given the option of listing to or reading or not, information that might trigger their ptsd.

This leaked into internet forums where people that had that therapy were likely to be, then its started leaking out for there.

And like don't blame the victim doesn't just apply to women and rape, its applied to military and children that were abused too.

Oooosayyoooo · 2014-07-04T21:00:05+00:00

The author is right/wrong. More right than wrong. Trigger warnings apply to only the most severe of cases. Most people do not need trigger warnings. The author is right that people often reinforce fear. A little kid who had their genitals rubbed once against their will should not be having severe PTSD as an adult and if they are the adults around them in their life completely failed at handling the situation. Now a child who is viciously raped by their dad/mom on a regular basis will have to work through severe issues and can be triggered.

The responsibility lies on the one with the trigger. Anything can be a trigger. A dog barking, loud cracking sounds, depiction of a rape in a movie. It is the responsibility of the one who can be triggered to make sure to avoid triggers (while working through them so they no longer have triggers). I'm sorry as a blogger I am not going to think of anything that can trigger and write "trigger warning". I got a real nasty email once because I was discussing sexuality and children and child sexuality etc. They told me because I was talking about sex and children I should have labelled it a trigger warning (along with a string of curses and accusations of being a paedophile). When all I was talking about was basically childhood expressions of sexuality and how they are normal and healthy (I'm a clinical social worker who works with children and children and sexuality is often something I encounter).

I used to have a trigger myself after a minor case of PTSD. I had a terrible thing happen to a very close family member (a child actually) that killed them very suddenly. For about a year after something related to the incident would cause me to have anxiety attacks. I worked through it. Talked to a therapist and slowly removed the trigger. No longer do I have to worry about being triggered.

BlueDoorFour · 2014-07-04T22:04:06+00:00

I don't see anything wrong with warning people that a something might have some disturbing content. We do it with movies, video games, and a lot of content on reddit already. Sometimes it's nice to know before clicking a link that I'm going to see someone's head split open. I just wish they weren't called "Trigger Warnings."

Some university classes have started issuing trigger warnings along with course descriptions, and excusing students from studying topics that could be upsetting to them. This turns a legitimate disorder -- PTSD -- into an excuse for students to avoid things they don't like.

ThePigmanAgain · 2014-07-05T00:35:46+00:00

Nothing wrong with trigger warnings in themselves -- if your dad is a Vietnam vet with PTSD it's probably a good idea to warn him that a Rambo marathon is about to pop up on his TV. Problem is these warnings are now used to excess, like, "Oh, dad, watch out! I'm about to have a Vietnamese pork roll for lunch!"

Title	Trigger Warning:An Artcle About Trigger Warnings
Author	Imdefender
Upvotes	10
Comments	8
Date	July 4, 2014 5:51 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/29ub9d/trigger-warningan-artcle-about-trigger-warnings/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/trigger-warningan-artcle-about-trigger-warnings.1618990 https://theredarchive.com/post/1618990

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