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Is the internet trigger-happy?

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I tend to ignore trigger warnings, reading them as this will/may trigger the writer not the reader.

Everyones triggers are different and every trigger has a different impact level. Some days I can deal with them, others I can’t, but then everyones trauma is different, so whose to say what will trigger someone else. Car crash trauma is not the same as rape trauma and a soldiers trauma will not be the same as a civilians, so unless we give everything a trigger warning, we cannot say whats going to be a trigger. There are just too many variables.

And if I know I’m feeling sensitive that day, I just avoid the post which I don’t think I’ll be able to handle until I am feeling strong enough to deal with any triggers which may be in there. I don’t want to be wrapped in emotional or mental cotton wool, it doesn’t help anything.
 
Trigger warnings only make me curious.. I will read them anyway. I am rarely ‘triggered’ by the written word. I never thought about it being someone else making a choice for me. I ” have” PTSD,,,,, “I” am not PTSD. So I know what I am about to enter into, if it upsetting… well, that’s human nature, but to be ‘triggered’? That would be a NO for me. It wouldn’t make any difference to me. I will read what I want that is beneficial to my healing… and sometimes, a person needs to read something to know they are not alone. I know the difference between ‘triggers’ and ‘stressors’, so this would not bother me.
 
@Digz Listening to a radio station and participating in a forum specifically for PTSD is really different, but even for the radio program, how could you possibly know if the content would be triggering without at least listening to the premise? If they had already given the premise (“This program contains a piece about sexual violence and may be triggering to some listeners”), then the trigger warning itself is redundant. When I edit trigger warnings out of a post entitled something like, “They Mercilessly Beat Me,” I can’t understand how it is that someone would not already be tipped off that the content may be graphic by the title. Why add a trigger warning?

Regardless of all that, trigger warnings are arbitrary. I can’t watch the movie War of the Worlds, because I find it triggering. Why? Because it depicts an older brother who is protective and caring and a little sister who is obviously emotionally and physically secure around her brother. Should I demand people put trigger warnings on content about healthy family relationships because I’m an incest survivor? C’mon.
 
Nobody is talking about demanding it, your point is irrelevant. People who have the courtesy to be empathetic and put warnings on things should be commended, not bagged out because “you don’t know what’s in my head” *cry cry*. Just because trigger warnings don’t work for you, doesn’t mean they don’t work for other people. This whole notion, this whole post is whingy and selfish and just screams of having not enough to do and focusing too much on the negative.
 
Amen.

As far as focusing on the negative, I find it the exact opposite. Being responsible for my own self? *That’s* empowering. It’s not their fault for triggering me, or for not warning me they might trigger me, esp as there is simply no way for anyone to know what might trigger me. Hell. Even I don’t know, sometimes. A sunny day. A sticker on a truck. A casual mention of something, someone means to show respect with and… Bam! Gone. But I’m not helpless. Especially in such a medium as the written word. Do triggers & stressors happen? Absolutely. Warning me they’re gonna happen? Lookout! Water’s wet. Cha. For true, I know. I can come in outta the rain when I need to. My triggers. My responsibility. My power.
 
Look I do not want to coddle anyone nor really expect to be coddled. And the use of these so called ‘trigger warnings’ is just absurd and an outright insult & degrading to those of us actually dealing with real ptsd. Part of the healing process is learning to deal with one’s own emotions responsibly. I don’t expect anyone to coddle my feelings though I may hope that some people may be understanding of them (big difference). In the former, you are treated EVEN WORSE than a stupid child. In the latter, you are treated like a human being- an adult who is responsible for himself.
I know and get sense of what trigger my panic attacks and learn to deal with that- the last thing any ptsd sufferer needs is to be coddled, degraded & belittled by folks who don’t have the first clue about what actual ptsd is

If something is causing my anxiety attack, i know and most every other responsible ptsd sufferer knows what to do- stop or avoid it, and address their emotions and triggers responsibly. Now that isn’t to say i have always been successful in dealing with my anxiety & panic attacks- but the last thing i want is to be treated like a hapless idiot
 
@Digz My intent… is just that… to have a discussion about whether you think they’re good, bad or otherwise. The article asks lots of questions for good reason, because it is a personal opinion and choice.

As a person who has some influence over decisions here, and certainly back in the days when I started this place, my opinion influenced the outcome for here. It seems the science does back my opinion, however, science changes. Will my opinion on this matter? No, it won’t — but that does not mean it can’t be discussed.

No mountain, no molehill, not even a blip on the www radar… just a discussion of opinions.
 
Also the very notion of ‘trigger warnings’ is self defeating and hypocritical. If one’s contention or claim is that without trigger warnings someone may be ’emotionally triggered’ (cause they are a hapless idiot incapable of controlling their own emotions), then there may also be someone else who is ’emotionally triggered’ cause of the presence of the ‘trigger warnings’. Thus in such a scenario, it is best to follow Occams razor and keep things clean & simple- eschew and screw all trigger warnings and treat people like adults not hapless & emotionally irresponsible fools
 
I don’t know about others, but what causes me to think about triggers is the word “triggers.” The times I’ve seen the trigger warning I started to think of all my triggers and it sure didn’t help as then the flashing started before I had even read the post, which in and of itself didn’t usually trigger a flashback. I also am fairly proficient at avoiding and am supposed to be desensitizing to triggers. Reading posts on this site allows me to desensitize to triggers at my own pace. Trigger warnings just cause anxiety for me.
 
Great discussion.
Who decides?
A little offside, but it’s what I thought of when I read it..
I fear it would set some precedence that could negatively impact the humanistic exchange of information.
In so many cases, these are actual people’s experiences. This is important and vital for all of us, not just sufferers to not embrace rules that could divide us.
It’s scary, the idea of people deciding what is free speech and free exchange.
I already have enough voices in MY head.
Again
Who decides?
 
You decide where things are under your control. For here, MyPTSD have decided and we do not allow them. Other websites, they have decided and make you use them.

Is the issue about deciding though, or simply more whether you agree / disagree with their use?
 
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