One word....duh. What a silly idea in the first place.
4
Trigger warnings, moronic excuses for Leftists to shut down debate and silence those they disagree with.
God Bless America and Freedom of Speech!
5
Consideration and compassion are qualities in people the world could use more of. That said, it appears to me that the demand for trigger warnings and "safe spaces" on college campuses in particular are more about weaponizing ones purported or very real trauma than healing it or learning how to live fully free of it. To what end? Power, social control? Apparently not actual healing or relief, and obviously not more actual safety.
Humanity has such a wide range of behaviors both within and between people that it is just unrealistic expect or hope to live without trauma. We are shamefully barbaric to each other as individuals and any level of grouping. The high and the low and in between all have their share of directly and indirectly cruel, deceptive, thieving and abusive members. People you know only one side of are all around you.
We have aspirations of civility along with moral traditions that appear never to have been widely fully adapted and honored. It will be interesting to see how we evolve as social media exposes us to ourselves in new powerful ways. Maybe we could actually be more kind and generous to strangers. And family and friends. Maybe we could protect each other better. Or maybe we need to be tougher to be happier. Or all of the above.
2
I think our society can do without trigger warnings. All it does is put the distressing situation out of sight and out of mind to the distressed viewer. Suicides still happen, domestic abuse still happens, and all a trigger warning does is remind the distressed viewer that these things still happen, prompting them to think about the distressing situation when all they wanted to do was avoid it in the first place.
2
I'm working at some German universities as a professor/lecturer, and I oppose strictly trigger warnings.
If one doesn't feel comfortable while reading my papers so be it. I'm sorry for the recipient, nothing more, nothing less. Everyone is free to use other documents or books if he or she can't cope with my materials.
One who is in need of psychological help might seek this help - there isn't any shame in it.
It isn't my "job" to deliver a non-existing zero-stress-level-world. Why should I? It is the "job" of problem owners to deal with their problems. There isn't any alternative to grow up than to figure out how to solve (mental) problems.
5
Perhaps the goal was not safety but creeping censorship.
3
Feeling uncomfortable, and learning to deal with it appropriately is a necessary part of growing up. Grow up!
5
I am a rape victim, and a victim of child abuse. I am currently in therapy with a psychologist who I see every two weeks, and a psychiatrist who I see every week. I have been for the past 8 months. I’m getting better. In the meantime, I greatly appreciate trigger warnings and they are incredibly helpful for me. I’m not going to watch The Handmaids Tale while I’m still vulnerable, but I’m looking forward to watching it one day. If people post things online that include a trigger warning for rape or child abuse, I don’t read it. I’m being sensible with my recovery and my mental wellbeing.
Before I started therapy I watched the movie “The Lovely Bones”. I was so badly triggered I ended up trying to end my life, despite not being suicidal before watching this film.
I’m not precious or weak. I have gone through horrific trauma, and I don’t need to retraumatize myself. It’s true that triggers can be almost anything, but for me the most explicit ones result in the strongest response.
If you can help someone avoid reliving their rape experience, why wouldn’t you?
12
Has anyone ever asserted that the warning was to lessen the trauma from viewed media? I thought the trigger warning was so people could choose to avoid the triggers.
4
Warning: my moniker may be offensive to some people but it fits me just fine!
The most important trigger warning of all, i.e. to children just before they are being born, is never issued:
"Be advised you are about to embark on a journey that will inevitably end with your death. If you do not agree, stay in your mother's womb."
After you have missed that one, forget all the rest.
3
I think people should stop using the word "trigger" so freely. Consider the victims of gun trauma, please!
I generally don’t approve of trigger warnings for adults. With kids it’s an other ballgame. In the winter of 1968 I was 11 years old. Watching the news in a friendly peaceful suburb of Stockholm with my parents. When suddenly a film with officer Nguyen Ngoc Loan shoting Vietcong soldier Nguyen Van Lem was shown. I still remember the bow the blood made when it ejected out of his head and the horror in his face and how fast it all happened. Alive and then dead. Don’t know I they gave us a trigger warning and if my parents heard it. It was very unusual in those days with things like this being broadcasted. Probably would have been better for my wellbeing if I hadn’t seen it. But in a way it’s taught me something. Or rather reinforced something I already knew. The destructive power of humans
3
Has any research measured how many potential readers/audience members actively avoid the material due to a trigger warning? Complicated to measure - there would have to be a way to record non-attendees or non-readers - but this seems to be significant missing data in the evaluation of the effect/effectiveness or trigger warnings.
4
I am a big supporter of trigger warnings. It helps remove any of the easily offended, sensitive people from the activities I want to go do.
8
The brilliant observation by Orwell quoted earlier relates to that most ominous of trigger warnings, now common on PBS News Hour and other 'journo-advocacy' outlets which pose as objective: "ringing the leper's bell" prior to naming a person or policy they clearly want to pathologize. The flip side is citing 'respected' or 'expert' voices whose opinions are implicitly above reproach. Such tricks reinforce any ongoing effort to subvert what Orwell defended by saying that liberty means, if anything, saying what some don't want to hear. Making 'thought criminals' out of those currently alarmed by mass migration from violent and dysfunctional cultures is highly topical case in point.
7
So many of the most recommended letters here are variations on the theme of
" Toughen Up Princess ! ".
Do most readers really live this way, or are the responses a symptom of the culture wars?
Reciprocal consideration for friends, family and community seem a better way to go, I think.
7
The trigger warning "Strobe lighting effects" is actually useful as it can affect a small percentage of people with epilepsy.
Otherwise, know your own emotional limits and choose not to see movies that might be upsetting.
4
The most upsetting movie I saw this year was Vice, where, when I realized we were about to do the Bush-Gore election debacle, I completely lost it and had to fast forward through it. No joke, I could not bear to relive those events in the context of this difficult film. I would have cried for half the day - it was that triggering. It was a case of too soon, too soon. But the younger people reviewing the film made no to little mention of this part because they had not been old enough to experience it. In the context of the article, would knowing what was coming have made it any better? In line with the results, absolutely not. Were I seeing it in a movie theater though, I would have had to leave at that point.
I want to caution commenters that “The researchers should have answered a different question” is a valid criticism but not a valid criticism of study design. A study design is either scientifically coherent or not.
The first paper is called “Trigger warnings are trivially helpful at reducing negative affect, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance”. The design is appropriate for that conclusion.
5
Most trauma survivors aren't looking to build an identity around their experience as a victim. Sensitive but non-traumatized individuals are quite different than trauma survivors.
Exposure outside the careful environment of a therapist's office is often more damaging than walking away from a known trigger. If exposure therapy were that easy, you wouldn't need to find a trained clinician to administer it.
Many survivors will quickly tell you that avoiding all triggering experiences is almost impossible. Being aware of some of them and having the choice of exposure or not appears to be the point of posted trigger warnings.
A study in which there is no choice to avoid exposure is not going to help identify the efficacy of trigger warnings any more than studying the efficacy of warning a diabetic that there will be carbohydrates in a meal and then force feeding them.
4
Life doesn't have trigger warnings. I can only shake my head as I contemplate how weak we have become.
And before you say "Oh, you've never experienced trauma," let me assure you that I have. I know what it is to be triggered. But I also know that one does not overcome the effects of trauma by ignoring it.
It is only by confronting the memory in safe surroundings that we can discharge the trauma, and the burden that it places on our lives.
19
@Josh Hill
Hear hear! I experienced so much trauma as a kid and roll my eyes at trigger warnings. All great art is the result of trauma. In fact, if something has a trigger warning, that makes me more eager to read/watch it.
6
Trigger warnings, like disclaimers in ads and on products, are less about protecting the vulnerable than they are about offering protection from lawsuits.
16
And here I thought the whole point of these warnings is for people to decide beforehand to either go ahead and watch, or walk away.
19
@Rocky L. R., I thought the whole point of movie trailers is for people to decide beforehand to either go ahead and watch, or walk away.
1
Come on folks, we live in a real world, not virtual reality. Some stuff in life is very upsetting, and just because you don't want to acknowledge it doesn't mean it's not there. So GROW UP! This is especially disappointing on college campuses where kids are supposed to be exposed to the real world. Might as well get a masters degree in Aesop's Fables if you want to avoid reality.
29
To be clear, none of these studies appeared to give the option that warnings are intended: avoiding the stimuli. For example, a person who experienced a violent car crash may seek to avoid images or stories of other car crashes. If that person saw a warning at the beginning of the video explaining that the video includes footage from car wrecks, that person may choose to not watch the video. THAT is the point of the warning. Showing warnings and then not giving viewers the option to avoid the stimuli misses the point entirely.
Whether or not trigger warnings are valid, should be included in a variety of settings, etc. is worthy of discussion. But dismissing their value because they did not change or improve the experiences of people still exposed seems irrelevant.
14
@Anne, if a person receives a warning that there will be images from car wrecks, it still reminds the viewer that car wrecks do happen, and that distressing situation is put back on their minds. They don't just read the trigger warning and forget about it. There is a possibility that the trigger warning triggers them.
@Anne
Just leave or avoid the movie.
This “study“ was starting from a flawed research question. As others have pointed out, the purpose of trigger warnings is generally not to desensitize people to content… Rather, it is to allow them to avoid exposure to the content. As a college professor, I have used such warnings when assigning reading material that may offend or disturb some readers… And I give them other options for completing the assignments. That is a more common type of use of trigger warnings.
10
Sometimes people need to feel 'uncomfortable' and face realities of other peoples horrendous actions to be able to process and deal with them in the real world. It can change your point of view for the better and give you empathy.
Facing facts gives the world a conscience and shows us what the evil cowards of the world can do to other human beings. There's conspiracy theorists that say the Holocaust never happened and 9/11 never happened, so humans need to feel uncomfortable and fact up some awful facts of life.
If you don't learn from history then humans are condemned to relive it. There a whole museum dedicated to Holocaust victim in Israel. The same with other wars around the world throughout history.
11
@CK
I agree with you and I am saddened by recent event.
1
the point of "trigger warnings" isn't to protect anybody. It is to (2) show how exquisitively sensitive and attuned the person giving the warning is (2) provide a club to wield against those who might harbor unpopular ideas
19
@Mike T. Yes!!
1
I've noticed that PETA and other animal-rights people want to protect themselves from media portraying the abuse or killing of animals, but they're sit through scenes of humans getting killed or injured, no problem.
2
People are a lot more of a mixed bag than animals.
Most of these studies seem to ask the wrong questions. Toward the end of my teaching career at UW, I began putting a trigger warning on the syllabus of my contemporary moral issues class because I had recently had a student who was a rape victim, and found our discussion of whether pornography should be banned on the basis of the theory that it causes rape very disturbing. My point was that I didn't want someone to go through this if they thought they couldn't handle it. Most of these studies ask whether the warning changes the way you feel about the triggering event when it happens. Huh? Really? It literally did not enter my mind that someone would think that. How about asking whether a trigger warning might inspire you to drop the class and avoid a bad experience? That would be the one rational point to a trigger warning, it seems to me.
13
I agree- I always presumed that trigger warnings are in place so people have the choice to turn off the tv/fast forward the scene etc. I’m not sure how useful it is to create a study around them when the participants have to finish watching the pertaining scenes.
5
@Lester Hunt
Basically they should have the option of leaving the room or lecture hall and instead writing an essay on material--write what their experience was and is potentially being exposed to it.
The point of college is being asked to address new thinking and reassess experiences in light of that--and any now way less adult kid can make own choice as to whether to stay in room or not.
@Lester Hunt
Also thought I taught Biology college courses that asked the kids to determine "simple" Mendelian whatever genetics based on parents: like eye and hair color and blood type which we did in lab class.
Many many kids came to me privately in tears as they were adopted or abandoned by one or both parents.
So I following years I "flipped" the assignment--Given your hair and eye color, what kine parents could you be from? Reduced anxiety and increased creativity, and taught better than the original lesson (T.A. so not mine).
4
Trigger warnings, like safe spaces, are antithetical to the very purpose of universities, where students only thrive when they are exposed to open discussions, and democracies. As Orwell said "“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
22
I'm guessing that some will be traumatized by this article expressing skepticism about trigger warnings. Perhaps it should have been preceded by its own warning.
But normal life necessarily includes negative experiences. Experience them and you'll be tougher next time. Hide and you'll cower forever.
29
How about people just grow and accept somethings in life are unpleasant and you have to deal with them, you are supposed to adults act like it. This is a direct symptom of our everyone gets a trophy attitude were no one is taught to accept losing and not everything going your way. Grow up
18
I think I saw my first trigger warning over twenty years ago in college before such warnings officially existed. It was for a literary theory class; the prof wrote in the description and then the syllabus that we would be having frank conversations about sexuality, rape, gender, race, etc., and if this was uncomfortable, one should probably not sign up for the class. Easy peasy.
9
Trigger warning are just lame disclaimers.
"I'm going to say something someone may not like. If that bothers you, you can leave."
First of all, that caters to unimaginably sensitive people, presuming any are present. Secondly, it absolves the speaker for responsibility for their own words.
They just exist for people who want to demonstrate their sensitivities without violating a free speech principle.
4
Wow, there’s a lot to unpack in this article.
I’d agreed with a number of others who point out some important nuances in the studies described here. Most of the studies appear to evaluate impact of trigger warning on populations composed of individuals who have and have not experienced trauma who then go on to view the content. I would be more interested in how many individuals with trauma avoid content based on trigger warnings and if avoiding everyday triggers improves their quality of life. Yes, exposure therapy conducted by trained providers has its benefits, but for those still in the throes of something like PTSD, being exposed to triggers in, say, a classroom setting surrounded by people when you least expect it may not be helpful for their recovery.
On a related note, I think it’s important to mention that people aren’t weak or “snowflakes” if they develop PTSD after a traumatic event. I’ve had friends/family who have developed PTSD after returning from war/a violent sexual assault/the suicide of a loved one. I don’t think any of them are weak, and I hope we can all have some compassion for the traumas that people in this world experience.
23
@Anonymous
Yes been there but seriously, if necessary just leave.
With the exception of flashing light warning, necessary for a subset of people with epilepsy, otherwise take what can handle and if overwhelmed, split.
I avoid material quite easily and situations, people, and particular state--after 35 years it is easy.
1
@Anonymous
PTSD is not weakness, no -- it can strike the toughest
marine.
What is weak is hiding from everything that triggers the traumatic memories, or could trigger the traumatic memories, or wouldn't scare a five year old -- I mean, "theatrical fog/haze?"
Ooh, vampires.
The rubber playground world we're creating for ourselves is scarier to me than the bloodiest, goriest scene in a movie.
If we need protection from fiction, what will happen when we're confronted with the genuine horrors that life presents?
1
If you give a topic overview, say a headline or brief synopsis, you should already get the idea. Heck, most trigger warnings I think are hooks to get you to pay attention to whatever "bad" thing they will say next.
3
I’ll add to the many comments here reflecting that the studies seemed to poorly understand the point of a trigger warning and so flawed the design of the studies.
Also: I think one of the less talked about benefits trigger warnings is they articulate an awareness of and sensitivity to how trauma can impact everyday life. It is a show of respect to those who suffer, often silently. The use and discussion of trigger warnings has led to a rise in our willingness to understand trauma and its effects more fully.
12
@John Singletary So it's disrespectful to not imagine all the possible bad ways an event can be taken.
Can I say how nice my parents are to someone who it turns out suffered abuse from bad parenting? Can I say how nice it is to get a job promotion or pay raise to someone who it turns out was fired? Can I be proud to be accepted to Harvard Law to someone who it turns out dropped out of high school, or could only get into a state school?
7
@David That wasn't my point at all. The idea that trigger warnings are a prohibition on saying or hearing unpleasant things is a willful misinterpretation of the whole concept.
6
The sole purpose of trigger warnings is virtue signaling.
29
@Kaleberg No, it can pique interest or cause some to tune out.
2
@Kaleberg Not terribly gracious of you. Why not start over in your assessment with the idea that someone is trying to do a good thing?
6
“The authors also argued that trigger warnings could be counterproductive, encouraging those who have faced trauma to avoid further exposure to it — an effective treatment — and promoting the idea that their trauma is central to who they are.
“If I’m constantly being reminded about how material in my everyday environment relates to my trauma, we may be reinforcing the centrality of that traumatic event to that person’s narrative, driving symptoms up as a result,” said Benjamin Bellet, the lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student at Harvard.”
There really isn’t anything to add.
Life is triggering.
Don’t expect the world to take care of you- the world is not here to respond to you, you are here to learn to deal with the world- and potentially you might make some new contribution, if you are able.
Grow up!
You are needed.
7
@Marlene Barbera It's easier to remain a cared-for child than a caring adult. Authoritarianism isn't imposed, it's desired by the vast majority, starting with parents, then religious leaders, then teachers and government officials.
4
I thought trigger warnings were at least partly intended to allow trauma victims to avoid distressing material, which wasn't the focus of either study, and so the headline's a bit misleading. The question of whether it's healthy for trauma victims to avoid such material seems separate, but very important.
26
@J
True, and sometimes exposure is helpful and sometimes not. That should be up to the exposee to predetermine content and whether can handle--and if not, leave.
If a college class they should be given that option but required to write an essay about why so upset about material and also required to read it elsewhere.
1
Trigger warnings don't bother me when they are online- people coddling themselves is perfectly OK. The problem is their introduction on college campuses- it has damaged the value of a degree by allowing people to avoid difficult content and still receive a degree.
If the trauma has been so damaging they can't meaningfully engage such content, they are unfortunately too damaged to be said to have a flexible mind worthy of a degree. As other commentators point out, they are meant for avoidance, which is antithetical to a well developed mind.
8
I appreciate the warnings that the news provides, for example, warning against graphic content, which I then don't watch. I tend to be very upset by such images, and in those cases would prefer to read about the issue to be informed rather than watch visual content.
9
Trigger warnings are also insulting to most people, who would rather exercise their own judgement instead of having some officious twit make decisions for them.
What happened to getting up and walking out of a show?
16
@Ronn Conversely, I'd say their absence is also an "insult." My spouse for example, chooses not to watch violent content (whereas I love action, horror, etc.). She relies on indications of content to inform her decision. It's not that hard of a concept to grasp and it's appropriate for all consumable media. If you want to limit information in making choice, fine, but don't limit that option for others.
10
It is not surprising that trigger warnings have little effect on those who read or hear them. Like the rapid-fire disclaimers at the end of ads for prescription drugs and cars, trigger warnings have probably receded into the background of our consciousness and become just noise.
There may be a greater impact, though, on the people who issue the trigger warnings — by making them feel virtuous and keeping them busy.
10
@Fred
Generally I am aware of what media I am accessing, and thus do not need triggers.
Perhaps it is people sucking up media indiscriminately who are having a difficulty.
I am aware fully of what I want to watch and do not, I select accordingly.
The intent of a trigger warning is not based around the idea that it will minimize the negative reaction to the trigger.
Rather, the warnings are typically presented before content to allow those who have related traumatic experiences to determine whether or not it is worth it to them to become triggered by the material.
This decision is extremely personal and very circumstantial. For instance, if a person clicks on a video that contains content that is sensitive to them, they may choose to avoid it if they have an important task in the near future. On the other hand, they could opt to view it if they know that they have the time to process and cope with becoming triggered and feel comfortable doing so.
The idea that trigger warnings should not be provided because those who have experienced trauma need to be exposed to it in order to process is extremely misguided.
While immersion therapy is effective, it is designed to be overseen by an experienced therapist in a gradual process, where the person begins processing with the situation they are most comfortable in.
If immersion is not done in the proper setting with the proper guidance and technique, stumbling across unsettling content falling into this category, it can actually do more harm than good, as it builds on the negative association a patient has with a trigger and build on the influence of the trauma.
39
@Sydney Negron I was going to make a similar comment. The trigger warnings are meant to allow people the opportunity to avoid the trigger, not go on to read/watch/hear the material anyway unless they deem it necessary or feel that they can cope with it.
20
@Gee Agreed. My wife suffered a traumatic car accident a couple of years back, and I make it a point to let her know if there's a car crash scene in media we watch so she can make an informed choice as to if she is ready to view it or not.
5
Even *if* they are helpful in the limited context in which they are used, Life Doesn't Come With Trigger Warnings.
Might as well get used to be exposed to things that make you feel bad in the relatively controlled environment of academia so you are better prepared in the big, bad, world.
19
@SirWired I get your point, but, in real life, how many murders have you personally witnessed? How many brutal rapes and beatings? These are meant as rhetorical questions, but the point is, for entertainment, anyway, I might choose to avoid certain things and should have the opportunity to do so. Also, it’s one thing if you are a witness to a crime or see a terrible accident or some other terrible thing. It’s one thing, one time. It’s completely different being triggered for that trauma over and over unnecessarily. Life doesn’t come with trigger warnings, but there’s no need to re-traumatize a person with a movie or television show if the person isn’t ready for it. I would argue that even if one doesn’t have PTSD or something similar, there are times when that person might want to avoid viewing or reading distressing content. For instance, when my dad was very very sick, I felt like I had enough stress in my life. I avoided a lot of violent and similar content at that time for that reason.
These studies were silly, because they missed the point of the trigger warning, which is to allow the person to avoid the content in that moment if they choose to do so.
21
Oh, how I wish 'trigger warnings' had spared me viewing "Signal 30" in driver ed. I can only imagine the millions of teens who had their sensibilities irreprably harmed by the experience. What garbage!
When the vast majority of films, games and TV programs feature wholesale violence, dismemberment, assaults, explosions, blood, bowels and debasement, colleges are concerned with offending their students with actually existing outrage or disturbing information??
Stick to cat videos, while Uber and Grubhub and Match handle those nasty life tasks for you.
8
The primary purpose is probably to protect the venue from having irate / self-righteous viewers come back afterward and say they weren’t warned. Whether it has any other benefit for the viewer is not (really) very important.
9
There was an article recently about how exposure to pathogens helps strengthen the immune system, and that our obsession with cleanliness is weakening them. Same is true for distasteful ideas and images.
12
@David
Well said. Why do we have an instinct to watch horror movies? Or adventures in which the heroes are threatened by awful fates?
It's so that we can better prepare ourselves to cope with the unfortunate events that do befall us, from the death of a loved one to the violence of war.
When you overprotect people, they end up scared and incompetent -- exactly what's been happening to overprotected, helicoptered kids.
@David
Is it? That's a legitimate question that should have a rigorous answer.
We all need daily trigger warnings about our trauma-inducing president as his nonstop nihilistic rants are doing permanent damage to our collective soul.
15
When my spouse starts to read the news to me at breakfast I cover my ears and scream ‘“stop!” When he turns on the 5 o’clock news, I leave the room.
6
@Zareen
I stopped listening to presidential speeches back in Lyndon Johnson's day, at the advice of I.F. Stone (Google him for a primer in interpreting the “news…”).
I consider myself well informed, because I would read the speech in its entirety in a good newspaper the next day. I wanted the CONTENT of what was said, and not to be influenced by the STYLE.
"Maah Fellow Murricans..." LBJ would start, and it was all downhill from there. I have kept this practice up thru the internet age and it serves well, despite taking some effort.
I do not want ANY president's voice in my head--Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, Obama, Trump. If heard on a radio, I shut it immediately. I can also say with pride that I voted for none of these, and often voted against some of them. Not that our rigged electoral college system makes it worthwhile to vote for president, sometimes.
Want to be informed? Do not watch TV news!
My understanding is that the purpose of a trigger warning is to give people the opportunity to avoid seeing the material. This article presumes that the purpose of a trigger warning is to alleviate the distress while seeing the traumatizing material, which is a claim I have never heard before reading this article.
70
As a social scientist, I would question the structure of the study. The point of the trigger warning is to allow people NOT to continue to be exposing the distressing material. What is the value of studying their response if they are exposed to it both ways? Of course it would be the same - they have the same exposure. The study should instead be more nuanced and explore something along the lines of increasing the ability of the reader to protect themselves from certain types of violence or abuse that are triggering for them. This is theoretically flawed study and undermines potentially very beneficial actions to protect individuals.
As someone who has experienced my own mix of trauma, I find trigger warnings to be very helpful. There are few topics I avoid - I don't need the horrid details. We are bombasted with media and trauma at all times, and it should be a person's right to try to limit some of the most upsetting things while also trying to remain an informed and engaged citizen.
40
@Lauren C. — Are you an experimental psychologist? “Of course it would be the same - they have the same exposure” is the hypothesis being tested here, and is not self-evident.
From the first article: “Trigger warnings are meant to alleviate distress students may otherwise experience, but multiple lines of research suggest trigger warnings could either increase or decrease symptoms of distress.”
1
I value content notes--the more general version of a trigger warning--because I like to schedule my consumption of disturbing content so that it does not affect my sleep. My employment puts me in contact with a great deal of disturbing material, so I've learned a lot about managing my reaction to it, including avoiding it after about 9 p.m. This has nothing to do with finding the material less shocking because I'm forewarned.
26
But the trigger warning does help.
It alerts a reader to sensitive content, and allows them to avoid the topic if they so choose.
Even for me, I'm not triggered by much but I do very much appreciate it when I am alerted to sensitive topics by a trigger warning. It allows me to prepare myself.
10
Anecdotal evidence (your experience) is not the same as empirical study. Glad it seems to help you, though.
8
@b
A lot of news outlets have been doing this for years, just not labeling it as a trigger warning.
The following contains language/images that some people might find disturbing.
It’s handy to have some idea what’s coming, especially if there are kids around, you’re in a place where the language or image might be out of place, or if the mature content is in a forum where you might not ordinarily expect it.
7
@b, how do you prepare yourself?
I always assumed "trigger warnings" were there so people could avoid the content? Anyone, really, could've guessed that it doesn't help. Like getting a flu shot, whether the nurse tells you it's going to "pinch", or they just shove a needle in your arm while you're looking the other way, it hurts.
42