What sort of things do you find triggering?

I've written a memoir which I would love to publish to raise awareness and understanding around bipolar, depression and suicide in particular. It's mainly about the year that I got diagnosed, during most of which I was psychotically depressed and tried to kill myself.

One of the things holding me back from publishing is the worry that it could make things worse for someone and might trigger a depressed person to act on suicidal impulses.

A large part of the book focusses on suicide. At the time death/dying/suicide were in every waking thought and this is reflected in my writing. I've tried to be mindful of possible triggers when editing, but I can't remove all discussion of methods etc.

I've had great feedback from those who've read it (some readers had experienced depression, some hadn't, but no one was depressed when they read it), but I want to know whether you think you would find reading it triggering?

Possibly. But you can't write a memoir without describing your own experiences, so if people read it knowing it could trigger them, that's their own fault and they alone are responsible for their reactions. It's YOUR story, not theirs.

Don't worry.....just make sure to put a disclaimer in there at the very beginning that's along the line of "Read At Your Own Risk---Trigger Warning".

Yeah, I'd think having a little forward/introduction that explains that you do hit on some very sensitive topics and that it could be triggering for some people... that'd be ok.

Like... I know when I'm on edge, I will do my best to avoid the sorts of things and situations that could trigger me.

ETA: you could even have a little symbol that you explain to put in front of chapters that are particularly violent/suicidal?

I was going to make some of the same suggestions that BipolaRnurse and CheshireCatGrin already made...so I will just include what hasn't already been said.

I would feel angry and even more alone had I not read some of the books about BP that I have read. The books did have points that I am thinking of may have points that would be triggering for some, but for me, i found comfort in the details. The details were the points that showed me the author REALLY got it...they were there in the depths of hell, too. If you leave out part of your experience just to shelter others, what is the point? It's not your authentic experience and if you took the time to write down a memoir, it should be as true to self as possible IMO.

A trigger warning on the front and back as well as in the foreward/intro should do it. Read at your own risk.

Congrats on the near completion of your work!!!

Thanks for the responses. You've reinforced what I was thinking. Trigger warning it is!