[Albatross2008]

For example, the Law and Order franchise, Criminal Minds, NCIS, that kind of thing. Nothing against the actors or the script writers. It's all very well done. The trouble is that sometimes the plot lines trigger me. But my husband enjoys them, and I don't want to be controlling of him. Right now, as often happens, he has settled himself in comfortably in the recliner, pillow under his head, cat in his lap, to watch a Law and Order marathon.

And he's falling asleep.

He's not even watching it.

If I change the channel, he'll wake up and object.

If I say anything, he might offer to watch in another room instead. The problem here is, he can watch what he likes on TV, or we can be in the same room together, but not both. And again, I don't want to be a controlling nag.

Is there a solution to being triggered by the plot lines?

Does anybody else have this problem?

[Carmina]

Can't watch anything like that, sometimes even reading about them is upsetting enough

[LostOnTheTrail]

Great post, Arbie!

For me, it's medical dramas. With my trauma, I all but had a bit part in one for eight years. Now, I can't be in the same room as anybody who's watching them, and if medical matters come up in conversation, I'm gone, for my own good.

Suggestions, I have none. I wish you strength to be able to find a way to deal with this, as it is evidently detrimental to your relationship.

[Crypts_Of_The_Mind]

I did at one time but now I don't. I actually prefer them to many other shows.

If you ask me how n why I am not sure I can explain it. I know at one point I watched movies about certain things to try to help me understand things about myself - why I reacted in certain ways, etc as well as to try to allow myself to face what it was that happened to me. The crime shows - also, to some extent, let me kind of understand a bit of what was going on in the mind of the one who was hurting me - which also helped me heal a bit. Now - I think they give me some sort of strange validation. I don't know. I know when I tried to report some of the things that happened, the cops refused to make a report, and because of that nobody would believe me. So when I see shows about the same type of thing and the cops refuse to make a report I say to myself "see! It does happen!" So maybe that's part of it. But everytime I watch them, it helps me heal. Strange, I know.

[RubyRae]

Originally Posted by Arbie

For example, the Law and Order franchise, Criminal Minds, NCIS, that kind of thing. Nothing against the actors or the script writers. It's all very well done. The trouble is that sometimes the plot lines trigger me. But my husband enjoys them, and I don't want to be controlling of him. Right now, as often happens, he has settled himself in comfortably in the recliner, pillow under his head, cat in his lap, to watch a Law and Order marathon.

And he's falling asleep.

He's not even watching it.

If I change the channel, he'll wake up and object.

If I say anything, he might offer to watch in another room instead. The problem here is, he can watch what he likes on TV, or we can be in the same room together, but not both. And again, I don't want to be a controlling nag.

Is there a solution to being triggered by the plot lines?

Does anybody else have this problem?

Same here,except I don't really consider it a problem.If my hubby wants to watch things like that I get busy doing something else or go upstairs and watch TV.

That's my solution.If my hubby's gonna watch things he knows I can't,I'm not gonna sit there and watch it,he can't have it both ways,so it's essentially his choice to choose a show over time with me.

[TrailRunner14]

I don’t even watch tv anymore unless its a movie or show that I know is safe.

Actually the sound of the tv being on irritated me. There is some kind of frequency associated with it that disturbs me.

Our den and kitchen are connected and we bought a big screen tv with the sound bar for Christmas last year.

He loves to watch the reality cop shows that have people getting arrested and all the cuss words and drama associated with it. Yuck!

All the movies that he likes to watch are Rambo kick butt movies and I can’t do that either.

We have some time in the evening that we talk. We he decided to watch tv, I put my earphones in my ears and listen to music.

Ya know it’s kind of weird that some people take offense to the fact that I choose not to watch tv. I haven’t figured out why. It’s like they think I’m judging them for watching shows like that or tv in general.

I like the time that I’m with my music and he likes his time to watch his shows.

[mindwrench]

There are some shows and episode themes that I don't want to watch or hear from the other room. The ones that are obvious I can steer clear of. It's the shows that you get invested in and then out of the blue they strike a nerve.

[Albatross2008]

Usually I suffer through it. Tonight I just couldn't stand it. I was too emotionally fragile. I reminded him again that crime dramas trigger me. He was watching a pre-recorded episode of Law and Order:SVU, so he could pause it at will and watch whenever he wanted.

He brought up what may seem like a fair point, that I fall asleep watching Forensic Files on HLN. He doesn't see any difference between that and him watching SVU. I explained to him (again, since we've had this conversation before) that I'm not paying attention to the story line. It's the monotone voice of the narrator that puts me to sleep. Scenes aren't acted out as vividly or as dramatically as they are on a fictional show. If they were, it would wake me right the hell up.

Finally he agreed to watch it in another room, if only to stop me from "whining" about not liking what he's watching.

Being honest about my feelings is "whining." Duly noted.

In fairness, he did apologize and say he's tired. But now I'm more reluctant to tell him how I feel when I'm upset about something.

I barely watch this type of thing, and to be completely honest, sometimes it embarrasses me

I won't say the name of the show, but their was a show I stopped watching because it was triggering, but then got really depressed because I couldn't find out the ending- and I wanted to know if a certain carachter got away with it.

when it comes to law and order, I read the plots first and think.. is this going to be okay or not, then make my decision

in most cases it works, but their's been a few unwelcome surprises too

another show I watched (again, won't say the name), plot looked okay.... arcade got closed down because the owner was suspected of a murder on the property

decided to watch it, and I'll be damned if 2 of the caracthers wern't suicidal.

ugg.

[Nike007]

I kinda relate to your situation. For me now, I've been triggered by the media, as what happened to me recently has been a common theme among the media these days (or at least where I live), and it makes my life harder. I still continue to watch it though because I like knowing about other things that are going on in the world like stocks or events, but it triggers thoughts...