Can't triggers be useful?

Point taken, I did not intend to call out a poster for liking a post, or I would have done that directly to multiple posters, but I just thought the user id was so... fitting. I will edit my post per your comments.

The reason I have replied (and that I believe some others are replying similarly) is because more than one of the posts here has been dismissive of the difficulties in being triggered for someone with PTSD and because muddying the use of the word doesn't seem to help.

Thanks for this.

You are right, I could have been more clear in the first post. I'm sorry for this. Unfortunately, the time to go back and edit has past. I really did mean for a discussion about useful and harmful triggers. Sorry it didn't come across that way.

Point taken. I understand how you could feel that way. I was just stating my case for how I didn't feel that I belonged in that category (being dismissive).

Here's an interesting article about triggers and trigger warnings from the New Republic. (Apologies if someone already posted the link, I haven't been so assiduous about reading the whole thread!)

Trigger Warnings Have Spread from Blogs to College Classes. That's Bad | New Republic

This to me reads as an "expose" of individuals who want to spare others pain, and who are being judged as too PC for trying, particularly the comments get downright catty.

Sigh.

I don't get upset at anyone when I am triggered. No one "tries" to trigger me. I suffer, I work through it, and eventually some of the triggers resolve, get better. That's my experience.

But it's like having surgery... it's painful but necessary, you know? I don't want that experience constantly... too much triggering is awful. So, I appreciate those here who think about whether their content is triggering, though I know it's an inexact science, to say the least.

I have been triggered in college classes that I recall, once, long ago at a horrid lecture about child abuse stands out particularly. I avoid situations I know will be extraordinarily difficult sometimes, but can't always anticipate them of course. To me, that's just part of life... like getting in a car accident.... they happen. Still.... sometimes it is nice to have stop signs, to cut back on the accidents.

strange because i was FEELING( may not be reality) like some posts were being dismissive of people who don't have a dx of ptst .that triggers for those people are some how less traumatic . and that is not the case as much as anyone would like to think that. people are triggered for and by many different reasons and on many different levels . my son had very severe reactions to people sneaking up on him and scaring him but he does not have ptsd does that make his fear less . i don't think so. i know PTSD is horrible and i don't mean to minimize it at all . but there are many situations and dx's that need just as much consideration and empathy

i agree that to much triggering can be horrible . i know my T has told me that she is very careful of this do to the possibility of re traumatizing me . so i believe that is real but i don't think that a person has to have ptsd to that a reaction that strongly.

i know triggers are everyplace for me .some worse then others and this is why i am in therapy . my inability to deal some with life .

i would feel horrible (i really would ) if i knew something i did triggered someone so severe but at the same time i cant live my life walking on egg shells, but try my best not to trigger anyone (sorry about my rage on THE OTHER thread, I do feel horrible) but don't expect others to make allowances for my triggers. i do try to help myself

This is the subject of way too much time and energy (in my opinion) at the university where I teach. I think it is nuts to put a trigger warning on a syllabus.

I wasnt aware of this at all. If you look at it from a more historical perspective, things were self-censored per "taste" - you just didnt discuss personal stuff. Writers put things euphemistically, or their editors did. Now more content is being released and its not being edited or censored or given a PG rating beforehand - except if somebody puts a trigger warning on it. So kinda the price for being free to write what you want, is to put a trigger warning on it. Im kinda okay with that. You warn people ahead of time - this is gonna be gross. They get to decide if they want to stay or not. I like that better than some people deciding that the speaker may not speak. Let the market decide.

I don't think anyone is saying to just suck it up and get over it. I think it's more about skills acquisition than anything.

Of course it doesn't make his fear any less. An exaggerated startle response, is just a fairly well known symptom of PTSD, but thats not to say its the only disorder that would cause it.

I think what can be frustrating, is people feel the are left with 'suck it up and get over it' when they aren't able to acquire these 'skills'. Not everyone has the same abilities to develop the same skills. I mean for instance I might learn to cope with some of my triggers better, but there are some that I might have to continue avoiding and I don't see anything wrong with that...one has to pick the battles worth fighting.

Thank you for that! I feel "you trigger me" is definitely a way to shut down the conversation. More honest thinking would be "I am feeling triggered" and try to figure out what it is. The other person isn't responsible for you being triggered. It is YOUR reaction to something they have said or done.

Feeling "triggered" is misleading too. What you really want to get at is what you are actually feeling. Are you scared, worried, angry? Once you know that you can start to address the why. Emotions serve to drive us to action.

Seeing pets being treated cruelly by humans is a trigger for me. It makes me terribly sad and angry and helpless. That is not a wrong reaction at all. It has encouraged me to want to help animals where I can and I adopted a rescued cat from a shelter.

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Hi Leah, in my experience, I don't see this with schizophrenia, but I do see it with OCD, depression, bipolar, and especially ADD. Very common at university, in my experience.

I read the responses here and i want to clarify-it seems normal for people to use what definitions of trigger they choose to use whenever, wherever. I use it somewhat liberally too. There's nothing wrong with that, but I do think there is a cause and effect in that it can dilute the concept. But that's no one's fault; it's just pop culture. The posts describing what trigger meant reminded me of seeing this concept with MI in general.

Not too long ago, I had a severe depression for about a year. During any given conversation with my mom where i'd mention my struggles with depression, she'd say "my friend so and so is depressed too-but she does x and y. And she also does z-all the time!" . I've also seen it in blogs, etc., where people say "if you just do this and that, you won't be depressed anymore...BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DID". (There should be a trigger warning for that. lol) My best friend-"depression is a choice"...Hearing this kind of stuff all the time just made it 10 times harder to get through. And i heard this stuff repeatedly. I was so thankful for my T, who totally understood what i was going through...what would i have done without him?

Sorry, Canyon, that hardly anyone discussed positive triggers like you initially wanted.

Okay.....positive trigger.....
Walking into a barn full of Holsteins.
The smell, the sounds, they trigger a calming and peaceful memory. A safe place of unconditional love.

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