Trigger Warnings

During one of my graduate school classes this summer, I faced a difficult question for the first time. Given the reading list for the course, I had no choice but to approach my professor and tell him about my CPTSD. Multiple books on the list were rife with triggers that could steal hours, days, or weeks of my life to flashback. Upon hearing my concerns, my professor asked me a very interesting question: How do you feel about trigger warnings? He wanted to know if I felt offended by the lack of trigger warnings on his syllabus. To be honest, I had never considered the question before, in spite of its prevalence in today’s culture.

I gave the question serious consideration over the next twenty-four hours before responding. I have since lost access to the email account that I used to respond, but I will paraphrase my thoughts below.

For me, society’s current obsession with trigger warnings is extremely bothersome. We have undoubtedly appropriated the word trigger from the psychological community for applications well outside of its intended use. More often than not it seems, trigger warnings today are implemented to protect those who have not experienced trauma.

For the sake of openness, I want to share some of the triggers that can send me into flashback. While my most difficult flashbacks occur from allusions to drugs or alcohol, the breadth of things that can send my system into flashback is unnerving. Below are some of the less expected, more insignificant triggers that can be just as harmful as the aforementioned allusions:

• Making my protein shake after a workout
• One of my pills (intended to help my symptoms as opposed to hurt them)
• Any of a number of songs
• Certain innocuous words, spoken or written
• Mentioning of particular cities
• The actions of extras in movies or tv shows
• Even thinking about any of these things

For those who actually experience triggers, you can’t warn us for all of these occurrences. You can’t even warn us for most of them. More importantly, the current push to include trigger warnings, particularly on college campuses, is wholly ill-founded. They are a product of the sounding board that is our collegiate education system. Today, our youth claim to be triggered by ideas that contradict their own. Triggered has become a word that the younger generations have adopted as a synonym for angry. We have bastardized the meaning of the word.

When I responded to my professor, I told him that he shouldn’t have to warn anybody. My health is my concern. I was lucky enough to discover a trigger before encountering it, and I was brave enough to inform him of my dilemma. I actually felt deeply ashamed of not reading the book, not deeply offended as the word triggered has come to imply.

Moreover, the science behind trigger warnings is finally emerging. This study  from Harvard highlights the unexpected negative results of trigger warnings.  The article certainly has its detractors, most or all of whom do not suffer from PTSD. In fact, one of my favorite articles that has been published recently is this one from Richard McNally, a Psychology professor at Harvard University. While the title “If You Need a Trigger Warning, You Need PTSD Treatment” is certainly inflammatory, I think it makes a very important point. If you want to claim that you are experiencing triggers, you need to bring your trauma to your professor’s attention. If you have no diagnosis of PTSD or CPTSD, you are not in danger of being triggered.

As a person suffering from CPTSD, I want to conclude with an observation: I have worked very hard to welcome triggers into my life. That process has been incredibly difficult, and I’m not sure I could have done it alone. I know, however, that only by experiencing triggers can I hope to improve my health. Each trigger that I encounter offers me an opportunity: succeed, or try again later. I want to live in a world where I no longer experience triggers and flashbacks, but I also know that the only way for me to do so is to fight them until I win consistently. Most suffering from PTSD or CPTSD, at least those with a healthy perspective on their recovery, agree with me.

I hope you have learned something from this blog post. I know I certainly learned a great deal from my professor’s question and the resultant introspection. For those of you who have to deal with triggers in your life, continue taking the healthy approach. Welcome them into your life until you are stronger than they are. If you do not have to deal with true, psychological triggers, be careful not to undermine the sufferings of others by misusing the word.