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There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings happening in regards to what triggers and trigger warnings are and how they can be used to make a fandom better so I'm making this thread to try to explain it and hopefully clear things up a little
this thread has a blanket warning for discussion of trauma and mental health. also i'm not a mental health professional. the things i'm going to talk about are based on my own experiences. coping with trauma is an individual experience
first of all, what is a trigger? A trigger is something that sets off a memory or transports someone back to the event of their original trauma
Some triggers are more common, and some are person specific. Responses to a trigger can range from flashbacks, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, or regression to damaging behavior
So where does a trigger warning come in? A trigger warning is an early indicator of an upcoming subject matter that may be triggering to a person with past trauma. They are designed to help people who may be negatively impacted by discussion of certain subjects
an argument I've seen often is that using trigger warnings is detrimental to a person with trauma because it allows them to avoid it. i think this comes from a simple misunderstanding. A trigger warning is a coping mechanism.
In order to identify it, a person must first identify and admit their trauma, which is the first step towards healing from it. A person with trauma isn't avoiding trauma by making use of trigger warnings, they're actively working on unraveling and understanding it
and ways it does and doesn't affect them. It doesn't necessarily mean that a person with trauma is avoiding discussions or content related to their trauma. They're simply taking precaution that this content doesn't catch them unaware and trigger an emotional response
in a proper environment, like a therapist's office, and with proper notice, a person with trauma can and will engage with their trauma and work towards solving it
so if your argument is that you're helping people with trauma by exposing them to triggers without warnings and therefore forcing them to cope with trauma, your argument is false. all you're doing is triggering a debilitating emotional response that will leave the person
unable to engage with content on any terms. your social media isn't the proper place to engage and unravel trauma, and i hope you can realize why
another common argument that i see is that there are no trigger warnings in real life, which isn't entirely true. there are content warnings for movies and tv shows for example that include several triggers. there are ratings on books and lyrics.
sometimes people with trauma will be triggered in every day life. this is inevitable. people with trauma KNOW this. they go out into the world every day knowing this and i think that's very brave and should be celebrated.
but social media isn't real life. it's a space to share content. and as such there is no reason that it shouldn't contain trigger warnings, just like other content does.
using trigger warnings in content that might be triggering is important for the same reason that trans people have been asking us to put pronouns in our bios - it normalizes it. It makes our fandom spaces a safer space for people with trauma. It's kinder to everyone.
You might not know to tag a person's specific trigger. People with specific triggers know this and have taken several precautions by themselves and in my experience they're understanding and kind even in the face of being confronted with their trauma.
but if you see someone asking for a trigger tag either in a tweet or in their bio or their carrd, why not do it? why not make it easier for them?
of course, no one can force you to use trigger warnings. your twitter is your personal space and it's your responsibility how you curate your content. but don't be surprised if people are unfollowing you, or confronting you, or upset at you, if you post triggering content
without warnings. There's no harm in critically engaging with the content you post and thinking about it in terms of what might be triggering to people.
This is a list of some common trigger warnings you can use to help guide you:
This is an explanation as to how you should be using trigger warnings in your tweets so that they can be picked up by twitter's mute function:
here is a tweet listing several common triggers that may be associated with Oneus' latest comeback so that you can warn content associated with it appropriately https://twitter.com/miniisan_seoho/status/1294630791528341504?s=19
and as always, thank you for listening and making the fandom around your a kinder place
