How Can We Engage With Triggers?

The concept of trigger warnings is a simple one. Post a line or two about the material that individuals may be about to engage with, in order to prepare the reader of any topic that may be uncomfortable or triggering. Yet, this topic has become a largely debatable one, surrounding the legitimate need for trigger warnings, and potentially the effect it could have on the concept of censorship.

While trigger warnings started to occur in the feminist blog-sphere, they have begun to make their way into larger interactions, such as the classrooms and lecture halls. With this increase in their use, the need for trigger warnings has now been called into question. 

For many, there is belief that the use of trigger warnings in classrooms will cause a rise in censorship and silence teachers in their academic freedom. For those against trigger warnings, it is their belief that this will cause teachers to remove academic material because of the feeling that they may offend or trigger students who have experienced traumatic events. These critics believe this removes an element of learning, in which students are suppose to engage with material that makes them uncomfortable. However, does uncomfortable truly mean triggered? I am a firm believer  in the idea that to make change in this world we need to discuss things and engage with issues that make us uncomfortable, frustrated or sad, but I would never place this over the importance of the safety of an individual. 

One of the issues I find with trigger warnings is that they have seemed to make trauma a generalized condition. While I dislike how much neoliberalism privileges and encourages individualism as much as the next person, I do believe that mental health and lived experiences are aspects of our society that should focus on the individual. Everyone experiences life in their own way, and it is not for us to define how they have personally dealt with what they may have come up against in this life. While as a collective we should be concerned about how we can help those who struggle with mental health, or experience trauma, it is not for us to tell this individual how they feel about their lived experiences.

Trigger warnings do not encompass everyone's triggers, and they never will be able too. And while they are beneficial in the basic warnings about graphic material or content, or issues that will make us uncomfortable, they cannot be a way to tell survivors how to move through their life. While I see them as helpful, and in some cases have used them to avoid material I know may be painful for myself, I believe trigger warnings should not be the end all way of taking care of someone to prevent them from being triggered. There is more we can do to help, if we truly do want to take care of individuals who experience trauma from past life experiences.