Tom Hiddleston 5 (1000)

73 Name: anonsy : 2015-10-19 20:32 ID:IfkirhfN

>>71 As someone who has personally dealt with trauma, I get very angry when I see people on tumblr abuse the concept of "triggers" and now they're bringing it into real life as well. They are either misunderstanding and misusing the term, or if they have actually been through a traumatic event they are leaning on "trigger warnings" as a crutch and should instead be seeking some sort of therapy.

From Mental Health America:
"Certain things seem to set off my symptoms of PTSD. What can I do to control these triggers?
For people with PTSD, it is very common for their memories to be triggered by sights, sounds, smells or even feelings that they experience. These triggers can bring back memories of the trauma and cause intense emotional and physical reactions, such as raised heart rate, sweating and muscle tension. Because these memories and feelings are unpleasant, you may have the urge to avoid the triggers. Avoiding things that make you uncomfortable is normal and will make you feel better in the short run. But in the long run, this avoidance will make things worse. If the pattern continues, you can make your problems worse. Instead of avoiding triggers, it is probably better to learn how to manage your reactions when they are triggered. Many forms of therapy are effective in treating PTSD. Cognitive behavioral therapy, in particular, can help you learn ways to reduce and manage your reactions to triggers."

For me, it was gradual exposure to the things that triggered episodes, and over time I have been able to get through most of them and am still working on the few I have left. But if I had kept yelling "trigger warning!" and hiding from the world I'd have made no progress toward recovery. Most of the time I feel these people just use the word "trigger" to refer to something that makes them uncomfortable rather than what it actually is, and it frustrates me to no end, because then when someone who is a combat veteran or a rape victim actually has something that IS a trigger that they may very well be trying to work through, the rest of the world is so used to the tumblr version of triggers that they ignore the requests or needs of people who are really dealing with PTSD.

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