Trigger Warnings

My novel, Prayers on the Shower Door, is about trauma. It’s the sort of trauma that causes the protagonist, Therese, to forget huge chunks of her childhood and to

experience terrifying flashbacks. It is serious trauma. My story will evoke powerful emotions in some people, but I will not include trigger warnings for the book.

I have experienced severe trauma in my life, and I ignore trigger warnings in books, articles, movies and videos. If I read or watch something in a movie or series that reminds me of my trauma, I don’t avoid it. I try to work through it. Yes, I know it will be upsetting and make me uncomfortable, but I believe, to quote Robert Frost, “that the only way out is through.” For the most part, I force myself to read or watch things that trigger me, to push through the fear and anxiety to a place where I can feel safe.

It is similar to being injured in an accident and needing physical therapy. It may hurt like

hell. You will curse your therapist, yes there may be times you want to quit, but the only

way to heal is to push your body, and to experience that pain. If you don’t face the pain,

you may very well experience it for the rest of your life. But what works for me may not work for others who have experienced trauma. Maybe I should include trigger warnings to be considerate of what others may feel when they read my book.

Research shows different. “Trigger warnings don’t seem to help, and they can produce

temporary anxiety,” says Richard McNally, psychology professor at Harvard University.

Trigger warnings actually produce more anxiety in people who are going to read an article

or see disturbing images, and they do not ultimately experience less negative emotions

compared to people who saw no trigger warnings. But if I want to sell more books, trigger warnings do help. People who see trigger warnings actually are more prone to read the book or watch the movie, perhaps because it is “forbidden fruit.” It captures their curiosity. “Oh, this sounds scary, but interesting. I think I’ll give it a go.”

Triggers alert us that something had hurt us in the past and could hurt us now. The

problem is that triggers are emotional, not logical. Let’s say a woman is waiting at a bus

stop at night and a man reeking of beer in a green hoody hits her in the face and steals

her purse. The woman may develop negative emotions associated with bus stops, the

scent of beer and green hoodies, none of which did anything to contribute to her being

injured. Because of this, things that trigger us can be innocuous things that do us no

harm. The smell of shaving lotion of the man who sexually abused you as a child, the

intersection where you were in a car accident, the McDonalds restaurant where you

witnessed a robbery, or a wooded trail because a man exposed himself to you once when

you were walking alone. We can’t avoid things that trigger powerful emotions because they are everywhere. They evoke these emotions not only to try to protect us, but to let us know we have trauma we need to work through. Trauma, that if we do not confront, may cause chronic depression or rage.

So, instead of trying to avoid triggers, embrace them. They are nature’s way of telling you

something’s wrong. Try seeing them as an opportunity to heal, as painful as that process

may be.