Trigger Warnings

 Hey everyone! 

Trigger warnings have become an absolute necessity of today's times. 

Very often we see people use the phrase "tw: *subject* " on social media, however, not a lot of us seem to understand the actual use and importance behind it. So, I thought, why not tackle this uprising subject for this week's post? 

Without further ado, let's get to it :)

Before we get to the importance of them, let us first understand

What exactly are "Trigger Warnings"?

A trigger warning is a statement made prior to sharing potentially disturbing content of various topics. These deliver messages of warnings in order to allow people to prepare emotionally for the content or to decide to forgo interacting with the content. In simpler words, it is a trauma trigger that prompts recall of a previous traumatic experience in the brain and has various repercussions.  

Now that we have that out in the clear, let's proceed to the next important question:

What is its importance on Social Media?

A precaution. Yes.

Trigger Warnings are a prudence to avoid past experience flashbacks get activated. They promote education by giving survivors a voice and by demonstrating the emotional reality of trauma.  Trigger warnings exist for people in all stages of the healing process, as every person recovers at their own pace. They allow time for a person to bring coping skills to the forefront of their mind and have them ready for use.

A lot of us have a social media presence established. There have been several trends on social media in which survivors of trauma talk about their experiences, oftentimes in detail. This can be very empowering for people partaking in these trends. It can raise awareness and end the stigma for fellow survivors.
However, it can also trigger and re-traumatise other survivors to hear details about traumatic experiences similar to theirs. This is where user-provided trigger warnings come into play.  

Are they really useful?

This is a pretty contradictive statement. Lots of people may agree with this and many may not-I am a person who believes that Trigger Warnings are extremely effective as I myself have implied the use of this in my life. Only you can choose whether you want to view a particular post or not-it comes with self consciousness.

Keep in mind, Trigger Warnings are not words that should be considered as "taboo" or "shh" words. They're simply meant to be precautionary words that let a trauma saviour choose whether  they want to see such a post or not.

That was it for today! Hope I could help :)

Please don't forget to share and comment for more content <3

Signing off,

Kuhu :)