Warning: the following article may contain elements that are not suitable for some audiences. It will touch upon potentially triggering and uncomfortable topics that not all can stomach.
The above is a content warning. It’s very likely that you have seen some variation of it before watching a video. And though you may not have paid it much mind, these are shockingly important for many people, and not just for parents and their children.
There are a lot of people in this world who have gone through utterly horrific events that have left them scarred and traumatized, and as a result, many of them suffer from post traumatic stress (PTS).
You may have heard of this term before, especially in relation to our veterans of war, though not all who have it are veterans. PTS is characterized by the existence of triggers and flashbacks, certain items, people, actions, or terms--triggers--setting off an often violent memory, called a flashback, of the past traumatizing event. Flashbacks are horrible to go through and difficult to deal with, and not everyone has the resources to get help for it.
To many of these people, content and trigger warnings are incredibly important. Being told beforehand that there may be potentially triggering content ahead, they can either remove themself from the situation or be better prepared for it.
But we already have content warnings; what’s the issue?
They are not specific enough. What we need are trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings will warn for specific triggers, often dark and disturbing content, by name (i.e. rape, abuse, suicide, etc.). Many survivors are fine with one sort of content, but cannot handle another due to their personal experiences. For instance, a rape victim may be able to watch a gruesome snuff film but back out of a rape scene. It’s because of this that a blanket content warning isn’t enough for viewers to see if the content is safe.
Trigger warnings are vital for media. Certainly, you can say that they’ll spoil something, but are spoilers really more important than people with as debilitating a disorder as PTS, or even people who are uncomfortable with certain dark topics? Absolutely not.
PTS can have a lot of incredibly specific triggers that nobody would think to warn for (i.e. keys jingling, a certain ringtone, etc.). This makes it nearly impossible to put a trigger warning for anything that is potentially triggering. However, I believe putting a trigger warning for very dark or controversial topics that even people who don’t suffer from PTS may find incredibly uncomfortable wouldn’t be amiss.
It’s awful that enough people have gone through so much as to need these content and trigger warnings just to feel safe, but what’s done is done, and we should make the world a bit safer for them.
The above is a content warning. It’s very likely that you have seen some variation of it before watching a video. And though you may not have paid it much mind, these are shockingly important for many people, and not just for parents and their children.
There are a lot of people in this world who have gone through utterly horrific events that have left them scarred and traumatized, and as a result, many of them suffer from post traumatic stress (PTS).
You may have heard of this term before, especially in relation to our veterans of war, though not all who have it are veterans. PTS is characterized by the existence of triggers and flashbacks, certain items, people, actions, or terms--triggers--setting off an often violent memory, called a flashback, of the past traumatizing event. Flashbacks are horrible to go through and difficult to deal with, and not everyone has the resources to get help for it.
To many of these people, content and trigger warnings are incredibly important. Being told beforehand that there may be potentially triggering content ahead, they can either remove themself from the situation or be better prepared for it.
But we already have content warnings; what’s the issue?
They are not specific enough. What we need are trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings will warn for specific triggers, often dark and disturbing content, by name (i.e. rape, abuse, suicide, etc.). Many survivors are fine with one sort of content, but cannot handle another due to their personal experiences. For instance, a rape victim may be able to watch a gruesome snuff film but back out of a rape scene. It’s because of this that a blanket content warning isn’t enough for viewers to see if the content is safe.
Trigger warnings are vital for media. Certainly, you can say that they’ll spoil something, but are spoilers really more important than people with as debilitating a disorder as PTS, or even people who are uncomfortable with certain dark topics? Absolutely not.
PTS can have a lot of incredibly specific triggers that nobody would think to warn for (i.e. keys jingling, a certain ringtone, etc.). This makes it nearly impossible to put a trigger warning for anything that is potentially triggering. However, I believe putting a trigger warning for very dark or controversial topics that even people who don’t suffer from PTS may find incredibly uncomfortable wouldn’t be amiss.
It’s awful that enough people have gone through so much as to need these content and trigger warnings just to feel safe, but what’s done is done, and we should make the world a bit safer for them.