Triggered

A recent pop-culture thing I have noticed is that people flippantly say that something has “triggered” someone when that person gets upset. This is detrimental for multiple reasons.

The first reason is that this practically shames and punishes people for expressing anger or hurt (especially when the people are reacting to others belittling or ridiculing them). As my therapist as been teaching me, we have to express our emotions and feelings, and this includes defending ourselves when others are treating us in unacceptable ways. There are ways of reacting that are also unacceptable, but we should not be trying to prevent people from expressing their hurts and emotions and feelings in healthy ways.

I think part of why people do this is because they don’t want to admit that they’re doing anything wrong. They want to treat others however they wish with no repercussions. This is completely wrong; we must be willing to admit that how we act may be wrong. We need to lay down our pride and be willing to admit our follies. And we must be willing to stand up against those who are hurting others without shame or regret. If we don’t, then we are nothing but monsters. As BarlowGirl says in their song “Running Out of Time”, from their album Love & War, “We may not pull the trigger but we stand by and watch and pretend not to see; silence is worse than evil done…” Additionally, the Bible says in Matthew 7:12 and 12:28-34 that we are supposed to treat others the way we want to be treated, and to love others the way we love ourselves. Therefor, if we don’t love, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, the Message).

The second reason why this “triggered” joke is so detrimental is because it minimizes the mental illnesses of those who do struggle with being truly triggered. Let’s look at my anxiety, for example (since it’s the thing I understand the best). I can’t watch movies that are rated PG-13 or higher because of violence. (Yes, that means I can’t finish watching the Avengers story arc, and it is SAD.) Those violent scenes trigger panic attacks in me, and I completely shut down, usually for hours at a time. Since I can’t function, I no longer watch those sorts of movies and TV shows. PTSD, depression, and other mental illnesses work the same way.

Yet when people make the joke that someone is “triggered,” they minimize what that actually is, as well as making those of us who truly do struggle with being triggered less likely to be believed when we’re trying to help people understand what it’s like for us. It’s not funny. It’s not okay. And it hurts way more people than could ever realize, in more ways than they could ever realize.

It’s like joking about rape or making flippant remarks about it. That minimizes the negative impact such horror and trauma has on the victims.

It’s not okay. And it needs to stop. All of it.

It’s not okay.