Do Trigger Warnings Work? (According to Science)

Are trigger warnings a useful way to protect your mental health, or could they cause more harm than good? Here’s what the research says on the effects of trigger warnings.

Further Reading:

Jones, P. J., Bellet, B. W., & McNally, R. J. (2020). Helping or harming? The effect of trigger warnings on individuals with trauma histories. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(5), 905-917. DOI: 10.1177/2167702620921341

[kittysunlover]

There's also an obvious practical downside to trigger warnings, which is that as the issue has become so politicized, the phrase "trigger warning" gets used ironically or to make fun of those who use them seriously. So some people would be encountering "trigger warnings" far more frequently than their actual triggers for more reasons than just the ones you gave.

This is an area of study I hadn't given much thought to previously, so always happy to learn something new. Thank you!

[Longknife]

I was born with one leg, and something I had to learn young: this is no one's burden to bear but my own. If I become reliant on others, this is to my detriment, because the days where no one else is around are the days I'll suffer for it. It does me no good to cry and moan about my disability, and instead I should hunker down and be ready to face the obstacles it entails.

I personally would agree with the arguments against trigger warnings for that reason: it does no good to dwell on how the trauma is unfair or to rely on others to catch you, but it does loads of good to come to terms with it and face it head on, however difficult that may be. FFS, someone might have a trigger for men standing in a doorway because their assaulter did this before the assault unfolded, and triggers like that don't even HAVE that option of trigger warnings: there is no way for others to accommodate them.

And given that, if some must and can get over PTSD without the warnings, I feel it's fair to argue everyone can. Sure, they might be helpful in some way, but when we simply stack risk vs. reward here, I doubt the reward is that high whilst quite frankly, I think there's another risk factor in play here: people who DON'T have any form of PTSD but love hamming it up for attention. These don't get called out because if you do, you look like an ass, but 100% there are people who crave trigger warnings as a way to steer the discussion to being about them. I feel like most people that use the phrase/request the phrase don't even have PTSD, because seemingly overnight, the alleged population with PTSD increased what felt like tenfold as soon as tactics such as trigger warnings became a thing.

You might say okay, but shouldn't we focus on the true victims of PTSD and not let such individuals color our opinions about trigger warnings? Ideally, yes, but realistically I think we have to acknowledge this for an apt assessment of what they do. I feel such individuals downplay actual PTSD and make it more likely that others won't take PTSD seriously, precisely because they've had a negative encounter with someone hamming up their need for trigger warnings that wasn't actually genuine. I see risk of making the situation worse for actual PTSD victims if we enable a system with debated, limited benefit that yes, it does feel like self-centered individuals have co-opted.

[ambotak]

I'm a psychology student. I have classmates that would use the word "trigger warning" in very simple scenarios such as before speaking the word blood which I find odd. This video enlightened me about trigger warning in many ways and actually made me grow more curious about it

Well done! This video is unbiased and fact-based. It is very helpful to those who are taking up psychology. I also like that you stated the gaps in the literature and I'm considering to explore them sometime in the future. Thanks for the video!

[JustFreddi]

Thank you very much for this interesting video!

[andrewdenzel]

This video really helped me with my homework...amazing research and knowledge about an important topic 😇 thank you 🙏

[ruthlesspress]

Thank you for this video. I'm a horror author trying to navigate this complex topic. My current thinking is to include an author's note to the effect that scientific research shows trigger warnings are ineffective. But I'm wondering if that will have the same end result as a trigger warning and end up causing harm as well. I know this video is aimed at education, and I'm wondering if it applies the same way to pleasure reading and content.

[ambotak]

Speaking of, I can relate it into a hypothesis of mine about the irony of mental health awareness.

Hypothesis: People become more vulnerable to mental health issues as they become more aware.

Although the goal of mental health awareness is to be more careful of people with mental health issues and do develop buffers to prevent them, some might actually have the tendency to self identify with the symptoms of a mental health issue and unconsciously introject the mental health issue into themselves. (I don't think it is their fault. I just think this could be one of the natural reaction of the human psyche that we should be aware of to avoid it)

This is just a hypothesis and is therefore not proven to be true.

What are your thoughts about this?

I'd like to hear from anyone. Thanks!

[northwest]

The ratio of likes versus content is the lowest I’ve ever seen. I hope more people see your videos!