Trigger warning

 Being an eating disorder sufferer, I know more than most that some imagery and topics of discussion can be trigger. However, it is because of this personal connection that I know offering a trigger warning is entirely pointless.

In a previous post, you may remember me mentioning that people of any size and shape simply existing can cause eating disorder thoughts to occur. Additionally, eating disorder behaviours can be triggered by images of food, eating something tasty, or meals and cuisines that are less than appetising and watching people eat. Should we make it illegal to be fat or ban underweight people from leaving their homes and posting selfies on the internet? Maybe we could prohibit processed foods, so as to not accidentally trigger a binge. Obviously mukbangs would be immediately banned and deleted from existence, as would food challenges and reviews.

Alternatively, and perhaps more logically, I can manage my own triggers because they're my responsibility.

I can't live in a world free of triggers. An alcoholic can't live in a year round dry July or request all their local pubs and bottle-shops to close their businesses. Suffering with anxiety doesn't make you exempt from deadlines and calendars.

In fact, by avoiding triggers, you're reinforcing the learned response and increasing the likelihood of requiring further avoidance in the future. Graded exposure works, because if we avoid stimulus we are lowering our tolerance for it and therefore decreasing the amount of exposure necessary for the triggered response to activate. 

Micromanaging the external world to regulate an internal response is nonsensical, time consuming, and in the end results in poor outcomes. Furthermore, despite our best efforts and the energetic requirement required to make adjustments to factors outside of our control, we are unlikely to see results. No matter how much I scream and shout that eating disorders are deadly and certain content is triggering, I have no control over the uploads of other people. The entire world could repeat in unison, however triggers are inherently personal, unlikely to be shared universally by individuals even with the same lived experience or diagnosis, and as such are impossible to prescribe remedies to in a world-wide fashion. If we were to respond to each and every trigger than any person on the planet had, there would be more things banned than permitted. Misophonia is a condition characterised by an emotional response to the sound of other people eating. How on earth would we ensure we don't potentially trigger a person living with that?

I appreciate this growing desire to increase awareness and make more conscious decisions about our actions. I am grateful that people are trying. However the people who are mindful of this are not the people who were ever doing it intentionally, and having these demands for trigger warnings won't change their behaviour either. 

The world's increasing sensitivity is, in my opinion, not accidental. I fear, if we are to continue hedging our language, sheltering people from hard truths, tiptoeing around blatant facts, and bubble wrapping each other by adding trigger warnings and telling people what they can and can't say, we'll only get worse collectively.

So, to conclude, no. I will not be adding trigger warnings. Yes, I will discuss the stark reality of my lived experience. No, it is not designed to offend you. Yes, if you are upset you are welcome to ignore my content or do whatever you believe necessary for your own self care and personal trigger management.