Trigger warnings, safe spaces, and fascism on college campuses

[UVACoug]

https://nyti.ms/2LotIOB

Someone should the board a copy of this:

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[swampfrog]

So how helpful are trigger warnings?

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[Pelado]

So how helpful are trigger warnings?

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Not particularly surprising. The suggestion that what they are about to read/see/hear might induce trauma becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

[wapiti]

Not particularly surprising. The suggestion that what they are about to read/see/hear might induce trauma becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Wouldn't one of the desired effects of a trigger warning be so the person doesn't go on to watch the disturbing material?

[Katy Lied]

But aren't those advocating trigger warnings really asking to ban the source of the trigger? At least in public?

For example, one of the men who claims that Michael Jackson molested him says that sometimes he is in an elevator, and a Michael Jackson song comes on. When he realizes it, he starts to get triggered and needs to leave the elevator/restaurant/movie/etc. This man has not requested trigger warnings, but wouldn't the need to broadcast the trigger warning "the next song on this elevator play list was popularized by Michael Jackson" equate to basically banning all MJackson songs in public?

[swampfrog]

Wouldn't one of the desired effects of a trigger warning be so the person doesn't go on to watch the disturbing material?

They argue that trigger warnings provide agency to engage or not to engage and that they allow trauma survivors to adequately prepare to engage with difficult material.

Yes, but not the only purpose. The paper is specifically addressing whether the second part of this argument is valid. There are some other interesting findings quoted from other papers in the paper.

due to their grassroots origin in a non-clinical setting, trigger warnings have expanded for years without the rigorous scientific evaluation that normally accompanies such interventions.

They also reported a moderation effect among individuals who believed that words were emotionally harmful, trigger warnings acutely increased anxiety reactions.

Although trigger warnings appeared to have a trivial effect on response anxiety, they reliably increased anticipatory anxiety.

Even among those that do not have past trauma, the warning itself raises at least anticipatory (before that actual material is presented) anxiety levels. Though follow-up studies appear to suggest response (after the material is presented) affects are trivially small. Not helping, might be hurting.

Also, the text of the article pointed at this:

...finding is contrasted by Kimble (2019), who found that individuals rarely avoided material due to trigger warnings.

.

[swampfrog]

But aren't those advocating trigger warnings really asking to ban the source of the trigger? At least in public?

For example, one of the men who claims that Michael Jackson molested him says that sometimes he is in an elevator, and a Michael Jackson song comes on. When he realizes it, he starts to get triggered and needs to leave the elevator/restaurant/movie/etc. This man has not requested trigger warnings, but wouldn't the need to broadcast the trigger warning "the next song on this elevator play list was popularized by Michael Jackson" equate to basically banning all MJackson songs in public?

I think the research shows this is the opposite of the desired outcome, if you are "triggered" by something, the goal is to become desensitized to the trigger through exposure. Avoiding the trigger just makes it worse over time and raises your anxiety levels. I think there is a definite problem pointed out in the article that once society convinces that something should cause you anxiety, it does cause anxiety.

These messages may reinforce the notion that trauma is invariably a watershed event that causes permanent psychological change. In reality, a majority of trauma survivors are resilient, experiencing little if any lasting psychological changes due to their experience (Bonanno, 2004; Bonanno & Mancini, 2008). Aggregated across various types of trauma, only 4% of potentially traumatic events result in PTSD (Liu et al., 2017). However, trauma survivors who view their traumatic experience as central to their life have elevated PTSD symptoms (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006; Brown et., 2010; Robinaugh & McNally, 2011). Trauma centrality prospectively predicts elevated PTSD symptoms, whereas the reverse is not true (Boals & Ruggero, 2016). Decreases in trauma centrality mediated therapy outcomes (Boals & Murrell, 2016). This suggests that increasing trauma centrality is directly countertherapeutic. In other words, trigger warnings may harm survivors by increasing trauma centrality.

[frank ryan]

Not particularly surprising. The suggestion that what they are about to read/see/hear might induce trauma becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

So I think like a lot of things that end up ridiculous in our society, whether bureaucratic or politically correct, trigger warnings can have some value, but they have become overdone and abused.

You're on to something here. Psychotherapeutically, there is a term for treating others like there incapable of encountering pain and unpleasantness: fragilization. It can be very harmful. It reinforces a sense of permanent victimhood. Through therapy, we word to help the client they aren't defective, that an experience doesn't define them and that they are resilient. Same for drug addicts.

There is a psychological assessment tool, Adverse Childhood Experiences assessment (ACES) that simply asks people if they have encountered certain events of circumstances before the age of 18. When the test was being formulating and studied. They decided to send out surveys to individuals whom I believe had stayed in the psych ward or some other hospital setting. There was fear that by sending out the mailers and asking about trauma people would be harmed, so they decided to set up a hotline to access crisis counselors. It turned that only one of two people ended up calling the hotline. On the other hand a significant, maybe even majority, of people reported some relief by being asked about trauma. They felt acknowledged.

So, sometimes people need to be treated delicately but never permanently. It's harmful.

[Omaha 680]

So I think like a lot of things that end up ridiculous in our society, whether bureaucratic or politically correct, trigger warnings can have some value, but they have become overdone and abused.

You're on to something here. Psychotherapeutically, there is a term for treating others like there incapable of encountering pain and unpleasantness: fragilization. It can be very harmful. It reinforces a sense of permanent victimhood. Through therapy, we word to help the client they aren't defective, that an experience doesn't define them and that they are resilient. Same for drug addicts.

There is a psychological assessment tool, Adverse Childhood Experiences assessment (ACES) that simply asks people if they have encountered certain events of circumstances before the age of 18. When the test was being formulating and studied. They decided to send out surveys to individuals whom I believe had stayed in the psych ward of hospital. There was fear that by sending out the mailers and asking about trauma people would be harmed, so they decided to set up a hotline to access crisis counselors. It turned that only one of two people ended up calling the hotline. On the other hand a significant, maybe even majority, of people reported some relief by being asked about trauma. They felt acknowledged.

So, sometimes people need to be treated delicately but never permanently. It's harmful.

This makes a lot of sense. I have nothing to add but wanted to say I appreciate you sharing your expertise on the topic.

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[frank ryan]

This makes a lot of sense. I have nothing to add but wanted to say I appreciate you sharing your expertise on the topic.

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Thanks man. No problem.

[SeattleUte]

"It was above all the students who drove forward the co-ordination process in the universities. They organized campaigns against unwanted professors in the local newspapers, staged mass disruptions of their lectures and led detachments of stormtroopers in house-searches and raids. Another tactic was to underline the political unreliability of some professors by arranging visiting lectures by politically correct figures such as Heidegger, who could be relied upon to give the regime the enthusiastic endorsement that others sometimes failed to provide. At Heidelberg University, one Nazi activist disrupted the work of the physicist Walter Bothe by conducting lengthy marching sessions for SS men on the roof of his institute, directly above his office."

"The Coming of the Third Reich (The History of the Third Reich Book 1)" by Richard J. Evans

[Sleeping in EQ]

So how helpful are trigger warnings?

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Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[All-American]

Yes, but not the only purpose. The paper is specifically addressing whether the second part of this argument is valid. There are some other interesting findings quoted from other papers in the paper.







Even among those that do not have past trauma, the warning itself raises at least anticipatory (before that actual material is presented) anxiety levels. Though follow-up studies appear to suggest response (after the material is presented) affects are trivially small. Not helping, might be hurting.

Also, the text of the article pointed at this:


.

Since they raise anticipatory anxiety, shouldn’t there be some kind of heads up given before a trigger warning is used?

[BigPiney]

Maybe a trigger warning trigger warning?

[falafel]

Maybe a trigger warning trigger warning?

Tastes just like a hot pocket.