Trauma trigger

[7][8][9] Avoiding a trauma trigger, and therefore the potentially extreme reaction it provokes, is a common behavioral symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED), a treatable and usually temporary condition in which people sometimes experience overwhelming emotional or physical symptoms when something reminds them of, or "triggers" the memory of, a traumatic event.

[17] The realistic portrayal of graphic violence in visual media may expose some affected people to triggers while watching movies or television.

[20] The term trigger warning, with its trauma-specific context, originated at feminist websites that were discussing violence against women, and then spread to other areas, such as print media and university courses.

[21] In the case of non-fiction books and online videos, only specific chapters or segments may have trigger warnings, providing timestamps and page numbers that allow the audience to easily skip only certain parts, rather than the entire work.

[7] There is no significant dispute over providing reasonable accommodations to the small number of students (usually current and former military personnel and sexual assault survivors) who qualify as having a disabling level of post-traumatic stress disorder and whose ability to learn the normal curriculum can be improved, for example, by mentioning in advance that the next reading assignment contains a detailed description of a violent event or that an upcoming ballistic pendulum demonstration will produce loud sounds.

It makes comfort a higher priority than intellectual engagement and...it singles out politically controversial topics like sex, race, class, capitalism, and colonialism for attention.

[30] Other supportive professors have stated that "the purpose of trigger warnings is not to cause students to avoid traumatic content, but to prepare them for it, and in extreme circumstances to provide alternate modes of learning.

In a letter welcoming new undergraduates, the University of Chicago wrote that the college's "commitment to academic freedom means we do not support so-called 'trigger warnings'," do not cancel controversial speakers, and do not "condone the creation of intellectual 'safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from thoughts and ideas at odds with their own".

[32][33][34] Students at UC Santa Barbara took the opposite position in 2014, passing a non-binding resolution in support of mandatory trigger warnings for classes that could contain potentially upsetting material.

Among people without traumatic experiences, "trigger warnings did not affect anxiety responses to potentially distressing material in general.