(no subject)
Minor PSA:
While I appreciate that people are trying to educate themselves about the psychological effects of trauma, as a result of the whole warnings thing, I would like to make one thing very clear:
You DO NOT have to be a survivor of a sexual trauma to have triggers.
Those are the individuals that this discussion has focused on, yes, because of the sheer number of people likely to have experienced some type of sexual trauma, and because much fanfic is specifically sexual in nature, and because issues of sexual consent were involved in both of the fics that started the entire thing off. However, triggers (and PTSD, and other issues) are as a result of the way some people's brains deal with a TRAUMA, full stop.
Please make careful note of this so that I can stop reading people trying to earnestly educate people about triggers and PTSD whilst completely dismissing/denying the existence of people who might have these issues as a result of other types of trauma. (I find this particularly ironic given that there's already a huge bunch of people who think that the only group who can get PTSD are soldiers who've been in battle.)
If you wish to specifically address what things might trigger sexual trauma survivors, that's fine. I'm not expecting someone to write a PhD thesis listing all the possible situations which might result in triggers and what those triggers may be. Just don't be phrasing things in such a way that everyone you've educated with your piece is going to think that anyone else who claims to have PTSD (say... ME) is lying or trying to play the victim card, because since I haven't been sexually assaulted or abused, I cannot possibly have PTSD because the internet says so.
While I appreciate that people are trying to educate themselves about the psychological effects of trauma, as a result of the whole warnings thing, I would like to make one thing very clear:
You DO NOT have to be a survivor of a sexual trauma to have triggers.
Those are the individuals that this discussion has focused on, yes, because of the sheer number of people likely to have experienced some type of sexual trauma, and because much fanfic is specifically sexual in nature, and because issues of sexual consent were involved in both of the fics that started the entire thing off. However, triggers (and PTSD, and other issues) are as a result of the way some people's brains deal with a TRAUMA, full stop.
Please make careful note of this so that I can stop reading people trying to earnestly educate people about triggers and PTSD whilst completely dismissing/denying the existence of people who might have these issues as a result of other types of trauma. (I find this particularly ironic given that there's already a huge bunch of people who think that the only group who can get PTSD are soldiers who've been in battle.)
If you wish to specifically address what things might trigger sexual trauma survivors, that's fine. I'm not expecting someone to write a PhD thesis listing all the possible situations which might result in triggers and what those triggers may be. Just don't be phrasing things in such a way that everyone you've educated with your piece is going to think that anyone else who claims to have PTSD (say... ME) is lying or trying to play the victim card, because since I haven't been sexually assaulted or abused, I cannot possibly have PTSD because the internet says so.