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Why I Don’t Use Trigger Warnings
It has nothing to do with wanting to be a jerk
I’m a person such warnings are designed for, and I don’t want them
In order to do unto others as I want done unto me, I don’t use trigger warnings or content warnings unless something is severe and it would be unexpected, or the publication absolutely requires them.
I have Dissociative Identity Disorder, PTSD, anxiety, bipolar, and a whole bunch of other diagnoses, so people tend to think I need or want trigger warnings. I do not. The people who try to bully others into using them do not speak for me.
I am aware that I will come across work that triggers me
What I’ve learned is that people’s stories are going to be triggering to me at some point. It’s what happens from suffering the level of abuse I have suffered in my life.
I know that if I read memoir or personal essays, I will be triggered at some point because of the genre. The genre of creative nonfiction has these things in it because these personal stories are a large part of what makes up the genre and I love reading other people’s stories.
I don’t need a trigger warning because I know what to expect if I choose to read…
