Why is everyone 'triggered' these days?

[Mylifeisamesssuchamess]

Why does everyone seem to be 'triggered' these days? Surely being genuinely triggered would be rare and would usually happen if you've experienced severe trauma. Surely for most people it's just that they feel pissed off about something, scared or upset and it's not as extreme as being 'triggered'.

No growls here.

Thank you, I completely agree. I realised recently that if I had a panic attack on the tube, so many people talk about this nowadays I knew there’d be someone on there who would help me.

The shame and prospect of embarrassment at this episode happening can actually make it far more likely to happen and panic to ensue. But it’s become so normalised now that this happens to quite a wide variety of people that I felt a sense of relief knowing how much more understood and kind some people would be.

And in that moment I relaxed.

So your point really rings true for me.

Absolutely.

people are more likely to feel comfortable in sharing their difficulties and asking for help if they think the their reasons are justifiable.

this doesn’t take anything away from those affected at the higher end of the scale.

Oh dear. No, the irony is that you are so annoyed about people using a word (related to mental health) incorrectly, you created a whole thread about it. You used a word (related to mental health) incorrectly, and I pointed it out. You responded with, essentially, "Who cares?"

Either words have specific meanings which it is important to use correctly, or they don't. You can't have it both ways!

That's just your opinion. Some of us think we need a return to some stiff upper lip mindset and then perhaps leaving the bedroom and getting a job might become normalised again. It's not doing people any good being weak and incapable. Just think about all the trials and tribulations our ancestors must have gone though. They'd be so ashamed of our behaviors now. It's braver to get out there and live life. It's not compassionate to encourage people to be weak and sickly in spirit.

It isn’t just mental health in which the word is overused. It’s also overused on MN when people talk about workplace issues, in which having too many sick days can “trigger” a disciplinary meeting. I find it such a weird concept. It’s the same word that’s used each time.

To be fair, that is an accurate usage of the word!

Well I find it weird how overused it is on here. I’ve also never had a disciplinary meeting for being ill. It seems like quite a public sector thing.

Because people are more isolated than ever before. Because we are finally recognising that suppressing the uncomfortable emotions is worse for us (e.g. ignoring the triggers and pretending they are not there) than admitting it. When we admit it we cna do something about it.

Remember that phrase, if you can be anything, be kind.

Except that’s turned into don’t say anything that might challenge someone, don’t disagree with me or do anything that might upset me even if that thing is a perfectly normal behaviour. So the response becomes “if I’m upset you must have been unkind” instead of “maybe I need to think about why that thing bothered me so much”.

I don’t think anywhere I said any of this to the contrary but I hope that rant made you feel better 😊

it sounds more dramatic than "this upset me a bit"
Like people talking about being Blue Lighted to hospital. Normally on FB.

It's so overused that it's lost its original meaning and been totally trivialised so that now people genuinely actually triggered in a situation aren't, imo, properly heard and understood.

Yeah, in particular, women have been pressured into being too kind to creepy men for too long. Women and girls need to start being less kind to dickheads.

You often have to suppress uncomfortable emotions though otherwise you become an emotionally incontinent wreck who gives themselves permission to avoid anything which is vaguely upsetting or difficult. You end up in a downward spiral of hopelessness. Inability begets inability until you can't do anything and end up like a small, helpless child. Life is tough, learn to tough it out. Get treatment by all means, but don't give in.

@fanaticalfairy

You aren't everyone though, are you?
Missing the point spectacularly there

The point is that many people have mental health conditions. Many more people are diagnosed than before and many undiagnosed people are more aware that they are struggling rather than just thinking they are weird.

So many more people are aware if the concept of being triggered.

That’s a very extreme version you’ve painted there which is not in the spirit of how that quote started out in life, nor was the premise i based my previous response on. I asked for compassion…

Of course you can spin it any way you choose to…

It's called having a conversation. Don't be overreacting and misinterpreting things.

Life is getting more difficult and more traumatic. In almost every way.

First we had the pandemic. People suffered from isolation, touch deprivation, lost jobs, businesses, loved ones, lived in fear of elderly or vulnerable relatives being killed by it and not even being able to be with them. It triggered a massive uptick in mental health issues, depression, anxiety, even PTSD.

The NHS has been underfunded and overused for decades. They have no resources to deal with this extra strain. So people go untreated. You can't even find a damn dentist never mind a psychologist.

Then a COL crisis. People literally cannot afford to live. I can pay my bills or eat. Not both. I doubt I'm the only one. You work ridiculous hours at stressful jobs where nothing ever seems to be good enough for money that doesnt even feed you all. People are scared, angry, emotionally exhausted and sinking into debt. You live like this for months or years, it takes a huge toll on mind and body.

People are more stressed and angrier in general. There is a massive upwards surge in domestic violence, violent crime, sexual assaults and abuse.

Then this whole issue with SI for trans people. It's a perverts paradise, anyone can just say they are a woman and be essentially unchallenged in what were previously safe spaces. Many women feel less safe. It's a divide in opinions between people who believe the party line of TWAW and those who don't. Again more anger and resentment building up between groups of people.

Children spend more and more time online. Are brainwashed in schools which are steadily becoming more and more like prisons. They cant even take off a blazer or go for a wee without permission and that permission is often denied. They can't escape bullying, even in their own homes. More stress. More anger. More trauma. I wouldn't go to school if you paid me.

Add up all these things draining your energy, chipping away at your resilience, is it really so surprising that many are on a hair trigger and buckling under the weight of it all? And that's only the last 4 years. For people who already had mental health problems or trauma before that? Life is becoming unbearable. When I write it out like this, I'm really not sure why I haven't slit my wrists yet.

perhaps I worded it wrong. however I believe you know exactly what I mean

No I won’t be gaslit but nice try.

🤦‍♀️

It's sort of like when perfectionists say "I'm really OCD about XYZ"

Your post, which I was responding to, was criticising people for using the word 'anxiety' incorrectly. But they are NOT using it incorrectly- you are.

I'm afraid you can't just expect people to 'know what you mean'- you do have to use words correctly if you want to be understood.

😎

I think it's partly because in the 80s a lot of people were on prescription drugs like valium and these days they don't have to be because it's acceptable for them to just say when they can't cope with something. I think it's much healthier to be able to talk about triggers than to be all drugged up.