To think people will expect fireworks to be let off on bonfire night.

[j101112]

Bought a few fireworks for Thursday night. Mainly garden type fireworks, not rockets. Meant to be lower noise.

We live in fairly large village and it’s been said that many dogs, cats, horses etc don’t like them and people have complained about them being let off.

Aibu to think people should expect them on actual bonfire night though?

I get that they are annoying on other nights other than bonfire night.. I do think that people should try and just do them on 5th November or NYE and proper advertised displays.

Don’t want to upset my neighbours!

My dog’s not at all bothered about them but my sister’s dog is utterly traumatised. She has to get drugs from the vet, poor mutt. I find fireworks quite irritating and also not half as awe inspiring as you’d hope, personally.

The most annoying thing is when actual Bonfire Night is midweek (like this year) and people think “oh yeah but we’ll have our official fireworks party on Saturday night. Or Sunday night. Or the Saturday before. Or the Sunday two weeks after next Wednesday as that’s when we always do it in our family.”

@OhhCarolina

I do wish we could stop dragging people with PTSD into this. The vast majority of people who have it aren't affected by fireworks at all; it's not why it works. Just be honest that you're fucked off because you chose to buy and own an animal and some aspects of doing so in human society re human traditions are problematic for you. Believe me, pets are also a pita for people around you and do a lot more environmental and human damage than a box of rockets.

Don’t have any pets but do have a long history of working with children and adults with SEN and Mental Illness and voluntary work with refugee families now living in the U.K. and the Red Cross, I have CPTSD and two family members with PTSD. Many people are affected with fireworks or indeed loud bangs in general. In the area I live many of the students I teach and taught were present at the Ariana Grande Manchester Terror attack and have hated Bonfire night since. So I will unapologetically “keep bringing PTSD into this” because I do see it affecting people most years.

Not this year.

Our local council has been putting notices up asking people not to hold displays or bonfires in their gardens because of the burden on the fire service and A&E.

If even a fraction of those tens of thousands who normally go to the big displays have private event, there will be far more accidents and burns across the city than the emergency services can handle. The one nearest me has 70,000 people on a quiet year, 120,000 on a nice dry night.

For that reason alone, I won’t be celebrating bonfire night this year other than sparklers. Which is a shame, it’s one of my favourite events.

It is how it works actually a close friend of the family has PTSD

It really really isn't. PTSD is feeling distress at a traumatic memory being triggered by something. Everyone's triggers are different but actually things like scents and bodily sensations are the most common. Hearing loud bangs, not so much. Plus, it is an eminently treatable disorder that responds very well to even short courses of therapy because the mechanism is quite simple, despite the experience being overwhelming. I would urge your relative to seek such treatment: it has a very good success rate.

I love a good garden display but I also think that irresponsible firework use is spoiling the whole Bonfire Night tradition. There must be a sensible and enforceable way of controlling the sale and restricting the use of fireworks. Maybe banning retail and making all displays licence only- but for domestic as well as public.

In our area we have groups of often drunk people letting them off into the sea. It's scary. I really believe they should only be sold for organised displays.

As my ten year old said to me yesterday "I don't understand how random people can just buy explosives"

@StepAwayFromGoogle
We acclimatised our dog by playing them on the TV at increasing volume and then on a projector while giving her treats. We also bring her to the window when theres storms and stuff. Dont know if it's actually what helped her or if she's just not bothered but she is paranoid about noises and intruders so I would have expected it to be something that set her off.

We have bought a small set of 0 noise fireworks to do in the garden on the 5th.so basically a bunch of small sparkly things with no whizzes or bangs.

That way the kids enjoy the beauty of fireworks without and bangs or crashes or loud high pitched noises.

We live in a housing estate surrounded by dogs (we have a dog but she's not bothered), and typically would only ever attend an organised display but as they won't be happening this year we thought we would look for something small.

You can buy 0 noise level fireworks, I think they should be the only ones available for home use.

@OhhCarolina
So you disregard the word of someone who has worked with PTSD suffers. Do you have actual experience of working with suffers or are you just getting your info from the internet. So how would you deal with people with SEN or dementia that are terrified of them lock them in a room?
Or how about poor wild animals? Or dealing with the result of a fire caused by stray fireworks? Or the 1000+ each year who end up in a+e due to injuries during a pandemic. And you still think all the above is ok for someone to have some fun?

@TroysMammy

I hate them because of animals and should only be for organised displays. I have heard that you can get fireworks that don't bang.

You can get silent or low noise ones. Asda sell them, a great compromise

@OhhCarolina if your PTSD is from an event that involved loud bangs. Like break ins, military, explosions, crashes. Then your PTSD will be triggered by loud bangs. And I think you're overestimating how easily treatable it is, when I was doing a neuroscience degree about 4 years ago it was still one of the top priority things to find treatments for and they were ploughing tons of money into it, if it was already easily treatable then it wouldn't be so valuable to research.

Of course it's ok but it's best to set off quite early and be finished before 8pm so people don't have them all evening

I’ve been involved in big displays, and the work that goes into them is very detailed, remote detonation distance, wind direction, where the fallout will end up, distances the fireworks need away from the audience etc. I like proper big fireworks and don’t have an issue with them at the end of events etc. Garden fireworks on the other hand are shite. If you can buy it in Home Bargains it’s not likely to be impressive in any way. Get a few sparklers and a small Catherine wheel with the kids if you really must but stop buying those 30 in 1 boxes of bangers. I’d happily support those being illegal.

Do you have actual experience of working with suffers

@Jakie7700 no, but I've had PTSD, now successfully treated. A big part of the treatment involved learning how the process works.

I was never triggered by loud noises, despite having lived through a war: it's way more subtle than that and it annoys me when people oversimplify it and utilise their imperfect understanding of something I've lived in order to argue their point.

I love fireworks, hate dogs, and wish people would stop weaponising my experience.

@Asdf12345

My dog used to like fireworks, sat on the deck watching them etc then one year he became fearful of them. You can't just say acclimatise because there's other factors at play

I think they shouldn’t be for public sale and for organised displays only

But, on the 5th and for organised displays, I know when they’re are and can plan for it. My dog was terrified last year but she was only 6 months old. She’s been much better this year. Proper fireworks she’s not too bothered about, the ones that are just a huge, pointless, earth shattering bang scare her silly. They’re just randomly set off round here.

Last weekend a knob head who lives at the top of the lane where our horses are kept decided to have a firework party and didn’t warn anyone. One horse isn’t bothered at all, the other one was awful.

If we have warning or the dates are advertised I can sedate her - which I’m really not happy about doing, I mean, sedating an animal so people can set off fireworks is completely ridiculous, but there we go.

such a good point @KiposWonderbeasts

@OhhCarolina
Thing is just because fireworks do not affect your PTSD doesn't mean it does not affect someone else especially when causes of PTSD can vary so much surely you as a sufferer understand that.

What about the rest of my post there are plenty of other reasons why fireworks cause so much damage and distress. I wish people could educate themselves as most think people are just moaning for the sake of it. Just because it doesn't affect them or their family doesn't mean it's right to inflict suffering on others. But I suppose when someone wants to buy explosives to let off around their children in their garden you can't reason with this sort of mindset!

Also, @Jakie7700 my friend and her daughter who were at the Manchester concert (not from Manchester, same as most people who were there) and who were injured in the attack have happily come along to neighbourhood fireworks displays since, same as they did before.

I do wonder about these legions of people you are treating, all from the same small locality, who all happened to attend a major city leg of an international tour, and who have all subsequently developed clichéd and unrealistic symptoms as a result of their experience.

What kind of therapy do you engage in?

I am an advocate for organised displays only. Even the op says she has mainly got garden ones which suggests some of her fireworks aren’t suitable for the space she has.

This year our local fire brigade are very much urging people to not have displays at home.

They may be fun but they are also exceptionally dangerous in the wrong hands

My neighbours had a very long display last weekend. My girl cat wet herself in fright. I hate them.

I think it's ok on bonfire night itself, at a reasonable time. We have cats who hate them but we know to expect it then and keep them in with Access to their safest hiding places and treats.

I love fireworks and we always go to watch them, but I do think they should be kept to certain times when people can prepare themselves.

I would love to find this simple solution to PTSD that ohcarolina seems to know. Certainly nothing we have tried has worked with mine (not triggered by bangs but certain other sounds and smells)

@Sirzy

I would love to find this simple solution to PTSD that ohcarolina seems to know. Certainly nothing we have tried has worked with mine (not triggered by bangs but certain other sounds and smells)

Indeed. Then maybe my DP wouldn't need to medicate himself into a coma for the weeks before and after 'firework celebration' days. Awaiting their reply so I can fix him.......