Psychological Context

Trigger, in a psychological context, is a stimulus such as a smell, sound,

or sight that triggers feelings of trauma (GoodTherapy, 2018). It is something

that makes a person remember or have flashbacks on the event of his or her

original trauma (U. of Alberta, 2018). In other words, it is a reminder of a

person’s past trauma.

People who are diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (also

known as PTSD), can experience flashbacks through triggers (Antonio, 2017).

For instance, war veterans with PTSD might have war flashbacks when they

see a violent movie or hear the gunshot-like sounds. Traumas can also result

from an abusive childhood, sexual assault and rape, extreme violence such

as terrorist attacks, abduction or murder, and even emotional abuse.

Furthermore, not only those who are diagnosed with PTSD can have triggers.

There are also traumatic experiences that deals with being oppressed such as

racism, queerphobia, xenophobia, and misogyny (Contreras, 2015). Survivors

of self-harm, suicide, drug or alcohol abuse, and other forms of emotional

abuse or manipulation are also counted (Antonio, 2017). According to U. of

Alberta (2018), the most common senses to trigger someone are sight and

sound, then followed by touch and smell, and lastly taste. When the feeling of

trauma is triggered, it is as if they feel what they had experienced all over

again.

Recently, the term ‘triggered’ has been used to refer to the experience of

having an emotional reaction, usually to some type of disturbing content that

can be seen on online (Cuncic, 2020). As of January 2020, more than 4.5

billion people can access the internet (Kemp, 2020). Furthermore, 70 percent
of adults experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime (The

Recovery Village, 2020). These data suggest that people who experienced

trauma can access social media sites and might find content that can trigger

them. Since the sense of sight and sound are deemed the most, the use of

trigger warnings in social media is sensible.

Oxford University defined “trigger warnings” as “an early indication of an

upcoming subject matter which is likely or certain to come up at some point in

a discussion, talk, film, images, or piece of text”. These warnings can be

written or told verbally at the beginning of a class, lecture, presentation, or

event. It is primarily intended to help people who have experience traumatic

events to avoid being stimulated or to do their coping mechanisms before they

deal with sensitive content (The Atlantic, 2019). Various social media

platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have introduced

“sensitive content” warnings on posts that might be disturbing to the public

and trigger mental illnesses.

Image 1. Facebook Sensitive Content Warning

 Image 2. Twitter Sensitive Content Warning

Image 3. Instagram Sensitive Content Warnings

MISUSE

Nowadays, the misuse of the word ‘triggered’ became apparent. Putting

aside its medical definition, it has been widely used as a term to express rage,

discomfort or disdain to something (Starling, 2019).

In 2016, an Imgur user with the name antidamage posted a photo of “Ficki

Fiona” or also known as the “Triggered Protester”. At the bottom of the photo,
the user added the word “Triggered” with an Impact font and after reaching

several audiences, it became a popular meme template on images and GIFs

(Don, 2019). Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the current president of the

United States of America, even tweeted his own version of the meme on

2019.

Image 4. Imgur user antidamage, “triggered protester”

Image 5. Donald Trump Jr.’s Triggered Meme

 As the meme spread throughout the internet, a lot of people have used

the template in editing photos used for fun and entertainment. This is evident

in different social media platforms such as Pinterest, Tumblr, and Reddit.

Reddit, a network of communities based on users’ interests, have a forum

(also known as subreddit) on memes about the word ‘Triggered’.

Images 6, 7 & 8. Triggered meme templates

Image 9. r/triggeredmemes subreddit

 Image 10. Pinterest Triggered Memes

Image 11. Tumblr Triggered Memes

Images 12 & 13. Memes from the r/triggeredmemes

 Aside from images, ‘triggered’ vines were also made. Triggered vines

show short clips about connected words, phrases or actions that would make

someone or something else upset, annoyed or angry. Compilations of the

clips can be found in YouTube.

Image 14. Triggered Memes Compilation from YouTube

On Facebook and Twitter, using ‘triggered’ in mocking or silencing others

in serious conversations or arguments has become prominent. It seems that if

a person has any emotional response to politics, media, or people, they are

suddenly deemed to be a “triggered” crybabies (McLean, 2018).

 Images 15, 16, 17 & 18. Tweets with ‘triggered’ or #Triggered

Images 19, 20, 21 & 22. Facebook posts with the word ‘triggered’
 Image 23. Facebook pages with ‘triggered’ in their names

In addition to being used as a form of entertainment and mockery in social

media, the word ‘triggered’ was also used as a title for a book. On 2019,

Donald Trump Jr. published a non-fictional book entitled, ‘Triggered: How the

Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us’. According to Lyons (2019),

the book aims to “expose all the tricks that the left uses to smear

conservatives” and will present political correctness to the topics mentioned in

it. D’Antonio (2019) stated in his review of the book its title ‘Triggered’ “is

uttered with a sneer in the direction of wimps and cowards”. Hence, the term

was used to mock other people.

Several people have expressed their disapproval towards the colloquial

use of the term ‘triggered’. Since the word is related to actual psychology or a

mental illness, using it casually and in the wrong context will make it appear

less important and serious. It will invalidate the feelings of the people who are

actually triggered by their traumatic past or experiences (Parekh, 2017). Thus,

words like ‘Triggered’ should not be used as synonyms for mocking slang

(McLean, 2018).

REFERENCES

Antonio, G. (2017, June 05). Stop Saying, "Triggered.". Retrieved from:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/stop-saying-triggered

Contreras, C. (2015, August 26). Trigger and trauma in marginalized

communities. Retrieved from: https://greenlining.org/blog-

category/2015/triggered/
Don. (2019). Triggered Feminist. Retrieved from:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/triggered-feminist--2

GoodTherapy. (2018, May 02). Trigger. Retrieved from:

https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/trigger#:~:text=Trigger-,Tri

gger,describing%20posttraumatic%20stress%20(PTSD).

Kemp, S. (2020, January 30). DIgital 2020: 3.8 billion people use social

media. Retrieved from: https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-

2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media#:~:text=More%20than

%204.5%20billion%20people,the%20middle%20of%20this%20year.

Lyons, K. (2019, July 23). Donald Trump Jr writes Triggered, 'the book leftist

elites don't want you to read!'. Retrieved from:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/23/donald-trump-jr-writes-

triggered-the-book-leftist-elites-dont-want-you-to-read

Oxford University. (n.d.). Trigger warnings. Retrieved from:

https://www.oxfordsu.org/resourcehub/guidetotriggerwarnings/

Parekh, D. (2017, September 17). We need to stop trivializing the word

“triggered”. Retrieved from:

https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2017/09/stop-trivializing-the-word-

triggered

Poole, S. (2019, July 25). Trigger warning: how did ‘triggered’ come to mean

‘upset’?. Retrieved from:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/25/trigger-warning-triggered-

emotionally-upset-word-of-week
Starling, J. (2019, August 22). Why We Need To Stop Using 'Triggered' In

The Wrong Context. Retrieved from: https://www.refinery29.com/en-

gb/2019/08/239675/triggering-definition-psychology

The Atlantic. (2019, April 03). The Real Problem With Trigger Warnings.

Retrieved from: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/the-real-

problem-with-trigger-warnings.html

The Recovery Village. (2020, April 07). PTSD Facts and Statistics. Retrieved

from: https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/ptsd/related/ptsd-

statistics/#:~:text=Some%20interesting%20facts%20about

%20PTSD,some%20point%20in%20their%20life

U. of Alberta. (2018, October 08). What is a Trigger?. Retrieved from:

https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-a-trigger/