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{{tropeUseful Notes}}
This page is an overview of the concept of "triggers," for those who want to know more about triggering in a meta sense for their own writing or for understanding the concept of triggering in [[Real Life]] to some extent. If you want to see ONLY fictional examples, please go to [[Trigger]].
 
'''Do not put trigger warnings on any [[TV Tropes]]{{SITENAME}} pages other than [[Fan Fic Recommendations]].''' Works that have full pages should already indicate the existence of triggering content in the description or trope list in a natural way, and a trope's description should be a good indication of whether or not there will be any significant triggering content in its examples.
 
== Definition ==
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== Suicide Triggers ==
 
[[Useful Notes/Suicide (band)|Suicide]] is a very difficult topic to deal with both in [[Real Life]] and in media. Unfortunately, some depressed or suicidal (or recovering) people can become triggered by some explorations of depression, suicide, and hopelessness. Due to the seriousness of this trigger, it is good Netiquette and being a decent human being to offer at least some warning of suicide, of ruminations on suicide and suicidality, or on things that are guaranteed to be severely depressing and bring out such emotions. It doesn't even have to be a label or note, just an [[R-Rated Opening]] or blurb can suffice.
 
(A fairly good example of how ''not'' to properly handle suicide triggers is found in the marketing and promotion around the film ''[[Seven Pounds]]'' as well as the writing of it. With a "purposeful suicide" as the main plot point, woe be to anyone with suicide triggers who didn't check the spoilers or talk to someone who had seen it first.)
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Seizure triggers are far more rare but are the other type of trigger that can cause direct harm: the viewing of a pattern or flashing lights or colors will induce an epileptic seizure in a small segment of the population, which may be life-threatening. The only people who ''intentionally'' post these with the intent of causing a seizure are [[Troll|Trolls]], though inadvertent posting of a seizure-inducing video or image can occasionally happen when the poster doesn't live with epilepsy (or with epilepsy triggered by visual imagery) and isn't aware that the image or video could have that effect. Normally, if you are posting a video with flashing lights or colors (or extremely fast movement or dizzying patterns) it is seen as good Netiquette to post a seizure trigger warning and avoid autoplay.
 
 
== PTSD Triggers ==
 
[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:PTSD |Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]] is a very complicated mental injury beyond the scope of [[TVAll The Tropes]] in and of itself, but one interaction between PTSD and fiction is the concept of the PTSD trigger. Someone suffering from PTSD may be triggered by many things - and sometimes, sadly, some things in fiction may induce this trigger response. Someone who has been triggered by a trigger may go through more emotional discomfort than fiction is supposed to produce, physical discomfort, terror and depression beyond what the story was supposed to induce, [[Flash Back|flashbacks]] to their experience of the traumatic event, or even a full [[Heroic BSOD]] or [[Freak -Out]].
 
The (very simplified) difference between [[Squick]] and a PTSD trigger is this: [[Squick]] is staring at a fictional [[Gorn|disemboweled corpse]] and going "Ewww, I didn't need to see that." A trigger is staring at the same corpse and feeling oneself being disemboweled and tortured to death in [[Real Life]] or else remembering the [[Real Life]] disembowelment and torture of your best friend next to you. Triggers may be described as hyper-personalized [[Squick]] [[X Meets Y|meets]] hyper-personalized [[High Octane Nightmare Fuel]].
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* [[Lolicon]], [[Shotacon]], [[Parental Incest]], [[Brother-Sister Incest]], [[Twincest]], and [[Incest Is Relative]]. Any of these can be triggers for PTSD for rape and sexual abuse victims, and a [[Berserk Button]] as well.
* Depiction, especially in a favorable light, of [[Brainwashed|brainwashing]]-or [[More Than Mind Control]] type techniques, specifically in the sense of cult-like thought-reform, be they used by actual cult members in the story or inadvertently by designated love interests. These can be major triggers for some people who have been victims of [[Domestic Abuse]] or of abusive religious groups.
* Depiction of the Apocalypse or similar [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]] tropes or theories, which can be triggering for people who were traumatized from being brainwashed into believing that the end of the world as we know it was imminently due.
* Depiction of a number of debilitating diseases such as AIDS and cancer (trigger for people who are either current or past sufferers, or people who know/knew someone who has)
* Any form of graphic violence, which can be PTSD trigger for someone who has been assaulted or in combat or who survived abuse.
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* Political, religious, racial, or sexual content, especially that of a very aggressive or insulting nature.
* Self-injury, self-mutilation, or extreme masochism. These can trigger self-injury and injury avoidance OCD.
* Use of alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs, especially if it's a major story or character element. You probably don't need to warn for these if they're passing references or if the nature of the story itself serves as a warning for them (for example, in a noir or a story set in the 1950s, [[Everybody Smokes]] and the [[Hard -Drinking Tropes]] are understood to be part of the territory)
* Depiction of anorexia, bulimia, or extreme body negativity. These can trigger eating disorders.
* Depiction of or ability to engage in games of chance/LevelGrinding. These can be a trigger for gambling or MMORPG addicts.
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== Hybrid PTSD and addiction and negative behavior triggers ==
 
A hybrid type of both PTSD and negative behavioral triggers is where the trigger produces stress which may or may not be related to PTSD, but it is an unpleasant stimulus that leads to negative behavior rather than an obvious [[Heroic BSOD]] or [[Freak -Out]]. This type of trigger is more commonly depicted in media and has its own trope, [[I Need a Freaking Drink]], except substitute whatever the person relies on for "drink."
 
== Anger Triggers ==
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[[Moral Guardians]] and the [[Bluenose Bowdlerizer]] tend to assume that ''nearly everyone'' and anyone under a certain age automatically suffer from being triggered and often use this as a part of [[New Media Are Evil]] and [[You Can Panic Now]], which often leads to people assuming the legitimately triggered are in league with them - which is not the truth, for the most part. A legitimately triggered person merely wants to be warned of and avoid the triggering content, while [[Moral Guardians]] or the [[Bluenose Bowdlerizer]] are actively opposed to its mere ''existence''.
 
[[Troll|Trolls]]s tend to delight in trying to force people into viewing triggering content on shock sites or by posting nonexistent or [[Blatant Lies|misleading]] warnings. A [[Flame War]] can erupt when a [[Fanfic]] writer or [[New Media]] artist refuses to provide proper warnings as warning for triggers is considered proper Netiquette and knowingly forcing someone to view them is considered [[Troll|Trolling]]ing, yet at the same time some people are genuinely unaware of the concept. [[Internet Backdraft]] often results when the necessity of trigger warnings itself becomes a debate.
 
See [[Too Soon]] and the [[Nuclear Weapons Taboo]].
 
The [[Ban Onon Politics]] is arguably an attempt to deal with a nigh-universal [[Berserk Button]].
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Useful Notes]]
[[Category:Blog Tropes]]
[[Category:Fora]]
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