After I deliver a feeble performance, they come back in, ready for confrontation. Apparently they had sat through six other monologues and found some of them “triggering “ therefore they chose to leave mine.
For those who have not attended a recovery conference, there are a variety of presentations. This event covered the history of mental health provision, testimonies of personal lived experiences, new research and future provisions. Each date and venue had the privilege of monologues written and performed by individual Nuts company members. Yes, it hurt, them choosing to leave, the way they did, at the time they did. However their demands for a trigger warning left me perplexed. They had sat through the horrific history of asylums with details of treatment and grotesque equipment. Personal stories, delivered with the reality of the experiences of life, living with mental ill health. Yet my monologue, a dramatic reflection, derived from my experiences underscored with Samuel Barber's Adagio was deemed as a potential threat, thus they felt it should have carried a trigger warning. They argued that they found some of the other monologues triggering, yet they sat through them. In fact they had chosen to attend all the previous conferences sitting through every monologue on different days at different venues yet mine, the last conference date and the last monologue was such a potential threat that they noisily walked out as I set up the stage! So it got me to thinking... about trigger warnings. I'm an avid news watcher, I often talk to the telly when the anchor states, the following article contains scenes some may find distressing. Really!?! I mean no disrespect, nor do I wish to appear flippant, but really? Scenes of war, violence, poverty, famine, are we meant to gaze on indifferent, unfeeling, are we meant to lose our humanity? The following film contains scenes of nudity, violence, horror etc. The child in me mostly wants to laugh. Unless it's horror. I don't do horror films, however I'm adult enough to check what I'm watching or is that the point? Responsibility for oneself. I have spent some months before writing this researching (should read, using t’internet) ‘trigger warnings ‘ wishing to give a balanced view however it would appear the general consensus is, they don't work. It would appear they have “ a negligible impact on emotional reactions and on avoidance”. Further, trigger warnings can create “an anticipatory emotional response, as shown through both measures of affect and changes in heart rate... (suggests) people may anticipate distress but... does not stop them viewing “ The British Psychological Society. This is supported when considering university trigger warnings, “ students who met the criteria for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, 97.6% ignored the trigger warning and read on." Further there is data to “ support the notion that trigger warnings serve to increase anxiety. “ Psychology Today I have tried to find an academic paper/ institution that concluded differently but I'm afraid I didn't find anything. Yes, there are triggers in life, yet I believe the avoidance of content that may ‘trigger ‘ an adult, is about personal responsibility. After going through a traumatic experience, it seems reasonable to avoid that which resembles the trauma, for a period. Life goes on and the hope is in time (with treatment where necessary) one can return to a full, enough, life. On a side note, maybe I should have been warned that audience members could walk out, when I take to the stage! Just kidding 😏
9 Comments
Dee Hoyte
15/3/2024 06:46:21 pm
Well said. I think the concept is to hear/see the bit then reflect on it. Surely the audience knew the genre of the event?? If there is a film about boxing I know not to watch it as it reminds me of the physical abuse I went through.
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Jocelyn
15/3/2024 06:54:00 pm
Really saddened to hear this yet I'm sure choosing to not watch some films doesn't stop you from sharing your joy with others xxx
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Jonathan Woodley
15/3/2024 06:49:33 pm
A very thoughtful and well Written piece well done Jocelyn
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Jocelyn
15/3/2024 06:54:46 pm
Thank you ❤
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Carolyn
16/3/2024 07:55:07 pm
Really interesting analysis of trigger warnings. I never gave them much thought before, but I do agree that it often never stops me from watching the content, and does induce a smidgen of anxiety before I have even started watching. Like Dee, I also agree that they must have known the content they were diving into before coming.
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Jocelyn
16/3/2024 09:44:38 pm
Thanks.
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Olivia
19/6/2024 09:53:51 pm
I'm very interested in this topic. I recently went to watch a theatre show, it was a one hour drive to a college performance. I wasn't expecting the pieces performed to contain themes of bullying and sexual abuse. I left the theatre, head spinning with racing thoughts. I sat in the car for 20min before I was ready for the drive home. I was very late back. Had I known the content and actual running time, I don't think I would have gone. I wondered if a trigger warning would have put me in a better place to make this choice? If we compare it to food - I don't need any packaging to tell me if it has nuts in it, because I don't have a nut allergy. So nut warnings on bags of nuts feel a bit pointless... but nut warnings on cereal or chocolate? They are needed for those with the allergies to enable them to make an informed choice about something that might make them ill. And we get warnings on bags of nuts because I guess it's easier to adopt a wholesale approach? With theatre, there is question around do we lose some of the dramatic impact if we put warnings on? I'm not sure that we do. As you've said, the majority of people will ignore the warnings. They are not who the warnings are for. But, as with the warnings on the news, they may remind those of us who get easily knocked from our balance to consider if we want to watch listen or opt out. Opting out mid performance is always going to have a significant impact on the performers - would a better understanding of the content before hand prevent people leaving? Were people genuine in this as a reason for leaving, or was it too long a session / too hard seats / bored etc and the audience that left felt being "triggered" was a more valid reason to walk out? So many thoughts - very interested to explore this further and thanks for writing the post.
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Jocelyn
13/8/2024 08:18:57 pm
Thanks for your response, apologies for the delay in replying but I really appreciate your feedback..
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Olivia Dean
19/8/2024 04:04:39 pm
Thanks for your reply. I agree that this is part of the power and beauty of storytelling. The experience reminded me how powerful theatre can be. I'm typically cramming a lot into my days... perhaps its about ensuring we create enough space in each day to process these difficult / uncomfortable feelings should they arise.
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