1. notleia says:

    Just keep in mind for the PTSD type, they heal at their own rate and not as fast as you might think they should, so don’t try to dictate their recovery time to them. Feelings do not travel according to a schedule.

    • Fully agreed. And the same is true for those who need temporary “content warnings” to help them avoid sin-temptations. In some cases (but not all) those “content warnings” may need to last all their lives.

  2. Lisa says:

    Enjoying this series! I read that Atlantic article a couple days ago and it “triggered” thoughts of this series – so I was glad to see it referenced here.  🙂

    The point you make at the end about how it seems people enjoy their “victim” status is getting close to the crux of the matter, I think.

    • Thanks, Lisa.

      And indeed, the most potentially accurate speculation about the cause also unfortunately sounds like the meanest conclusion: That the victim who does not even want to be healed (in theory) is enjoying manipulating other people on a power trip—all in the guise of not being powerful.

  3. Paul Lee says:

    I think abuse of both kinds of triggers can come down to malaise.

    “Sin triggers” are just a flavor of spiritual perfectionism, much like harassing people at the bus stop with salvation tracts or repeatedly going forward to “rededicate.” I was like that as a teenager. The burning desire to have a special place in God’s plan and to be one of the tiny minority who actually step up to do God work is a well documented weakness of evangelicalism, but I think for me the temptation was fear of being an incompetent loser. I think spiritual perfectionists are zealous about “sin triggers” because they need the need the spiritual experience to feel real and affirming.

    I don’t think trying to manipulate people’s sympathy is the only way to abuse “PTS triggers.” A simpler explanation is that many of us first-worlders know that we have good and easy lives, but we’re still deeply unsatisfied with our lives. I’ve been ashamed that I’ve had it so good, and I’ve been ashamed of the fact that I’ve been unhappy and unproductive despite how good I’ve had it. Pop psychology encourages us to dig into our pasts to find explanations for our unhappiness, and we end up trying to sound wounded and bitter to convince others and ourselves that we’ve had a real life. I’ve teased cutting, making shallow scratches, wondering if blood would mean that I have REAL problems.

    • notleia says:

      Do I have to threaten to find you and shove pills down your throat again? It’s like you’re working under the assumption that there is a limited amount of sympathy in the world and to qualify for some you have to have a 80% majority vote that your unhappiness is, indeed, legit.

      Your dissatisfaction is legit in its own little snowflake way even if you’re not living in a third-world country’s open sewer. If materialism was all it took, then life would be a whole hell of a lot simpler. You don’t have to cut to qualify for help. Go find a professional wall to bounce things off. Do it, or I will make more empty threats at you.

What do you think?