Trigger warnings originated as a way to make the internet safer for people who suffer from mental illnesses. For example, someone who wrote a post sharing details on their own mental illnesses could add in their tags “#tw #triggerwarning.” Any posts containing images of or references to blood, fasting, body image, general trauma, violence, etc.

While it is difficult to come up with a solid list of things that should be considered potentially triggering, there are definitely things that should go on that list (I just mentioned some) regardless of who your potential audience is, because things like blood can easily trigger someone who self harms and references to weight loss can easily trigger someone who suffers from an eating disorder. These correlations are blatantly obvious, and it is common internet courtesy to tag these things as triggers, because the internet is a big place.

That being said, I understand that everyone’s triggers are different. Everyone’s mental illnesses are different. Everyone is different. What may trigger someone with depression may not trigger someone with PTSD and vice versa. What may trigger someone with schizophrenia may not trigger someone with anorexia and vice versa. What may trigger someone with anxiety may not trigger someone else with anxiety.

A trigger can be something as simple as a song or a saying that other people can hear without any problem, but to one person it can onset a self-destructive situation. That’s where trigger warnings become harder to define, and that’s where it’s up to the individual to be more cautious on the internet. That person may need to blacklist anything with tags relating to that song (essentially filter out what content can appear on their feeds based on their own understandings of their personal triggers).

Trigger warnings are a tool that is helpful to anyone who suffers from any variation of mental illness (or anyone who simply doesn’t want to see any images of blood or violence). They can aid in the prevention of anxiety attacks or self-harming episodes for many, many people.

Yet, I scroll through my Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram feeds and find people joking about trigger warnings. This isn’t me calling anyone out individually for joking about things like this, because, truly, I understand where some of the jokes are coming from. There is a point where there are too many things out there that are potential triggers that, if you’re truly triggered by some of these things, you need help in learning coping mechanisms. It is not the internet’s job to restrict what they post.

Not posting triggering content is not something that anyone can ask someone to do. It is your Twitter/Tumblr/Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat account and you have the right to post what you wish, whether or not it might trigger someone.

What we can ask of people is to post their content and mark it as a potential trigger, using the tags “tw” and “trigger warning”.

What I also ask is that people take this seriously. Triggers are not a joke, nor should they be treated as such. No one should be joking about them, just as no one should be joking about self harm, eating disorders, substance abuse, etc. Triggers fall under the umbrella of mental illness related things, so if you’re not going to joke about suicide, you shouldn’t joke about triggers.