When you trigger someone

@Topsy

i agree there are too many insensitive people in the chatrooms

@Topsy

Very well put! Thank you for talking about this topic, I agree with you very strongly. It's very unfortunate that some don't take triggering subjects as seriously as they should. 7 Cups as a whole should have a climate that everyone feels safe participating in.

Is this just referring to the group chats? If so, this has already been discussed and the person being triggered has options. I don't think someone seeking support on an issue in group support should have to stop getting support because someone is triggered when there is a win-win solution already.

http://www.7cups.com/forum/GroupSupportChatRooms_140/InformationUpdates_822/ANoteonTriggersinGroupSupport_41379/1/

Heather has already given suggestions on what to do.

But for the most part, triggers come down to personal responsibility and you are expected to manage your own experience in the support rooms.

Here's what you can do if you're feeling triggered by something in a chat room:
♥ Mute the person who is triggering you.
♥ Take a short break from the room and try out a mindfulness exercise.
♥ Take a short break from the room and do something you love - go for a walk, listen to music, phone a friend, take a bath etc.
♥ Connect 1-1 with a listener to talk through your feelings.

Actually most of the time the person(s) triggering others aren't seeking help. What I've seen is most often people casually talking about sexual matters, drinking/drugs etc for fun. Those people are usually violating the terms and conditions of the site anyway.

Furthermore, while (as I said) the person suffering has some responsibility to avoid socializing, they can't be expected to avoid it everywhere and if 7 cups isn't a community where people can be bothered to respect the needs of others, where is? If someone is triggering others and the person doing the triggering is actually doing so as a byproduct of getting support they can at least do 3 things:

1) trigger warn first

2) avoid extremely graphic descriptions

3) respect the terms and conditions of the site

@Topsy The number of things I have seen people say they are triggered by is a huge range of topics though. I have many triggers myself, although not for PTSD and not conversationally related. I don't know how one can predict if something will need a trigger warning or not.

@AffyAvo

you are right you can't pick up every trigger but you can have some common sense when it comes to triggers, also if someone if being triggered it should be the responsibility of the person making the triggering comments to change the subject not for the person being triggered to have to leave

@selfconfidenteagle6805 exactly self. "If you don't like it, leave" hardly seems in the spirit of an emotionally supportive website

@selfconfidenteagle6805 I never said they had to leave. There is a mute button. I agree people should be sticking to the rules. While it might not be Topsy's experience I have seen people want others who are getting support to stop talking about an issue they are getting support for because they find it triggering. A trigger shouldn't trump someone's ability to get support, especially when there are tools to deal with it.

@AffyAvo I was actually specifically talking about times when someone informed others that a topic was triggering them, so there's no confusion in those cases.

Beyond that, all people can do is actually respect the terms and conditions, many of which are in place to prevent triggering others.

The vast, unpredictable, uncontrollable internet is not a safe place for someone who is easily/deeply triggered. That's why there is no PTSD room. That's why 1 on 1s exist.

I mean one person trying to seek support can end up triggering to someone else. Who should be kicked out? Who should be shut up? Well that's the wrong question to begin with. Suggesting to someone that group chats may not be best for them is not the same as "kicking them out", it's more just redirecting them to a different feature of the site that is better for someone in that situation.

...And then there are people who do use the word triggered as a way of saying they are just uncomfortable or upset

And also the people who use it as a joke.

Yes, those people exist too.