What if I told you…

I really enjoyed the Matrix franchise when it came out. In fact, I still do. Less than a month ago, I finished watching all three movies for what was probably the 4th time. I also like some of the “What if I told you” memes that appear on various social media sites.

Know what I don’t like? I don’t like the incessant cry for more and more trigger warnings. Don’t get me wrong. In addition to being, currently, a life coach, I’m also a RN with a fair bit of psych/mental-health experience. In fact, right now my coaching practice is a part-time gig because my job as Chief Nursing Officer at an acute care psychiatric hospital is taking up the bulk of my time. The point of all that is to make something clear. I recognize the reality of emotional and psychological trauma and the triggers that can ensue. I understand there can sometimes be a need to let someone know they are about to be exposed to something that might trigger a pretty intense response on their part. I also know that sometimes, that’s just the way life is. Sometimes we don’t get trigger warnings and sometimes, perhaps even most of the time, it’s unrealistic to expect them.

Anyway, to combine my enjoyment of the Matrix movies, my enjoyment of some memes, and my detestation of what has become one of the latest co-optings of legitimate psychological concepts, I offer the following picture and some proposed captions.

And, now, for the captions:

• What if I told you…
  • You can control the way you respond to your emotional triggers
• What if I told you…
  • Triggers are very personal – so personal it’s virtually impossible to provide a warning for everyone
• What if I told you…
  • Providing too many trigger warnings tends to produce people who are fearful, angry and biased, even before encountering the content about which they’re being warned
• What if I told you…
  • People are not as weak and fragile as many SJWs would have you believe
• What if I told you…
  • Many of the people advocating an ever-increasing use of trigger warnings are seeking to take advantage of normal and healthy human compassion in order to bring about an increasingly intolerant  society – one that tolerates everything except differing opinions
• What if I told you…
  • There comes a point that demanding more and more trigger warnings, and blaming our feelings and response on triggers, is merely giving away our power, freedom and ability to control our own lives by making someone else responsible for how we fee
• What if I told you…
  • The people pushing so hard for trigger warnings, and telling people their emotional responses are the responsibility of those who triggered them, are trivializing the experiences of those people whose emotional triggers are the result of more real trauma than most of us can comprehend
• What if I told you…
  • Many of the people insisting on the need for more and more trigger warnings don’t give a scaly tailed rodent’s butt about you or your triggers, beyond your usefulness in advancing their agenda