Trigger Warning
At the risk of sounding like an asshole, I hate trigger warnings. Actually, that’s not true, I think trigger warnings themselves are perfectly fine, though studies as recent as 2020 have shown that trigger warnings don’t necessarily help trauma survivors brace themselves for potentially upsetting content, it’s this weird assumption that we live in a world that can possibly warn us against any and all things that may cause us mental or emotional discomfort when triggers, at their core, are totally unpredictable.
Earlier this week Demi Lovato made the news when they called out an LA based small frozen yogurt business called The Bigg Chill for triggering them after walking past sugar free options and what they called “other diet foods” before getting to the counter. Lovato, who has been open about their issues with disordered eating in the past, most recently in a four part YouTube series chronicling the aftermath of their 2018 drug overdose, began using the hashtag #dietculturevultures to continue calling out The Bigg Chill and other companies they (and others) claimed to be promoting diet menus.
Now here’s the thing, the internet wasn’t having it…and to be honest, they shouldn’t have been. Demi Lovato has a habit of making everything about them and forgetting that other people with other issues, dietary or otherwise, exist in this world. A lot of people commented, some in support of Lovato’s stance, like Jameela Jamil who took to her own Instagram story agreeing that we need to change the way we market products for medical needs because “guilt-free” terminology can be “potentially triggering” to those who struggle with eating disorders while many others called Lovato out for using their fame and high follower count to attack a small business over their own personal issues with food and diet culture.
Of course, all of the bad press surrounding their rant lead to an eight minute video posted to Lovato’s Instagram basically apologizing for feeling too much, “I am very outspoken about the things that I believe in…I walked into a situation that didn’t sit right with me, my intuition said speak up about this, so I did.” This apology seemed lackluster and like more of a “sorry you felt that way” kind of an apology rather than anything genuine.
See, Lovato got worked up because they were triggered. More specifically, because they weren’t prepared to be triggered. To be triggered typically means a person is experiencing anxiety coupled with emotional or physical symptoms due to something that reminds them of a previous traumatic experience. In this case, being confronted with signs spouting sugar free/gluten free/guilt free terminology, there’s a chance that Lovato was reminded of their own issues with food and disordered eating which prompted them to lash out. Obviously I’m no therapist, I’m no expert in triggers or PTSD but in this case I mean, not to victim blame but they were walking into a fro-yo shop in LA that is bound to have sugar or gluten free options in order to be inclusive of any customers who have dietary restrictions, I’m not that sure what they expected.
Do I think we should purposely go around trying to cause intentional mental harm to others? Of course not. But do I think we should expect others to warn us of things we may individually find triggering of past traumas? Not really. Having past traumas is something universally shared by many of us, I’d be hard pressed to find a lot of people that don’t have things that trigger their own shit but it’s ludicrous to think we live in a world that will coddle us. If you don’t have the ability to walk into a frozen yogurt shop and accept that you may or may not see terminology or products that make you uncomfortable if you’ve suffered from disordered eating…then you probably aren’t ready to walk into a frozen yogurt shop yet. And that’s okay. We heal at different rates. But we can’t expect the world around us, outside of our close friends and family, to be privy to our own personal struggles.
Demi Lovato is a walking contradiction. They expect the world to bend over backwards to make them feel comfortable but seems to have no concern for the way they may trigger others…just days after their The Bigg Chill rant they posted photos on their Instagram story of themselves with a bong in celebration of 420 after admitting to being “California Sober” or still smoking weed and drinking alcohol in moderation. These photos could be triggering to those in recovery from drug abuse or to those who may have experienced their own overdose in the past and yet Lovato posted them with nary a trigger warning in sight. The hypocrisy and the complete lack of self awareness of it is mind blowing and enough to make me question my status as a fan of them.
What are your thoughts when it comes to trigger warnings? I could probably keep going on about it, and might in a future post, but I want to see where my readers stand on the topic. Do you believe trigger warnings are a necessity or do you think they cause more harm than good? I would love to hear from someone who benefits from the use of trigger warnings…how do they help you? Do you wish they were more prevalent in more places than just online or college classrooms? Let me know in the comments below!