John Ellison doesn’t understand what “Trigger Warnings” are, but he’s still against them
University of Chicago Dean of Student John (Jay) Ellison sent out this letter to his incoming freshmen this year.
Specifically, I want to focus on this paragraph:
Our commitment to academic freedom means we do not support so-called “trigger warnings,” we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual “safe spaces” where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.
As someone in academia, I am a little surprised that Ellison doesn’t recognize the straw men he’s building here; alternately, it shows that he doesn’t understand the point of either trigger warnings or safe spaces.
They’ve taken on strange meanings, though the meanings he’s using here imply a namespace clash I’ve seen wrought by critics, attempting to re-frame a very valid and useful thing as something dumb and petty. It would be like saying “You’ll not find seat belts in OUR cars; we’re completely against infantilizing our drivers with full body harnesses, strapping down their legs and arms, so much that you can barely move your hands to steer.”
PTSD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a real and formally recognized diagnosis. “About 3.6 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 54 (5.2 million people) have PTSD during the course of a given year. [source] Here’s the official word about PTSD from the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition).
The diagnostic criteria for the manual’s next edition identify the trigger to PTSD as exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation. The exposure must result from one or more of the following scenarios, in which the individual:
* directly experiences the traumatic event
* witnesses the traumatic event in person
* learns the traumatic event occurred to a close family member or close friend (with the actual or threatened death being either violent or accidental)
* experiences first-hand repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event (not through media, pictures, television or movies unless work-related)
The disturbance, regardless of its trigger, causes clinically significant distress or impairment in the individual’s social interactions, capacity to work or other important areas of functioning. It is not the physiological result of another medical condition, medication, drugs or alcohol.
[emphasis mine]
“Now hold on!” you might say “that says right there that you can’t be triggered by media, pictures, television, etc!”
In this case, the DSM-V is indicating what can trigger (start) the onset of PTSD, not trigger (resume) the flashbacks. They have a more plain-language description of PTSD as well.
Mental Health America (NMHA) has a very informative page about PTSD as well. This paragraph, by Dr. David Riggs, in particular, is salient here:
For people with PTSD, it is very common for their memories to be triggered by sights, sounds, smells or even feelings that they experience. These triggers can bring back memories of the trauma and cause intense emotional and physical reactions, such as raised heart rate, sweating and muscle tension. Because these memories and feelings are unpleasant, you may have the urge to avoid the triggers. Avoiding things that make you uncomfortable is normal and will make you feel better in the short run. But in the long run, this avoidance will make things worse. If the pattern continues, you can make your problems worse. Instead of avoiding triggers, it is probably better to learn how to manage your reactions when they are triggered. Many forms of therapy are effective in treating PTSD. Cognitive behavioral therapy, in particular, can help you learn ways to reduce and manage your reactions to triggers. [emphasis mine]
In this paragraph, Dr. Riggs is referring to trauma triggers, where a stimulus, sometimes even benign, invokes a vivid recollection of a traumatic experience. He advises to (a) not avoid your traumatic memories indefinitely, and (b) seeking therapeutic techniques from professionals, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
“Indefinitely” and “from professionals” are important.
The way my own therapist described PTSD to me is to imagine a massive 5-lane highway in your brain that leads directly to your Fight-or-Flight response. That highway leads directly through memories of a traumatic experience (because in those situations, your mortality became so apparent that the animal brain kicked in) — experiencing things that are associative memories with that past trauma leads right back to that 5-lane highway (and the Stress over-response). It’s not something you have control over, since your brain is literally perceiving “OH CRAP THIS IS HAPPENING AND MY LIFE IS IN DANGER OMGOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!!!11!!!one!!1!!”
Treatment for PTSD involves slowly reducing the size of that 5-lane highway, or teaching you coping techniques for becoming more skilled at not merging into that highway when faced with associated stimuli. It takes time.
Trigger Warnings
A “Trigger Warning” is a notice given before a topic or material that could create issues for someone suffering from PTSD (eg. showing “Saving Private Ryan” in a classroom where there are veterans present, or reading a short-story that includes a graphic description of a rape occurring).
This is so that individuals in that class may emotionally prepare themselves in advance and be ready to face something that has been an actively challenging topic for them.
It affords them time to speak with their therapist about coping strategies (“We’re watching Saving Private Ryan in my class tomorrow, and I’m really worried that I’m going to break down in class when they show the beach invasion in the beginning. How can I prepare?”), or to speak with their professor privately about reasonable accommodations (“I am concerned about my ability to not maintain composure in class; would it be OK if I read this in my dorm instead? I will still do the assignments.”)
It is not to prevent the students from being exposed to difficult content (ie. “triggering” as in “causing” PTSD, from the DSM-V description), but rather about being exposed to potential trauma triggers.
Let’s just assume, a priori, that a student in a college class wants to learn, and that their professors want to teach them. Even if the student isn’t disrupting the class by literally breaking down during, if they are experiencing a flashback, there is no thinking / learning happening in their brain; their cognitive processes have been completely hijacked the moment they start careening down that 5-lane highway.
Providing a warning about potential trauma triggers (or “trigger warning”) prior to discussion or consumption of certain difficult topics is a kindness for the students and the academic process. It is a good thing to do, and a professor who takes their job as an educator seriously should feel compelled to provide a 3-second or 1 written line advisory of what lies ahead. A student should approach the Professor privately, after reading the syllabus, and open a dialogue about issues they may have concerns over. (“Can you tell me more about the 10 October classroom reading about suicide? I walked in on my roommate in the middle of an attempt last semester and I’m still having nightmares; I’m in therapy, but it’s still a struggle for me right now.”)
This isn’t about avoiding course content, or challenging topics — I completely agree that discussing difficult ideas is a good thing in University. But in the same way that students with dyslexia (also recognized by the DSM) are afforded reasonable accommodations in schools, students suffering from PTSD should as well; and trigger warnings are one of those accommodations.
I advise Ellison to educate himself further on PTSD and its treatment, and to re-consider his attitudes towards these matters.
Ad.: Exposure Therapy
In a September 2015 article on The Atlantic, “The Coddling of the American Mind”, the authors write (please see original article for full context):
However, there is a deeper problem with trigger warnings. According to the most-basic tenets of psychology, the very idea of helping people with anxiety disorders avoid the things they fear is misguided. A person who is trapped in an elevator during a power outage may panic and think she is going to die. That frightening experience can change neural connections in her amygdala, leading to an elevator phobia. If you want this woman to retain her fear for life, you should help her avoid elevators.
But if you want to help her return to normalcy, you should take your cues from Ivan Pavlov and guide her through a process known as exposure therapy. You might start by asking the woman to merely look at an elevator from a distance — standing in a building lobby, perhaps — until her apprehension begins to subside. If nothing bad happens while she’s standing in the lobby — if the fear is not “reinforced” — then she will begin to learn a new association: elevators are not dangerous. … Then, on subsequent days, you might ask her to get closer, and on later days to push the call button, and eventually to step in and go up one floor. This is how the amygdala can get rewired again to associate a previously feared situation with safety or normalcy.
Provided that “you”, in this example, is referring to a licensed therapist, then sure, I think this can work.
An analogy: If you threw out your back and were in a lot of pain, would you think it reasonable for your physical therapy / recovery to be managed by a peer, or should it be handled by a trained professional?
The authors are correct in that this is one of the methods of relieving PTSD (there are others, and the most appropriate method is best determined by a licensed mental health professional), and Dr. Riggs, from earlier, suggests something similar. But this is therapy, not handing someone some tissues because they had a rough day at work. The authors are dangerously remiss in implying that this sort of resolution could be meted by an untrained individual.
It is not the job of a faculty person to callously force exposure therapy, either. Even if they’re Psychology faculty (doubly so, since they should know better!). There is historical context and understanding to be considered, and a trust factor as well, and these are all things that come from a therapist-patient relationship.
