Trigger Warnings Are Everywhere, But Do They Actually Help Anyone?

Illustration: Jianan Liu/HuffPost; Photo: Getty Images Trigger warnings may actually increase people’s anxiety, a new study found. “Trigger warnings can lead to anticipatory anxiety, the heightened feeling of oncoming dread, doom, or worry about something occurring in the future.” - Ashley McGirt, trauma therapist The emerging body of research shows that, compared to content without trigger warnings, the disclaimers do not lead to any form of emotional or mental preparation, Bridgland told HuffPost. “Namely, what happens when someone sees a warning and does this alter the way they then react to subsequent material?” Johnce via Getty Images Trigger warnings may lead to a “pandora effect” where a person's curiosity to proceed is actually intensified. “Trigger warnings can lead to anticipatory anxiety, the heightened feeling of oncoming dread, doom, or worry about something occurring in the future,” she said. “For trigger warnings to work, people would need some kind of pre-training to give them emotion regulation strategies that they could use if they come across a trigger warning,” she said.