You might have seen trigger warning online, at events, film screenings and social media posts:
“Trigger warning: this post discusses sexual assault, self-harm and suicidal ideation.”
The term was initially associated mainly with trauma and PTSD, but is now also used in a wider context.
They are intended to give people advance notice that the might encounter something that might cause an emotional response, especially for people who have experienced trauma. The idea is to give people either time to prepare themselves for the content, or to choose not to engage with it, with the goal of reducing distress.
This sounds like a great way to help each other, but the research is more complicated than that. The evidence we have so far suggests that trigger warnings generally do not reduce the distress people experience when they encounter upsetting material. In some circumstances, they may actually increase anxiety beforehand or encourage avoidance. At the same time, this does not mean that all forms of content information are useless, or that people should simply be exposed to upsetting material without consideration for their reactions.
What do we know from research?
Findings across multiple studies show that trigger warnings do not, in any meaningful way, change people’s emotional reactions to distressing content. They do, however, increase anticipatory anxiety, meaning people who received a trigger warning might already be more anxious prior to seeing the distressing content.
Illustrative example: Sarah and Michael are both going to watch a distressing video.
Sarah is told: “This video might be distressing for you.” She then might spend a few minutes thinking: “How bad is this going to be?” “Is this going to trigger my PTSD?” or “Am I going to be able to handle it?”, leading to heightened anxiety even before watching the video.
Michael is told nothing, and he does not have these anxious thoughts leading up to it.
Once they both watch the video, research shows their response is likely to be similar.
But where does that leave trigger warnings?
While research shows that trigger warnings don’t help as much as we tend to think, it also does not show that they are harmful, or that these type of warnings should never be used. Knowing what’s coming can help people make an informed decision.
This is where wording matters. A distinction can be made between trigger warnings: “Warning! This will be extremely disturbing.” And content warnings: “This contains sexual violence.” The first one might communicate that one should be afraid or might not be able to handle it, while the second simply informs of the content, helping to make an informed decision. Thus, specific warnings about content should be preferred to vague descriptions of potential for distress.
The conclusion here is that while trigger warnings may not accomplish all they’re aiming to, they can still be useful in certain contexts to help someone decide whether they can face a trigger that day. In this case, however, prefer specific content warnings without using language that implies fear or not being able to cope.
And what about trigger warnings in therapy?
As a therapist, I have come across an interesting phenomenon: clients sometimes use trigger warnings with me before they go into traumatic or distressing events in their life. And while I feel touched by the care that my clients have for me in these moments, it’s important to know: your therapist does not need a trigger warning. Therapy is space for you to explore whatever comes up, and your therapist needs to have enough stability and ability to compromise to be able to hear whatever it is you need to talk about.
On the flip side, you may have topics that trigger you, and you may be worried about having severe reactions in therapy. This is valid, and you don’t need to go into distressing material immediately, and it’s important to tell your therapist what you’re worried about, and what you might need from them to be able to deal with difficult topics. You might agree to approach certain topics gradually, or work on emotion regulation or coping skills beforehand. For example, someone with social anxiety might want their therapist to warn them before discussing embarrassing situations. Someone with health anxiety might want to know before their therapist mentions illness. Someone with PTSD might want to know before discussing their trauma.
But if therapy always revolves around avoiding the possibility of discomfort, we may accidentally strengthen the very avoidance pattern that keeps the problem going. Therapy is not only a place for you to talk about difficult topics, but also to learn to deal with difficult experiences, tolerate discomfort, and learn that you can handle more than you previously thought.
Therefore, rather than asking your therapist for a trigger warning, ask them to discuss how you want to approach difficult topics. Together, you can discuss:
- What topics are particularly difficult for you
- What your fear or trauma responses look like
- What helps you regulate when you get overwhelmed
- How to recognize you’re approaching your limits
- What you can do or say if you need a break
- How much detail you want to go into
- What your goals are regarding the issue
This helps give you some more agency, without needing to avoid, which can keep you stuck.
The bottom line – you don’t need to protect yourself from every uncomfortable feeling.
One of the most valuable things you can learn in therapy, whether you are dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD or something else entirely, is that discomfort and danger are not the same thing.
You can feel anxious without being in danger. You can face your past without having to get stuck there. You can talk about difficult experiences and learn that you can tolerate it.
And sometimes, you can choose not to engage with something because you genuinely don’t want to. The goal is not to never be triggered, but to have more freedom to choose what you do when difficult thoughts, memories and emotions show up, to build a life where you don’t have to avoid them anymore.
References
Bell, K. M., et al. (2025). “Warning—This Content May Trigger Temporary Discomfort, Which Is Expected and Manageable”: The Effect of Modified Trigger-Warning Language on Reactions to Emotionally Provocative Content.
Bridgland, V. M. E., et al. (2024). A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Trigger Warnings, Content Warnings, and Content Notes.
Gainsburg, I., & Earl, A. (2018). Trigger warnings as an interpersonal emotion-regulation tool: Avoidance, attention, and affect depend on beliefs.
Sanson, M., et al. (2019). Trigger warnings are trivially helpful at reducing negative affect, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance.