I find the co-opting of this phrase by those who are using it casually (in a non-PTSD/non-anxious context) to be immensely insulting to those who actually struggle with the real bio-physical response of a triggering. (Yes, I'm happy to give those with anxiety disorders and phobias the benefit of PTSD allocation. Trauma is trauma; we need not be competitive.)
However, PTSD trauma is (as you indicate) NOT simply everyday discomfort and whinging. It's much more specific as an embodied psychological experience where the experiencee has no or very little control. I find it particularly frustrating when people say things the equivalent of, "X really annoys me because X exists in the first place. Now X is doing some mundane thing and I don't like it, because I should have thought of it first. However, I'll exaggerate how I feel and claim that I feel triggered and this is unfair and I shouldn't be made to feel this way."
Or, even worse, "I went shopping and was totally triggered by the dress the sales clerk had on. It was so adorable!" (What the Hell?!)
Grawr.
I met a psych-theatre guy in New York who does performative therapy with political refugees (shamefully, his name is escaping me at the moment, as he is quite brilliant). He had a fascinating theory: In our grandparents' generation, one exaggerated one's courage. They made their heroic escapades all the more so, even when it referred to little things. They had noble accomplishments, they were brave, they had role models like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood who were rough and tough and made it work...
However, the next generations (ours included) grew up with Jerry Seinfeld and Woody Allen and their ilk, people that exaggerate their suffering, often in ridiculous ways. ("I got splashed by a cab, I spilled my coffee, they ran out of my favourite bagels, can this day possibly get any worse?") Psych-theatre guy thinks we all do this now because we do not get enough validation for our everyday suffering, since we all psychologically do not want to compete (and lose) when faced with the spectre of the Holocaust (Ultimate Suffering). He thinks this is sad, as our everyday challenges and little sufferings are still valid, and deserve some measure of validation, rather than pouring the energy into unsatisfactory self-perpetuation. Of course, this becomes even more of an issue for the vast sections of the survivors' community, when they already feel that seeking validation is like dancing across a mine field.
no subject
I find the co-opting of this phrase by those who are using it casually (in a non-PTSD/non-anxious context) to be immensely insulting to those who actually struggle with the real bio-physical response of a triggering. (Yes, I'm happy to give those with anxiety disorders and phobias the benefit of PTSD allocation. Trauma is trauma; we need not be competitive.)
However, PTSD trauma is (as you indicate) NOT simply everyday discomfort and whinging. It's much more specific as an embodied psychological experience where the experiencee has no or very little control. I find it particularly frustrating when people say things the equivalent of, "X really annoys me because X exists in the first place. Now X is doing some mundane thing and I don't like it, because I should have thought of it first. However, I'll exaggerate how I feel and claim that I feel triggered and this is unfair and I shouldn't be made to feel this way."
Or, even worse, "I went shopping and was totally triggered by the dress the sales clerk had on. It was so adorable!" (What the Hell?!)
Grawr.
I met a psych-theatre guy in New York who does performative therapy with political refugees (shamefully, his name is escaping me at the moment, as he is quite brilliant). He had a fascinating theory: In our grandparents' generation, one exaggerated one's courage. They made their heroic escapades all the more so, even when it referred to little things. They had noble accomplishments, they were brave, they had role models like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood who were rough and tough and made it work...
However, the next generations (ours included) grew up with Jerry Seinfeld and Woody Allen and their ilk, people that exaggerate their suffering, often in ridiculous ways. ("I got splashed by a cab, I spilled my coffee, they ran out of my favourite bagels, can this day possibly get any worse?") Psych-theatre guy thinks we all do this now because we do not get enough validation for our everyday suffering, since we all psychologically do not want to compete (and lose) when faced with the spectre of the Holocaust (Ultimate Suffering). He thinks this is sad, as our everyday challenges and little sufferings are still valid, and deserve some measure of validation, rather than pouring the energy into unsatisfactory self-perpetuation. Of course, this becomes even more of an issue for the vast sections of the survivors' community, when they already feel that seeking validation is like dancing across a mine field.