You already had PTSD before the recent traumas. PTSD brains handle minor traumas as if they are major traumas. We don't have "normal" responses any more

Ok, but how does that make Ash's comment any less relevant? I'm pretty sure that the comment they're replying to isn't made by a psychologist or psychiatrist, or even necessarily by someone who has experience with PTSD. Ash was pointing out the problem with it.

But here's the problem: what are the odds that the average random person online actually KNOWS when "triggered" is appropriate and accurate to use? Debating whether someone's triggers are valid or not is going to end up hurting someone. Like that post about jello, Popsicles, and soup broth: a trigger -can- be anything. So wouldn't it be more productive to tell people how to -react- to others' triggers? As in, "accommodate if you can, and be respectful"? It's still a jerk move to intentionally expose someone to something they just don't like, even if it's not a true trigger.

1 PTSD is a very complicated diagnosis, and a lot of the information that is widely cited about it (even among the medical profession!) is actually inaccurate. So for someone outside the small circle of genuine expertise to try to determine what counts as genuine PTSD and what doesn't is no bueno. // Also, Gatekeeping the use of the term triggered devalues and undermines people that DO have PTSD! I had it since early childhood, but didn't get diagnosed with it until I was 33. For all those years, people were constantly telling me I was "overreacting" to things and that I didn't have any "reason" to be so upset, and therefore, I should feel bad for being so upset. Because even I didn't' know I genuinely had PTSD. Also, not only can people be triggered for PTSD that they haven't been officially diagnosed with yet, but the term "triggered" can refer to a whole RAFT of things from diagnoses as far afield as migraines, allergies, anxiety, OCD, PTSD....

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2 ...and bipolar disorder. And many of these things (especially in the mental health sphere) are wildly under-diagnosed. So while I recognize the good intentions of the people trying to tell others not to use the word unless they've got an official diagnosis, I still firmly say that gatekeeping the use of the word "triggered" only serves to devalue and undermine the exact people you're trying to help. // I also think the real problem in this situation is NOT that the woman said she was triggered, but that she had unreasonable demands of another person because of that trigger. She may very well have been triggered by the woman's scar! And it wasn't necessarily wrong for her to ask the woman if she'd be okay with covering it: it doesn't hurt to ask. But OP had every right to say no, and the woman was passive-aggressive and nasty about it afterward. If the accommodation couldn't be made to her trigger, it was her own responsibility to do self-care and figure out her OWN solution. (cont:)

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3 I'm sorry, this is really long lol But it's a complicated topic! I think when people ask other people not to use the word "triggered", it's because they feel like, if it's a REAL trigger, then they HAVE to accommodate the other person. That's not true! A person can be triggered by something FOR REAL and that still doesn't necessarily mean you need to accommodate them. For instance, I literally start crying every time I get a puzzling communication from my insurance company, but I can't tell them to stop contacting me. I just need to figure out ways to take care of myself in the case of triggers. The word trigger can be used far more widely than most people think, and it doesn't mean you have to do absolutely everything the person being triggered asks.