Uhm, wow. This got very dark very quickly. (I’m assuming because of the blood only being on Indiras sleeve and the dagger next to her on the rim of the vat, it might have been self-inflicted. Which would likely be extra shocking to Lara after being told “everything will be fine”, even if she sensed that was Indira BSing her on some level…)
Perhaps you could add a trigger warning to this page, LSN?
The majority of recent study on the topic indicates trigger warnings do more harm than good, regardless of type etc. Essentially, the “warning” not only provokes the same basic response as any outright depiction or description would, but by being so generic also prompts the patient to “fill in the blanks” themselves – which of course means using their own experiences as the basis for it, turning what would often have been a glancing impact into a crit.
Even for something as short as a DE page, where the details will be visible just seconds after the warning, it’s still the worst possible option: the patient may well see the TW and be hit with the response, step away to process that, and then return to continue only to be hit again by the actual scene. Even if they decide to skip the page itself you’ve still subjected them to the reconstruction in their head – which will unquestionably be worse for them than any non-lived representation, let alone one in DE’s unrealistic style – but now they’ve also lost out on the progression itself, which they’ll blame themselves for.
So, yeah: well intentioned, but universally worse in every way than just not doing so in the first place.
I can’t find the recent study I was thinking of, but here are some fairly authoritative (i.e. actual psychologists, not randos on twitter or clickbait articles) :
As Marth says, this is complex territory best left to professionals, and individual responses will vary regardless. On balance though the negative impacts from gratuitous use are both provoking and extending for a majority of patients, so absent an overriding reason – which means knowledge and understanding of a specific patient’s situation – they should generally be avoided.
The best warning is reading the pages before this point. There was no way this was ever going to end well, the only question was how this would go badly.
I could still see warnings adding value, but only in a system that permits filtering, so you don’t even see the warning. I wonder if the absence of entries would provoke a similar “what could it be” response or if being one step removed would insulate that effect.
Google Scholar search turns up “Helping or Harming? The Effect of Trigger Warnings on Individuals With Trauma Histories” in Clinical Psychological Science vol 8 issue 5 (2020). No evidence of help, and some evidence that this supports defining your identity in terms of your trauma. They also cite “Expecting the Worst: Investigating the Effects of Trigger Warnings on Reactions to Ambiguously Themed Photos”, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 2019 March 17. They found that warnings did not lead to a more negative evaluation of ambiguous imagery, but the presence of a message produced anxiety and negative mood and did not make the negative examples any easier to process. There was also something older from the 70s about how “graphic content” warnings made people more scared of movies.
Turns out that mental health is health and amateur medical advice is risky. Sure, actions that sound like they make sense are sometimes accidentally helpful, but if there’s a serious problem in your life then ask a professional. By comparison: Exposure therapy is an actual treatment for PTSD, but that’s even worse to push on patients without understanding how to do it so that it helps.
If you mean Lara killed Indira: I don’t think so. It doesn’t fit what we know of their relationship (L is hopelessly in love with I) or the picture (I is lying in a sacrificial pool, and her own sleeve is spattered with blood, as Gathers pointed out).
But if you mean you thought Indira was going to try to kill Lara: So did I.
I mean, it probably still could get worse, but death in this world is unambiguous. Indi isn’t still out there charming new converts and waiting for the right moment to pull Lara back.
Uhm, wow. This got very dark very quickly. (I’m assuming because of the blood only being on Indiras sleeve and the dagger next to her on the rim of the vat, it might have been self-inflicted. Which would likely be extra shocking to Lara after being told “everything will be fine”, even if she sensed that was Indira BSing her on some level…)
Perhaps you could add a trigger warning to this page, LSN?
The majority of recent study on the topic indicates trigger warnings do more harm than good, regardless of type etc. Essentially, the “warning” not only provokes the same basic response as any outright depiction or description would, but by being so generic also prompts the patient to “fill in the blanks” themselves – which of course means using their own experiences as the basis for it, turning what would often have been a glancing impact into a crit.
Even for something as short as a DE page, where the details will be visible just seconds after the warning, it’s still the worst possible option: the patient may well see the TW and be hit with the response, step away to process that, and then return to continue only to be hit again by the actual scene. Even if they decide to skip the page itself you’ve still subjected them to the reconstruction in their head – which will unquestionably be worse for them than any non-lived representation, let alone one in DE’s unrealistic style – but now they’ve also lost out on the progression itself, which they’ll blame themselves for.
So, yeah: well intentioned, but universally worse in every way than just not doing so in the first place.
That’s very interesting. Do you happen to have a link to one of those studies handy?
I can’t find the recent study I was thinking of, but here are some fairly authoritative (i.e. actual psychologists, not randos on twitter or clickbait articles) :
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005791618301137
https://www.psypost.org/2018/08/study-finds-evidence-that-trigger-warnings-can-be-psychologically-harmful-52007
As Marth says, this is complex territory best left to professionals, and individual responses will vary regardless. On balance though the negative impacts from gratuitous use are both provoking and extending for a majority of patients, so absent an overriding reason – which means knowledge and understanding of a specific patient’s situation – they should generally be avoided.
oops – the sciencedirect link is irrelevant: ignore it.
The definitive paper (as of a couple of years ago) is here: https://osf.io/axn6z/
The best warning is reading the pages before this point. There was no way this was ever going to end well, the only question was how this would go badly.
I could still see warnings adding value, but only in a system that permits filtering, so you don’t even see the warning. I wonder if the absence of entries would provoke a similar “what could it be” response or if being one step removed would insulate that effect.
Google Scholar search turns up “Helping or Harming? The Effect of Trigger Warnings on Individuals With Trauma Histories” in Clinical Psychological Science vol 8 issue 5 (2020). No evidence of help, and some evidence that this supports defining your identity in terms of your trauma. They also cite “Expecting the Worst: Investigating the Effects of Trigger Warnings on Reactions to Ambiguously Themed Photos”, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 2019 March 17. They found that warnings did not lead to a more negative evaluation of ambiguous imagery, but the presence of a message produced anxiety and negative mood and did not make the negative examples any easier to process. There was also something older from the 70s about how “graphic content” warnings made people more scared of movies.
Turns out that mental health is health and amateur medical advice is risky. Sure, actions that sound like they make sense are sometimes accidentally helpful, but if there’s a serious problem in your life then ask a professional. By comparison: Exposure therapy is an actual treatment for PTSD, but that’s even worse to push on patients without understanding how to do it so that it helps.
I expected tragedy and I’m still horrified.
I knew this was gunna happen
Tables turned
If you mean Lara killed Indira: I don’t think so. It doesn’t fit what we know of their relationship (L is hopelessly in love with I) or the picture (I is lying in a sacrificial pool, and her own sleeve is spattered with blood, as Gathers pointed out).
But if you mean you thought Indira was going to try to kill Lara: So did I.
Well, that could’ve gone a lot worse.
I mean, it probably still could get worse, but death in this world is unambiguous. Indi isn’t still out there charming new converts and waiting for the right moment to pull Lara back.
YIKES, that got dark.