Trigger (TW)

Trigger (TW = Trigger Warning) 

Refers to anything seen, read, or experienced that can cause a negative reaction within a trauma survivor's psyche, such as flashbacks or extreme anxiety due to exposure to something which triggers the memory of the traumatic event to replay within their minds. Authors should, out of respect to survivors, provide story warnings for the most common triggers (ex: rape, suicide, abuse, self-harm, torture, etc...) to prevent blindsiding their readers with unexpected suffering. Oftentimes, just the advanced knowledge alone is enough to override the trigger itself so that it does not adversely affect the reader if they are prepared for it ahead of time. Even if an author chooses not to warn for squicks, they should still provide basic trigger warnings as a common courtesy