Triggers *Warning themes of abuse*

[Not_Batman]

Hello BB community.

So im posting to try and understand myself a bit more.

I get very anxious and saddened when i hear about the abuse or exploitation of children. To the point where i feel almost uncontrollably edgy, and depressed.

most cases its watching movies.
In artificial intelligence the robot child is Deliberately left behind in the forrest by his ‘family’.

i cannot even bring myself to watch one of my kids movies - Onward.

most recently was a thriller called ‘True Story’ which is based on a guy that murders his 3 children. I cried a bit, well maybe more than i care to admit.

other times its watching the news. I remember a segment that was presented by nuala hafner, where she broke into tears as i did about the segment. Just horrifying.

just today i learned of a person, that i have never met, that was sexually abused Almost daily from the age of 5 to her mid teens. I felt an instant pain in my chest and a sickening feeling in my stomach.

Having not been a victim of abuse or exploitation, where does the feeling come from, and how is it best to deal with this?

Not_Batman

[Ggrand]

Hello Not Batman..

I think that you must be a very compassionate and empathetic person and watching or listening to child abuse is very horrific for you as it is for so many people...

I was sexually, physically and emotionally abused all my life up to 7 years ago..and I cannot watch nor listen to anything like you have..I don’t watch the news ever...and I’m very selective on what I watch...

I was hospitalised a couple of years ago and the tv in the dining room was switch on..I looked up at the wrong time to see and elderly person being abused by a nurse...I immediately got triggered into a CPTSD. breakdown..The hospital psychiatrist had to come and calm me down...The next day he talked to me and said to avoid anything on tv that’s triggering to me....

Maybe....just my gentle opinion that it might be best, that before you watch something it may be better for your mental health to read the reviews first.... it sounds like certain things you see or hear are triggering you...and better for your mental health to be very selective in your viewing of news and TV movies and shows..

My kindest thoughts with care..

Grandy..

[lonelyglassesgirl]

Hi Not_Batman,

I too sometimes get upset by certain content on TV, film and books. When I was a teen, it used to trigger my OCD and intrusive thoughts. Like you and Ggrand, I find it far more disturbing if the violence is realistic (domestic, child abuse) as opposed to in a fantasy, sci-fi or even war context (though I'm sure those who have lived through conflict zones would have problems with the latter as well).

There are some websites that provide fairly detailed descriptions and warnings about what is in a film -- beyond what is revealed on the ratings -- one is https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

It's aimed at families, so some of the warnings (e.g. swearing, sexual references) may be less relevant to adults seeking to avoid violent content, but they do have a "violence" rating for each show/film.

Beware that some of these sites (not Common Sense Media, as far as I can tell) have religious overtones and might be discriminatory, e.g. "warning" about media with LGBTQI+ characters instead of about violence, etc.

[Not_Batman]

Hi Ggrand & LonelyGlassesGirl.

thanks for the responses.

While this doesnt happen to me all that often, when it does it is quite a punch. Far more noticeable than some of my other triggers. I guess having my own children plays a big part, as i want to be able to protect them as much as i can without being a helicopter, or the fun police.

NB.