[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Targan

I understand the concept of triggering and I agree it seems to be over-used in the younger generations. Let me give you all a little glimpse into my own psyche and potential triggers.

When I was a kid (I'm not sure of the exact age, probably between 10 and 12 years old) I went through an incident of torture. I'm not talking about generalized physical and psychological abuse (although I did go through 10 years of that due to a sadistic and sometimes brutal stepfather) or typical childhood bullying (which I also suffered through at school until I was 16 when I fractured someone's skull with a solid Tae Kwon Do punch and was left alone after that).

This incident was when a family friend aged in his mid to late 20s turned up at our house one day. He was wearing nothing but a damp pair of jeans, no shoes or shirt, was acting really strange and said he'd just swum across a nearby river. In hindsight I think he was having a psychotic episode, whether it was drug-induced or not I'll never know. My parents brought him inside, sat him at the dining room table and gave him a meal, then they retired to the lounge room to watch TV. Previous to this he'd been a lovely bloke, never gave my family any cause for concern.

I made the mistake of walking past our guest to get a drink from the kitchen. He stopped me on the way back to my room and accused me of watching him. He then dragged me to a room right at the back of the house and told me not to speak, then spent the next 25 minutes alternating between asking me bizarre questions and beating me whether I answered him or not. It got pretty nasty. I guess I'm lucky he didn't have any implements to hand but he did sufficient damage with his hands. My stepfather eventually found us and dragged the guy outside, but he ran off when it was suggested maybe he needed to go with the police to hospital for a mental health assessment.

Anyway, ever since then (and to a lesser extent the two times I was stabbed by my stepfather) I've been against the idea of torture. I can understand why people might think it's necessary, but I can't condone it personally. The computer game GTA V has a torture scene where you as the player have to choose various implements and have your in-game character torture a victim. It doesn't matter which implements you choose but the game won't progress unless you brutalise the poor bastard chained to the chair. I found that whole scene to be triggering for me. I had the choice to just walk away from the game. I chose to continue, despite it making be feel profoundly uncomfortable.

Thing is, I don't blame the creators of the game for inserting that scene. It fit the plot and the character. I had a choice, I chose to engage. Pretty simple.

Makes my stepmonster, mother, and sister look like angels!