I call this post choosing a movie or show for the PTSD/PTSI community. Please note this is an opinion piece and does not attempt to replace or displace medical or other professional advice from you care team with respect to making informed choices about the media you choose to be exposed to.

In a perfect world the film studios or classification bodies would have a system to identify groups of triggers in the film and theatre industry. In reality this is such a wide a disperse set of media outlets and the trigger set is equally if not more diverse in the PTSD and mental health cohort. Even I have flirted with the idea of starting such a group but struggle to make sense of my own bubble let alone the pack that another mate carries on the other side of the planet. I have developed though a great selection process for what I choose to view and thought I could share that for others to spring from in developing their own criteria. I also understand that even discussing triggers is a trigger in itself so this serves as an appropriate warning.

Know your triggers. You don’t have to write them out or discuss them, but a good understanding of what bothers you and more importantly what is a trigger to your extraordinary thoughts and responses is essential. There is a great body of work how these injuries can define us, refine us or set a decline; an awareness of you path is also useful in future choices.

Check the media classification. In general, the more controlled the viewing audience, the more likely the media will contain distressing and triggering content. This needs to be contextualised as the family themes in some simple media may be a trigger as much as the more restricted violence content may not actually touch your triggers set.

Do some research into the film. Sure this might be a breach of the spoiler alert, but for the PTSD cohort, fore warning is usually more important than a hidden plot twist. There is also my assumption that there is a general contract between patron and film/show producer that the content will be presented as outlined for entertainment in return for a set fee. It is a mutually realistic expectation to be able to leave safely and not have you quality of life degraded by this exchange. Should either party feel that the content could degrade the patrons quality of life then the contract should not be entered into.

Take a pony. Most elite race horses have a pony as company for  transport and race prep, I like to use this term to refer to a friend or member of your support team that can both keep you calm and filter or review some of your responses.

Have an exit plan. This can be initiated by you or your support team and that it can be clearly followed through to stop your exposure to the content. This often is combined with the next step of having an activity to do after the film to debrief the content even if you did not watch the entire show. My general philosophy above is that the aim is to get the PTSD community to get out and see great content rather than be supported into solitude. This might imply you skip or leave some content but enabling good choices is a good aim I feel.

When my first son was born there was some time taken to select a name for him. We spent ages looking at books of names and meanings. I also started to really read the rolling credits of movies looking for names. over a Decade has passed since he was named and I still try to sit and watch the credit roll. Sometimes for the Easter Egg, mainly to acknowledge the Craftspeople and always to check my theory that there is a James in every movie.

Please note this is an opinion piece and does not attempt to replace or displace medical or other professional advice from you care team with respect to making informed choices about the media you choose to be exposed to.