Archives March 2026

Put simply, yes. Of course, the unfortunate reality is that a person can’t avoid every single trigger that they might have all of the time – especially if it is an everyday kind of thing. I, for example, used to be triggered by certain songs (and still am to some extent) if I related them to a bad experience or feeling, but I can’t exactly demand that every radio station stops playing them.

Depending on the situation, I think that it is important for people to build up some sort of resistance to triggers, through methods such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This will help them to process traumatic experiences and learn techniques for coping with distressing subject matter so that they can live their everyday life without being held back by fear.

Whilst it is definitely worth considering that people should seek help with coping with a mental illness or the after-effects of trauma, trigger warnings are absolutely still necessary. For someone who is in recovery, no matter at what stage in the process they are at, triggers still have the power to affect them in a very negative way. On bad days when living itself is difficult, coming across a trigger could push someone over the edge and put back their recovery. Being reminded of the bad things in the world is the exact opposite of what is needed for someone who is recovering from trauma, and can only end in a depressed and/or anxious mindset.

The wonderful things in the world are the way forward, and there are plenty of them to help you with recovering, just make sure to look out for them.

Do you agree? Drop a comment below to let us know.

Around once every year or so, when I’m sick of watching QI repeats and desperately trying to procrastinate, there’s one series I will always turn to – Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

If you’ve never seen it, firstly – where have you been?! And secondly – you should definitely get onto that! I was obsessed with this show when I was a kid – it had action, monsters and a timeless romance to rival that of Ross and Rachel. Buffy was such an influence on me as a young girl that I made the always terrible decision to give myself the Buffy haircut – all evidence has since been destroyed. But aside from my bad fashion choices, Buffy had a very positive influence on young girls as the powerful female icon we’d all been waiting for.

A badass vampire slayer just trying to live an ordinary life whilst going to school on top of a hellmouth, what more could you want? Well, a well-rounded leading female character for one, which thankfully Buffy definitely was. Diverse and intelligent female leading characters weren’t all that common in the 90’s and unfortunately, they aren’t even that common in today’s society, but Buffy Summers signified a move to a more realistic image of women on screen (apart from the vampire slaying stuff). She was independent and tough, but also sometimes sensitive and stubborn, she wasn’t a piece of arm candy or a damsel in distress that needed to be saved, she was more than perfectly capable of saving herself.

And who wouldn’t want to be in Buffy’s “scooby gang”? A fiercely loyal friend and selfless to a fault, Buffy was always putting others before herself, and not just her friends, but the entire fate of the world (try and top that if you can). But it wasn’t just Buffy who was a full and rich female character, pretty much all of the female characters were wildly different and distinct, flawed and fascinating. Take Willow Rosenberg, Buffy’s best friend, for instance – she started out as a meek and mild highschooler, afraid to step out of her comfort zone and constantly bullied, but as the series progressed Willow flourished and changed. She developed her own interests, she fell in love, and struggled with her sexuality, which then lead to one of the first portrayals of a same-sex couple on television.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, what about that Angel guy, he was a pretty dominant male character who Buffy becomes kind of infatuated with. Well yeah, there were romances, to omit romance would be to miss out a huge chunk of life, it’s the way you portray the relationship that counts. The important thing was that her character was never defined by her love life, she was always defined by her actions and the choices she made. And come one, there’s nothing wrong with a good love story.

A tough vampire slaying teen was my first glimpse at a truly powerful female TV character. Buffy will always be relevant to me and I’m guessing to many others out there too. So I guess this was some sort of love letter to Buffy Summers, an enduring feminist icon.

Toxic relationships are like a virus. Once infected, you become sicker and sicker until you are prescribed a cure. Usually that prescription is to leave the relationship behind.

A friend of mine described a toxic relationship like that scene in Alien where the guy doesn’t realise he’s carrying a parasite, starts feeling unwell and then BOOM!, an alien baby pops out of his stomach. Ideally, we’d like to avoid that unpleasant sensation, and I think in order to do that, we need to have open and honest conversations about what constitutes a toxic relationship and what the warning signs are. More.

Toxic relationships don’t only exist between romantic partners; they can also be between friends, parents and children, and pretty much any other type of close or dependent relationship. The thing about toxic relationships is that they become vicious cycles. When one person starts displaying toxic behaviours, it tends to lead the other party to display toxic behaviours of their own until neither one is happy with themselves or happy in the relationship. Toxic relationships can be emotionally abusive when one person wants power over the other. There are different forms of these types of relationships, but here are a couple of behaviours to look out for:

1. Purposely making the other person jealous

When someone in the relationship consciously takes action to make their partner jealous. This could be by flirting with other people, or worse, actually cheating to get attention from them – it creates a really unhealthy atmosphere. An individual shouldn’t want attention from their partner because of a negative emotion. In a healthy relationship there is trust, and each person lifts the other up.

2. Putting down the other person’s friends and family

This type of behaviour is often used when someone is trying to isolate a person in order to be the only one they depend on.

3. Body shaming

It’s unhealthy to remain in any type of relationship with someone who is always making negative comments about your body or making you feel bad about yourself in any way. Friendships and relationships should help to cure, not increase, insecurities.

4. Holding the relationship hostage

Threatening to leave the relationship in order to win an argument or disagreement takes value away from the relationship and the person in it. For example “You have to pick between me and football”, is not productive and not a way to maintain a healthy relationship.

5. Using gifts as a way to “fix” issues

Instead of communicating about a problem, in a toxic relationship, someone may use gifts and dates as a way to create a happier atmosphere, but it’s really only a Band-aid and the good feelings are only temporary. Eventually, it just makes the problems worse.

6. Constantly splitting up and getting back together or having big fights followed by grand apologies

On-and-off again relationships that repeat these same patterns are a dangerous and emotional roller coaster for the people involved.

7. Shutting the other person out/the silent treatment

Behaviour like this is isolating one person and creates unnecessary tension in the relationship.

8. Ignoring the big differences in what you both want from the relationship

For example, if one person wants commitment and titles and the other person does not, they are going to bury their frustrated, hurt, jealous feelings until they burst (that’s when the Alien scene happens).

9. Consciously inducing guilt onto the other person

Similar to purposely making a partner jealous, purposely making them feel guilty about things that they shouldn’t have to is controlling and manipulative.

10. Creating a dynamic where one person’s interests/accomplishments/plans are more important

There shouldn’t be a hierarchy in adult relationships; each person should respect the others equally, ensuring that no one person’s needs eclipse the others’.

When researching and preparing for this piece, I began to realise that I myself have been guilty of some of these toxic behaviours and have also been victim to them. Some of the behaviours are deal breakers, but others can be faced head on and dealt with as part of a healthy relationship.

Generally speaking, toxic behaviour encompasses more than just one of these points. It’s important to note that displaying these behaviours in a relationship doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, it just means the relationship needs to be reevaluated and, possibly, to be stepped away from.