Discussions and stories written about it may cause actual, quantifiable distress in some people, but distress is not in and of itself harmful. It is uncomfortable, it is something most people can and will avoid at all costs.
(emphasis my own)
The bolded part is the only thing in your extremely well articulated response to drlense's comment.
Survivors of child abuse and rape (and other traumas) may have PTSD as a result and discussions and stories about abuse and/or rape may be triggers for them, resulting varying real harm and real problems for them, not merely distress.
This does not mean the stories or discussion shouldn't occur but it is why warnings are important, on stories and possibly on some discussions that may occur where a survivor isn't expecting to encounter it, give them a chance to bail before being hit by a trigger for their PTSD. Warnings are the flip side of yelling fire in a crowded theatre when there isn't a fire - this is more like not yelling fire when there is one.
Excellent comments otherwise, particularly the last line - I went looking for a quote about something else and found this which seems fitting:
"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes." -- Thomas Paine
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carisma_sensei
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 02:48 pm (UTC)(emphasis my own)
The bolded part is the only thing in your extremely well articulated response to
Survivors of child abuse and rape (and other traumas) may have PTSD as a result and discussions and stories about abuse and/or rape may be triggers for them, resulting varying real harm and real problems for them, not merely distress.
This does not mean the stories or discussion shouldn't occur but it is why warnings are important, on stories and possibly on some discussions that may occur where a survivor isn't expecting to encounter it, give them a chance to bail before being hit by a trigger for their PTSD. Warnings are the flip side of yelling fire in a crowded theatre when there isn't a fire - this is more like not yelling fire when there is one.
Excellent comments otherwise, particularly the last line - I went looking for a quote about something else and found this which seems fitting:
"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes." -- Thomas Paine