Yes, but the way to do so should be handled by a professional, like you said. What happens the most on the internet is that anyone who mentions that certain things trigger them is immediately spammed with endless copypasta and jokes about "LE TRIGGERED LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOL I M LE ATTACK COPTER". And more than likely, that person will be sent the exact things that they mentioned trigger them, because the internet is a horrible place and gives praise to the most horrible actions. I don't think anyone with triggers is trying to "hide behind them" other than the very tiny amount of people on tumblr who misuse them and that nobody would ever even know about if not for places like /r/TumblrInAction going out of their way to find, highlight, and declare "THIS IS WHAT ALL SJWS ARE LIKE AND THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU". Yes, the world is a less than forgiving place, but that doesn't mean we should expect people who have experienced extreme trauma to just suck it up and deal with it. I spent time in a mental hospital and would've honestly beat the shit out of anyone who said that, because there were people there such as a woman in her forties who lost both of her daughters in the span of a year, with the last one dying due to a house fire she was in with her. If that woman has trouble being around fire, are you really going to tell her, "Suck it up. Fire happens, and I'm not going to stop making jokes about dead babies in fires just to accommodate your little trigger thing"?However it's also important for those people with triggers to not hide behind them and to learn to overcome them.
And the other important thing to note is that even if they are dealing with it with a professional, they will recommend that they try to avoid things which could 'trigger' them (so read reviews about a movie before watching in case it contains a graphic rape scene). This is because getting over issues like PTSD, fears, or anxieties, requires a gradual desensitisation to the material under controlled conditions and preferably with an expert there. Forcing people to view material that could trigger them without a warning is essentially a process called "flooding", where you simply force them to deal with their issues by dumping them in the deep end of their problems, and this unsurprisingly has the effect of setting back any progress made and often making the problems worse. So it always seems strange when people say that we shouldn't use trigger warnings because people just need to "deal with it". No shit, but part of dealing with it includes being able to prepare and compose yourself for possible upcoming triggers. Trigger warnings are just society's way of saying, "Hey, if it takes a tiny note or 2 seconds to mention something that might help you avoid having a debilitating and horrific attack, which would set back your mental health progress by a significant amount of time, then I'd prefer to do that".Yes, but the way to do so should be handled by a professional, like you said.
And that's mainly because the people who most often get angry about trigger warnings have never experienced the kind of psychological trauma that results in someone having a complete and total loss of their faculties when triggered. Shit, I didn't even realize how serious this shit could be until I spent time in a mental hospital as a patient.
To be fair the article isn't about the internet its about college and learning. I do agree th at the professor should have offered alternate course with for anyone who did not wish to participate free such reasons. A simple truth about humanity proven time and time again through science. People tend to hide from their problems instead of face them. It's a short term coping mechanism that our minds naturally use and is hard to break that. I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not blaming the victim for using what our minds are trained to do. I'm simply saying it needs to be overcome and that takes effort not censorship of everyone around you. Naturally those around you should not want to trigger you but in life it IS going to happen. The only thing YOU can do as the triggered is learn how to handle yourself when you are triggered and deal with it accordingly. Not censor those around you. Making jokes in someone's face is a lot different than learning subject matter containing that kind of material. That point is a gross exaggeration not rooted in the reality of the same situation. Edit: auto correct failure
So...asking people to maybe not make jokes about dead babies around a woman who just suffered a miscarriage that caused PTSD is censorship. Sorry, but I'm no longer going to participate in this discussion. It's clear we fundamentally disagree on societal interaction, the definition of censorship, and whether or not a person suffering from crippling mental illness should be blamed for not signing up with the first therapist they can find and being back to normal in a week.I'm simply saying it needs to be overcome and that takes effort not censorship of everyone around you.