Hey, I just want everyone to know that what the world is going through is a legitimate trauma. Full on. It fits the “official” definition and everything. This is a traumatic event.
That means that it’s normal and expected to find yourself using coping mechanisms that you thought you were done with, to find yourself numbed out, to be on the verge of constant panic attacks, to be acting impulsively and compulsively, to engage in very old patterns, to have wide swings of every behaviour especially regarding sleep, food, and sex.
The research shows that people in a traumatic situation who most often develop PTSD (which I would say we are all at risk of) or have their existing PTSD/C-PTSD intensified are folks who cannot or believe they cannot do anything about it the trauma event.
So, if you are able, look for a place in all of this where you can feel that you can do something. Harass a company not doing enough for its employees, sign a petition, check in on a neighbour, set alarms to remind yourself to eat (it’s on my own to do list for today), intentionally spend time every day doing straw breathing to shift your sympathetic nervous system response. You don’t have to become some social media hero, or spend all your time improving yourself. But if you can find something that makes you feel like you can do something for yourself that decreases the trauma load on you, it will greatly benefit you going forward.
If anyone has any questions about this, my asks are open, or you can message me. (I cannot do any online therapy, I am happy to share information about trauma itself and any tools that I know)
It is okay to reblog this.
- Registered Clinical Counsellor, with 10+ years specifically working with trauma
Oxygen. Something that I'm frantically trying to reclaim as mine as I thrash around trying to differentiate down from up.
Panic. The reality that I may never live the life I want so badly to live.
Shock. The emotion I feel when I realize I stopped trying and am slowly sinking again.
Burning. I feel this sensation in my chest as I hit the bottom and look up through the murky water.
Cold. The water is ice cold, it bites at my skin as I lay there in the fishes domain.
Panic once more. Is what I feel as I quickly started inhaling the bitter water, all sorts of muck entering my lungs too.
Calm. I feel... calm? Why do I feel calm I'm about to die this isn't right-
Peace. Tranquility. I feel safe and at home laying here at the bottom of the creek, staring at the warm light trickling through the muck in the water, my lungs full and my thoughts fuzzy.
Darkness... but its comforting. I feel at home with the frogs and the fish, I feel at peace that I will die here, my sight is failing me and my thoughts are fading but what a beautiful way to pass.
Stagnation. Everything is still... the same... life isn't stopping because I'm gone..
Unity. I'm one with the place I had always longed to be, I will forever remain here in my kingdom that I made, laying peacefully and watching the stars through a filter of water.
is anyone else like....... exhausted? just way too tired? mentally and physically? and you look at other people your age who seem to be doing fine and you feel so dysfunctional and broken because normal adult tasks and responsibilities just feel way too overwhelming and you can’t cope and