The Holiday Season Doesn’t Equate to Just One Feeling
We’re taught and encouraged to feel and honor a single emotion when the holiday season is upon us.
Topic: trauma
We’re taught and encouraged to feel and honor a single emotion when the holiday season is upon us.
You’re allowed to love the family you have while still facing pain, anger, and even guilt over how they became your family.
I’ve never liked the word “victim.” I’ve also never liked the word “survivor” for that matter. But I’m both.
The events of September 11th sparked grief, a sudden loss of innocence, and unprecedented collective emotional trauma.
Healing rarely comes in the form we expect or desire.
Maybe you need counseling or relationships or medication. Maybe you need all of these things combined.
It took me years to recognize that my struggles with mental and emotional health were not marks against me as a mother.
You don’t define trauma; your brain does it for you.
The pain I feel is big and intertwined tightly with shame, guilt, and rage.
I was in therapy for fifteen weeks, called the crisis line six times, and made one attempt to stop the pain. But these numbers are not the ones that define my experience.
Your brain has learned to equate yelling with violence, and your body has been trained to put up all defenses at the slightest sign of a raised voice, especially if that raised voice is paired with physical movement or close proximity.
Trauma is a fabric interwoven into your skin, something that stays long after you believe it to be gone.
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