Thread by @MavenOfMayhem

🧵Let's talk about trauma stacking.

Because yes, trauma can stack - especially in times like these.

Think of a building.
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The first floor of the building might represent trauma you've had for a long time, maybe stemming from childhood or a terrible relationship or a scary incident you lived through or witnessed.
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Maybe the second floor is a global pandemic that shifted your life dramatically. You might have lost someone, got laid off, are dealing with long COVID. Maybe you've simply been fearful for two years, waiting for the next variant, waiting for any little sign of illness.
3/

Then there might be other floors above the first two that affect you: January 6th 2021 in the US. The recent occupations in Ottawa and elsewhere. Climate change disasters. A constant attack on trans rights.

And now the war in Ukraine.
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Stack. Stack. Stack.

One traumatic incident on top of another.

No opportunity to work through one before another comes along.
5/

Before long, your building is tall, you're on the roof, and all you want to do is be on the ground where it's safe. Living up there is scary & exhausting. It can be so scary & exhausting, in fact, that it could even make you feel numb because your nervous system is overloaded.
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If you're tired, if you're scared, if you're numb, if you're sad, if you're unfocused, if you're quicker to anger, none of that is your fault. You probably haven't had a break for a long time, and we need space from trauma to process and heal from it.
7/

Please give yourself grace, patience, and time. Find yourself help if you need it. Talk to someone about how you're feeling. Be as kind to you as you would be to a friend going through a lot.

Because yes, friend: you're going through a lot.❤️
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