All too often we look at the experience of others and judge our own experiences against them. But that’s fundamentally wrong. Just because your trauma may not, on the surface, appear “as bad” as someone else’s doesn’t mean it’s any less traumatic or has less adverse effects.
There are many varying definitions, but essentially trauma is:
“An event or experience that changes your thoughts, behaviors, and vision of yourself and your place in the world. It often manifests through underlying feelings of neglect and fear, resulting in unhealed wounds that impact every area of life.”
From this perspective, you (and anyone you share this info with) can see how easily trauma leaves its mark. Without your permission, a negative, frightening, hurtful or disempowering event occurs that shifts you into a place of feeling “less than.” From here, it’s a slippery slope to feeling unworthy, undeserving, purposeless and useless, the very feelings that interrupt a normal life.
Generationally, trauma can absolutely be passed down and difficult to recognize. So whether you find these type of experiences have been mild or severe, we have trained professionals all along the spectrum. Better is possible!