Poll Self perception of trauma severity

[ags1]

Assuming we are perfectly rational actors, and there is no response bias based on trauma severity, the results will be 50/50.

 

[In the weeds]

I've wondered why I was even put here. I've been used, abused, neglected and abandoned but have had to be a care-taker since 10 yrs old. Still am. I'm upper 60s. But reading through these posts made me realize 1) I'm not alone in this trauma and 2) some people have had worse things happen to them.

 

[ags1]

I've wondered why I was even put here. I've been used, abused, neglected and abandoned but have had to be a care-taker since 10 yrs old. Still am. I'm upper 60s. But reading through these posts made me realize 1) I'm not alone in this trauma and 2) some people have had worse things happen to them.

I suspect that most people people with trauma feel the same way... I certainly do. But I think there is a triad of factors. We'll put "severity" at the top of the triangle, but the other two corners are "susceptibility" and "vulnerability". I think as a kid I was a lot more susceptible to trauma than my siblings - I never showed the slightest sign of resistance - and that made me more vulnerable because I became completely isolated. It doesn't stop me guilting myself about making a big deal over things that seem so much less severe than others' stories.

 

[Sideways]

At an intellectual level, I don’t really think in better/worse experiences, especially not with ptsd or cptsd. It doesn’t much matter - better/worse doesn’t always translate to distress or dysfunction.

At a core belief level? I can struggle to even see what I went through as abusive, so…everyone else’s experience is definitely worse than mine!

 

[SherbertLemon]

At an intellectual level, I don’t really think in better/worse experiences, especially not with ptsd or cptsd. It doesn’t much matter - better/worse doesn’t always translate to distress or dysfunction.

At a core belief level? I can struggle to even see what I went through as abusive, so…everyone else’s experience is definitely worse than mine!

I minimise my experiences a lot and think other people’s situations and life experiences are worse than mine. It doesn’t help me much as I sit from a more isolated position in respect of how I view my experience as less abusive than others.
In the context of what I was able to tolerate and that I had communicated it wasn’t a sustainable path for us to continue down in respect of my mental health and the impact it was having on me, I was ignored and treat as if it wasn’t relevant.
Silent abuse is awful-a struggle to be believed regarding and practically unprovable.
Given I’ve struggled with my mental health, my understanding is that usually the victim is posed as the problem.
It’s exhausting and lonely to go through.

 

[Wallflower91]

When I was told I had CPTSD I was like, what the flip, I'm not a veteran, there are people out there with way worse experiences than me.. :P