Other Triggered By Trump

[hodge]

Aww, @Freedomfighter! I hope you can find it in your heart to vote for Hillary if only to keep from letting that creature into office.

 

[SittingDuck]

@hodge, I did see that! I loved how they went through the list of diagnostic criteria and put a picture of his head next to each one :laugh:

I live in a conservative area as well, @Thizette (lots of farmers around here). I see tons of Trump/Pence signs as I'm driving around. It makes me cringe. Are there any local volunteer opportunities available? I've found that you can meet a lot of kind, compassionate people volunteering at an animal shelter, school, or local nonprofit organization.

 

[hodge]

Yep, @SittingDuck. We have a really nice group of people here who belong to the DFL - the Democratic Farmer Labor Party. It's what the Democratic Party in Minnesota is called. There are lots of farmers around here, too, but I've only seen one Trump/Pence sign on the highway in the 30 miles we travelled it last week to go to my psych appt. I think a lot of Trumpsters are shy about being open for their support of Trump, which they should be.

 

[agirls]

I'm having a hard time with it. The first time I was sexually assaulted, part of what the man did was grab me in the same way as DT described and wouldn't let go while he drove me around town. I was ten. When it's bad I can still feel his hand there. I've been in such a good place lately. Good enough that finally after three plus years of every week with crisis appointments on top of that, my therapist and I decided I could try cutting down to every other week. This is the first week I'm voluntarily not seeing her. I thought I was going to have to go in anyway and I was feeling like a total failure but I think I'll be okay. I am triggered by his words and the people who defend his words and refuse to acknowledge his actions. I think all the talk about rape culture is great. I'm struggling with how I can be involved in it anonymously. I'm not ready to be public about my abuse on twitter and Facebook. I'm not sleeping well. I may double up on my Klonopin tonight. My doc prescribed extra for that specific purpose. Thank God I have work. I teach elementary school and twenty-one second graders are a good distraction. I'm counting the days til November 8th.

 

[Muttly]

agris I am sorry you are having such a hard time. It sounsds like you are doing a lot of healthy things to cope though

I just made the mistake of going onto facebook. my friends are really into social justice so it's not like they are supporting him, but there's all these posts about what he's said and sexual abuse and ...it's too much

 

[Marble]

So very glad to find all of you! Just joined today. I found this website when searching for "CPTSD + Trump" because i had realized watching him in action too frequently was the reason i was collapsing into freeze/fold mode again. Feeling trapped & invalidated.
It helps so much to find others who understand this!!

I had an NPD + bipolar/manic mother who had psychotic breaks throughout my childhood, extreme enough to be hospitalized for long stretches when i was 6, 14-18, and 22. Nevertheless i didn't get medical-community confirmation that i'd been abused --mostly verbally and emotionally -- until i was about 50 and finally, finally in therapy. That was ten years ago and i'm doing well now, but will always grapple with depression and ADD. S'okay, it's been a worthwhile journey, teaching compassion, practical spirituality, and perspective.

Overall i see Trump as kind of an amazingly complete crystalization of everything humanity must reject at this time in our history. He's Mister Separate, our whole every-man-for-himself moral miasma in one gaudy un-ignorable package. But our communication technology is gradually rendering grand-scale hypocrisy like his completely unsustainable. Eyes are being opened. I think history will mark him as a catalyst of vast improvements. We are growing towards the value of Unity, even science is discovering the depth of our connectedness and we are more and more embracing it consciously. It's a hard era to live through, but this is a very good thing that's happening.

Because I firmly believe that, i've dealt with Trump's antics pretty well, up until the cumulative effects of echoes from the past snuck up on me.
*deep breath*
So, thanks for the reminder to limit actual time spent listening to Trump! And thanks for being people i feel safe saying all this to.

 

[hodge]

Welcome, Marble!

I'm so glad you are in therapy and doing well.

Yeah, I haven't watched TV since the debate. I think your analysis of Trump is spot on.

Lots of us have to deal with him in therapy. I've written about that and how my T says she has so many clients with PTSD from abuse who are triggered by him. She definitely gets her venting out with us all week, lol.

Michelle Goldman wrote an article on this subject in slate.com, citing bunches of people in NY in therapy because of him. And MSNBC Republican strategist Niccole Wallace has been open about being in therapy now because of Trump.

 

[hodge]

@agirls, hang in there, honey. You are NOT a total failure. If you feel you need to see your T this week, do it! I am booked up with mine till the election. I'll still be seeing her after that, but I don't plan to miss a week in these last horrible days.

It is good that this is bringing about more awareness about rape culture. It's too triggering for me to engage in that discussion anywhere but here, but I'm glad it's happening.

I'm so glad you have little second graders to distract you :-).

 

[Thizette]

I grew up with more diversity of people in my life and I miss that!

YES!!! I grew up in an incredibly diverse area (social scientists say it's the most diverse in the US). I miss the food and the people and the close and hearing the languages. Here, there's actually a business that flies a confederate flag outside. Right next to the Trump/Pence flag. It makes me sick.

 

[hodge]

Ish, that's really nasty, Thizette. We had a lot of Southerners move up north for jobs and lots of them had Confederate flag stickers on their vehicles. Totally offensive.

 

[hodge]

In my area we had the largest Middle Eastern population in the U.S., and omg, is the food wonderful!! We also have a large Greek-American population and they run practically all the family restaurants, at least on the East Side. Yum! I could get a gyro or Greek salad whenever I wanted for pretty cheap (they all did such good business that they could afford to be inexpensive). Now I have to hope the gyro truck comes to our county fair in the summer and get one for like twice the price.

 

[Iamsensative]

@hodge Yes he is evil. I have always thought that. Could not watch him on TV. I compare him to Damien from the Omen. I am going to avoid it all, more assualt news coming out.