"Being triggered is not an excuse for you to censor others." YES. YES. YES. YES.

I’m a licensed psychologist and my boyfriend is a therapist. The past couple years have been…interesting to see at the very least. The narcissist “trend” is one of the more interesting and insidious one to me.

When everything's trauma, nothing's trauma. It just makes it harder to see the people who are truly in need of help

I really hate the trend where people call other narcissists, while probably not even knowing the difference between a narcissistic personality disorder and narcissism

I do want to note that trauma can also be something mildly bad that is prolonged, like how experiencing food scarcity is traumatic if its for a year instead of for an evening.

One of my best friends has childhood trauma and she has told me that she has a list of words that trigger her. One of them is “holiday”. Also “siblings”. She said whenever a friend talks about that type of stuff often, she cuts them off. I told her if any of her other friends even know that those things trigger her. She said no, she doesn’t want to talk about it she’d rather just cut the people off and I think that’s so fucked up. Now I’m constantly worried I’m mentioning something that could trigger her. I told her it would make more sense to work on those triggers through therapy but she doesn’t want to.

So very glad you called this out. It’s a destructive trend that’s beginning to damage relationships. Thank you Anna.

I feel like some of that stems from the fact that hurt and stress are often dismissed as invalid or unimportant, which makes many people feel that they need to legitimize their experience through "therapy speak". Not an excuse, obviously

"Boundaries are meant to keep people in, not out " amazing.

i really appreciate this, as someone that does have ptsd and went through real abuse and gaslighting, it's really important that these things don't lose their meaning or get used in a wrong way

"Why would you want to be traumatized?" For real. I survived years of CSA starting when I was still an infant and it led to a severe trauma disorder that, for some reason, people think is fun and quirky and tell me "I wish I had that disorder!" And then they talk about how traumatizing it is that their ex has a slightly different recollection of n event, and the tiny differences are like she remembered he drank red wine at the gala and he is gaslighting her by saying he ordered white and now she's demanding that I not talk to him because it's triggering and I couldn't possibly understand the trauma.... It feels so dismissive and minimizing to put her trauma of "he had red wine" and my trauma of CSA on the same level and she gets to use it to tell me who I can be friends with. But heaven hecking forbid I show the messier symptoms of my disorder by forgetting what day it is and accidentally being late to lunch. Now I'm also toxic and don't honor her time and needs and she's so triggered that I could forget about her when actually I've just been stuck in a flashback for three days. But also she still wishes she had my quirky dissociative disorder cause it sounds fun? I am so bitter, so, so bitter that people label simple misunderstandings as abuse and trauma when I can barely function and have to get by on disability payments because of the severity of what I experienced as a child. I am so bitter. I would do a crime to not have this trauma but there are people out there sifting through sand hoping to find a speck of trauma in their past so they can use it to justify their selfishness. I am so bitter.

C-PTSD is real, but most people who tthink they have it do not. It take prolonged abuse/neglect that causes the subject to repeat unhealthy patterns

This perfectly explains what I’ve been trying to tell my friends. Thank you for this. This should be a TED Talk.

Understanding this is very useful for those of us who have trauma, too. I have trauma (cPTSD from decades of enduring DV both as a child and from an intimate partner) and not everything was trauma, sometimes it was just hurt. Both affected me but understanding the distinction meant being able to work in appropriate ways to heal from each.

It does get frustrating as someone who dated and was abused by someone diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder by medical professionals, people assume I'm misusing these terms when I'm looking for support.

I recently came to the opposite realization: I haven't just been sad, I've been traumatized. And I'll validate myself for feeling strongly about that.

I loved the part where you illustrated needs and wants.

This has been something on my mind for a while now and you put it into words perfectly. I got my psych degree riiiiight before this therapy speak trend and its only made me more and more concerned for peoples ability to identify that they need to communicate their hurt feelings ibstead of just cutting ppl out for hurting them. Because everyone hurts everyone at somepoint. People u love most in the world will hurt you, it doesnt mean theyre bad ppl, more often then not they werent aware of sonething they said, or they made an assumption or they forgot about u mentioning sonething. Ppl are human and theyre going to make mistakes and thats why relationships are work because u need to put the time in to see if they actually are toxic or if theyre just soneone who needs to grow a little bit alongside you

I have a friend who went “no contact” with me because I decided against getting an apartment on my own (in this economy), but rather rent a room from another friend. He said he couldn’t be a part of my life if I was gonna make “toxic choices” and wasn’t gonna do what was best for my “highest self.” Apparently me not doing what he thinks I should do somehow disrupts his peace (idk how/why either). He’s never spent a single freaking minute in therapy, professionally or personally. But yeah, he’s picked up this jargon and these concepts and tries to use them to manipulate people/situations and it’s so odd. If people don’t heed his advice or hurt him in anyway, it’s “I have to go no contact to protect my peace of mind.” I have decided, with my LICENSED therapist’s advice, to go “no contact” with him regardless if he changes his mind or not. 😂😂

One of the issues with experiencing Real Trauma™ is that it leaves people more vulnerable to future traumas. Also experiencing divorce in itself may not be traumatic, but the abuse and neglect that came after surely are. You don't know what others have been through. I don't talk about all the things ive been through, because it sounds unreal, even when I try to write about it -- but it's true, and I've survived it a mostly decent person 🤷🏻‍♀️

this is everything. As someone who has c-PTSD and is pretty debilitated by it the mentioned behaviour takes away resources and help for people who need it. I find the throwing around of the word "triggered" and trauma deeply upsetting - like it's a GOOD THING if you don't experience this hellscape of existence. I certainly wish I didn't but we have to deal with the cards we are dealt. It takes away so much space and delegitimises the very real, painful experiences for those with these diagnoses. The same people in my experience who therapy speak so non-chalantly are the same people who will be completely unempathetic and judgemental of me actually experiencing a flashback or being activated or other symptoms of my c-ptsd

As someone who actually HAS dealt with emotional abuse with someone who’s been diagnosed, I can say that it’s very different then just being hurt, or even another person being kind of a jerk. The abuse is meant to twist your reality, it’s repeated and there’s lying, isolation and control. It often is actually HARDER to get away Vs someone just being inconsiderate.

I definitely feel like I’ve lost a lot of friends the past few years, because I actually do have PTSD, but because of how common these words are used, I feel like my friends just thought I was being dramatic. These friends justified cutting me off for no reason ( they never gave me a reason ) because I am so “dramatic”

The trend of cutting out toxic people instead of just communicating your feelings like a regular friend who values that friendship is a trend that I hate. I have been victim of this from multiple people when the problem they had with me was miniscule and they couldve just communicated with me, instead they chose to just fully cut me out of their lives

An important thing about boundaries is that you don’t accuse the other person of anything. If someone’s been saying triggering things you don’t say to them “you’re triggering me”, instead you say “I panic whenever () topic is brought up, could you please not bring it up when I’m around you?” Not only is it less accusatory but it also makes it more likely that the person will respect your boundary. I feel like some people just use “boundaries” as an excuse for setting rules onto someone when that’s not what it is.

Another perspective: It’s quite unfortunate that the people who HAS dealt with a narcissist will instantly be questioned exactly because of this awareness. I say, if you’ve dealt with narcissistic abuse and people go ”Aww you can’t label someone like that”, then to the trash with them for support. Go to forums or communities where you’re safe to discuss and heal. I dealt with a covert narcissist last year. He had an air around him of being better than everyone but I ignored that red flag. What did he do to me? Hot-and-cold, push and pull, game playing, triangulation, gaslighting, mocking, jealosuy, callousness, complete disregard for my well being, and then discarding me. He’d already found new supply, and he wasn’t the slightest bit sorry, but found enjoyment in my hurt. He played on my empathy from the start, shared vulnerable sides of him, and seemed to idolise me slightly. Then, quickly started to try and make make me jealous by insinuating in subtle calculated ways that he might be into others, while getting back at me at full force when he suspected I had someone else when I didn’t. He bragged about a threesome he’d had, he made me overhear how easy it is getting layed at the club. Last night we saw each other out at the club he did the typical gaslighting, word-scrambling methods. He also mocked me. Shoved his fingers in his throat to show what he thought of me, rolled his eyes to things I said, face palmed to things I did. He’d already discarded me since three weeks by then, I knew because he’d been ice cold. He already had new supply. He’s vulnerable, he had low self-esteem. Most of all, he hid his inflated sense of self to seem modest. That’s what makes him a covert narcissist. Along with that huge ego came his raw confidence. Most people seemed impressed by him all while feeling like they had to ”take care” and sympathise with his slightly anti-social behaviour. He fooled them well into pitying him. What they don’t know is he manipulated them, too: crossed their boundaries, belitteled them, did them dirty in small ways when it benefitted him. And when I told our mutual aquantances that I dealt with narcissistic abuse, it’s almost like they questioned my sanity. It does NOT feel good when that happens.

Love this - as someone with complex ptsd and adhd, it can be frustrating to watch ppl throw this stuff around to push their own narrative.

I've been saying this for a while now and I couldn't have said it any better! I love that you mentioned that sometimes putting other's needs over your own is sometimes necessary. It's difficult to talk to people these days, especially as a man, I feel that I can't safely communicate boundaries without the danger being humiliated somehow. I know that boundaries are meant to nuture relationships and improve or maintain a healthy quality of life however, trying to be friends with women and laying down the boundary of "I'm only interested in a platonic relationship (friendship)" puts me in danger of being socially "executed". Not that I care much about social validation or that I cannot enjoy my solitude but I feel a lot safer just keeping women who display emotional-mental immaturity at arms length. I know it's probably stonewall-y but it maintains peace.. Need to save this one to keep coming back to it. Also, I've been reading your book!

Whats interesting about trauma is that I didn't know I had it. I thought my life was normal... you know, aside from the blackout panic attacks and the fact that I had chronic nightmares. Or the fact that I forgot entire chunks of my life and had no recollection of most people's major life events that they would remember every favorite detail. You know... normal stuff lmao. We almost dont know we are traumatized. We try to brush it aside. We know when we are hurt. What we usually know about trauma before it hits us like a freight train is that we are idiosyncratic. The realization that your trauma has a name often comes after awareness of it Ordinary hurts usually present themselves in more obvious ways

Trauma is indeed pretty severe, but I'm going to have to disagree that traumas only come from intense and dangerous situations like a shooting or a suicide case. Trauma is the kind of pain that lingers and teaches you to avoid certain things because your body, mind and heart expect to be hurt again, and that can be born from many situations. I have experienced rejections in relationships that followed the exact same pattern, and I was left traumatized by it. My heart always tells me that I'm going to be rejected again if I open up myself to love one more time. After all, it happened twice, in both times where I fell in love. That's trauma. It's am emotional scar that is very hard to heal. No matter how logically you think on the situation, your body remembers the intense pain you felt after experiencing it the first time, and it urges you to avoid it.

Thank you Anna. Knowledge is power! We need to stop pointing fingers and instead try to communicate compassionately with others.

A medical diagnosis takes x amount of hours in therapy to fully understand how and why that person does what they do. Not to mention a doctoral degree. if you predict someone’s diagnoses and happen to be wrong, you could really hurt someone’s feelings and cause a lot of worry to that person if/when word gets around back to them

The difficulty of distinguishing wants and needs though 😕especially as a chronic people pleaser (or even knowing what you want or need in the first place 😅)

Mother hath spoken once again! Well-written, Anna! ❤

I agree with most of this! Except for the last part about trauma. Now I am not a therapist, but I have been going to therapy for the past 4-5 years. And one thing I have learned is that trauma is different for everyone, and I think it is wrong to downplay someone's possible trauma as just "stress" just because it is not related to death, an accident etc. I view trauma as an event that stops us from things in life, because we are afraid of reliving the same feelings or going through a similar situation again. Trauma is often linked to anxiety, because you worry the worst thing can happen, something similar to the worst thing you have experienced. And I think if people feel like they have experienced trauma, it is better to let them know they can get help for it, than tell them "it is probably just a stressful situation" Because tbh, it took me years to get a diagnosis for my anxiety from my therapist, but it would have happened a lot sooner if people didn't keep on telling me "it is just puberty. It is just stress", because I was struggling and did need help. Yes it is not good to diagnose others and avoid communication, I agree on all of that. But also I hope people watching this realise that it is okay to assume you have a mental health problem and need help. If you struggle and say "I might have depression", yeah it could be real and it is 100% okay to air that out loud and get help for it. You are not wrong for putting your issues into words and seeking treatment.

Please also keep in mind that many of these words exist and have meaning outside of the therapy or clinical psychology space. Someone can be narcissistic without being clinically diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. I agree people are too quick to throw around terms like PTSD, OCD, ADHD, sociopath, and bipolar. But I've also seen a recent trend of gatekeeping terms or concepts that have only recently been adopted by therapists. Before the 1938 play, Gas Light, people still manipulated each other to doubt themselves. The play just gave it a succinct name. When I was in college, my friend told me he would avoid "poison people" who only seemed to want him to fail. I used that term until decades later I heard everyone using "toxic." Last week I read a post that said "non neurodivergents shouldn't use the word hyperfixated" - really?

Oh man thank you so much for putting this out there. I've been thinking this for awhile and it's so great to hear an influential creator talk about this.

Thanks for the vid! Loved the needs and wants balance. Trauma can also be a time we were super stressed when our basic emotional needs weren’t being met. And we developed anxiety or bad coping mechanisms as a result. And there are some people who it’s not confortable to share how we really feel because they often gaslight us or minimize our valid feelings. So the less you share, and the more civil you keep things, the better. I find it’s always powerful to identify how you’re feeling though so you don’t make emotionally-charged decisions you regret later. And it’s also good to find people you’re comfortable being vulnerable with.

THANK YOU FOR THIS. all the crap i see online has really swayed me to start being in crap that is so black and white and lacks the nuances of relationships that requires communication.

Ok, I largely agree with the things you’ve said. However, I’m extremely wary of invalidating people trauma, perceived or not. Imagine that an abuser is saying exactly the words you’ve said to the object of that abuse. While perspective is important, it’s either gaslighting or not. It’s narcissistic abuse or not. The relative scope of that trauma doesn’t matter to your heart. The same kind words are always appropriate, whether they ring true or not is a different matter.

I always love to hear your new perspectives as you grow--a lot of times it aligns with my own revelations I've been having! However, I will posit one food for thought. I think while we may experience hurt, there are many times where our inability to cope with that hurt actually stems from a real trauma that needs to be addressed. If you notice a pattern (ie. continually not being able to speak up for yourself) that most likely comes from a place that is wounded. My encouragement would be to really explore that.

One thing I’d like to mention because I think it could validate someone who, for example, wasn’t in a mass shooting but is nonetheless suffering from “trauma” because perhaps, just as an example, their parents got divorced and then this individual experienced lots of change and their emotional needs weren’t attuned to… I might get this phrasing wrong but it’s something like- Experiencing trauma can happen even after an event some might not consider “traumatizing” due to the fact that you didn’t have a healthy way to process it. I love you, you deserve feel love and support and therapy is a good way to achieve that 💖

Thank you for this talk Anna this really helped me. I’ve experienced depression in the past, anxiety, bullying and negative experiences with gym class really affected me and my social skills. I’ve gotten better over the years but I’m still working on it.

I’m really loving your videos lately. Always have, but there’s something refreshing about the stuff you are talking about. Thank you, and God Bless!

Most people on the Internet really need to hear this. It seems you can’t go one inch on social media without someone throwing words like “Gaslighting” or “Toxic” or “Red flag” even when the situation doesn’t demand such labels and could be solved with talking or giving yourself some space and thinking more clearly without any obstructions in your mind. Self awareness is definitely lacking in people these days

This needs to be shared with everyone! If you are with a generous person being generous yourself becomes quite fulfilling

Thank you for sharing your very hard-earned wisdom with us. 🙏🏻

omg this!! I hate this so much. You don't have depression; you're sad, which is okay. And now, suddenly, EVERYONE has trauma, which minimizes actual trauma and PTSD.

as someone who was a victim of narcissistic abuse, the people who often throw these around have no idea what they're talking about. i have also diagnosed people, and had no idea what i was talking about. i've learned it's important to understand people can SEEM to exhibit symptoms or behaviors similar to those with NPD, but you really do not know unless you have a clear understanding of that person. (and, on the same coin, you need to discern and own the difference of whether this bias you hold against people who hurt you is trauma that needs to be healed or if it's you just being petty)

My husband committed suicide in front of me gswth one and half years ago. I was clinically diagnosed with moderate to severe PTSD and I have very real triggers of emergency sirens and g*nshots or even seeing g*ns that cause me to have horrific flashbacks of the scene and trying to save him waiting for the EMTs to arrive. I had a similar conversation with my therapist about how literally everyone these days has trauma and people just throw the word trauma around having no idea what it’s like to truly be traumatized. She said that there really should be a distinction between little “t” trauma and big “T” trauma.

Ive been wanting to voice something like this out. You put it in such an eloquent yet simple way.

I agree. Though I do believe I have childhood trauma from my very toxic parents. Therapy is great for healing wounds you carry into adulthood.

There are many types of trauma. Be selfish and take care of yourself however you need to…..shamelessly. It’s okay. Set and maintain healthy boundaries…..shamelessly and unapologetically. Sustained trauma IS a real thing. It’s called abuse. You don’t need a single explosion or death to experience trauma.

I'm not a psychologist or anything, but I seriously disagree with the notion that trauma has to be the result of something like a mass shooting or assault. The broad definition of trauma is a lasting emotional response resulting from a distressing event. It doesn't need to be a spectacular event, and I think it's wrong to minimize trauma caused by less dramatic events as just being stressed or hurt. I agree with a lot of this and have definitely seen manipulative people use therapy speak for the wrong reasons, but I still think it's something important to keep in mind.

powerful thanks!

1:28 "We live in a messy world". Modern people rarely acknowledged that. Well done for doing so.

I have to say, this is amongst Anna's finest work ever. Long may this preaching continue.

I would like to say I see all the work you put into your set and how well you have thought out the words you are speaking. I appreciate you and your message. Good job.

Thank you sm, alot of women needed to hear this

I think I might have to disagree. I worry that limiting the definition locks out a lot of people who suffered longterm abuse and do have symptoms of ptsd but they or their therapist might not even view the events as extreme enough. I’m an example where Ive had hurts in my childhood thar causes panic attacks when triggered and severe problems with functioning as a normal adult but my therapists never treated them as traumas because they didnt seem like one. I finally found a trauma informed therapist and regardless of the definition, the only thing that is healing it is treating it as a trauma.

Omg Anna, PLEASE keep talking about topics like this, as this is soooooo useful!! Instagram "wisdom" is evoking an impression in me to discard relationship while it may just be that communication should be upgraded. THANK YOU!

thank you for sharing your opinion, it really helps to hear out a new perspective

Imagine asking people to take accountability. A very weirdly difficult thing these days.

Thank you so much. It is honestly doing so much damage, bcs people who are already skeptical of the whole psychology field, are now even more resistant to reaching out for help since therapy really looks like a self-centered BS and pandering to a client and villainizing others. And, paradoxically, giving self-centered people with narcissistic or martyr tendencies even more ammunition

I agree 1000% with everything you said. We tend to think in extremes and it very easily dismisses some of the very real traumatising experiences people actually go through by using the same terms. Thanks for putting this clearly and in words Anna.

I agree tremendously! It's weird because I have felt that way towards those who have made these assumptions online. You can't help but feel like there could be way too little self-checking! We *all* could be guilty of making these statements to protect ourselves, and we should work towards normalizing taking ourselves accountable more, and being more understanding - not judgemental - of others.

Thank you so much for saying that it needed to be said.

This is so needed

I don't disagree, but can't it sometimes also be right or even helpful to not necessarily diagnose another, but determine they show a pattern of behavior that seriously negatively affects your life? For me personally, after experiencing severe ignorant and disrespectful choice-making on my brother's part with regards to my mother having just received a cancer diagnosis last year and having experienced a long pattern of unempathetic and egotistical signs, it really helped me to determine his behaviors are in line with that of a highly narcissistic individual and I'd rather not associate with him in my life anymore. Labeling him as highly narcissistic has helped distance myself from him and move past these behaviors and it helped me to accept this is why i will never be able to have an emotional conversation with him, which I've tried quite often in the past.

Stress thresholds and the amenability of people to reflect upon themselves critically has taken a drastic dive over the past decade, especially in regard to ones accountability to themselves and of their actions. Life in pursuit of engaging in constructive critical thought about the areas that you are lacking in can only lead to making you a better person. Anyway, thank you Anna for articulating very constructive thoughts about the current state of the trauma/stress dichotomy and how it needs a more nuanced and respectful approach.

I agree to most of the stuff you said except the last part about trauma should be something severe. Trauma can also be small you know. And most people do have traumas, probably all of us do.

Emotional abuse can classify as trauma as well

The thing about saying "it's not trauma, it's just stress" is that prolonged extreme stress ABSOLUTELY leads to trauma. For me at least that's the part that made the abuse so traumatic, the stress and uncertainty that it created.

I think people are terrified of having uncomfortable and nuanced conversations with other people. I used to get really annoyed with people about things I never said I had a problem with, wishing they would just be able to tell they were bothering me and stop what they were doing. Expecting people to guess what you want from them, even if it's something you think should be obvious, is a recipe for disappointment and resentment. Really, I needed to be able to express my needs and opinions and get over my desire to people please by "never having a problem with anything" and being "easygoing" when it was a facade.

This has to be one of my favourite videos of yours. You articulated it so well and I agree that we should stop throwing around these terms 🙅

That's a great definition of "self-care" and boundaries.

what you are saying is so true and so overdue! Thanks for sharing and keep going 💕

Thank you for posting this, i've had to deal with a lot of people like this, as a guy with documented aspergers, major depressive disorder, and ocd, it really pains me to see everyone go "I'm so quirky for having these things!" when it's just nonstop suffering, not fun and quirky.

Love your videos and the way you so eloquently and effectively drop wisdom bombs in these videos! Keep it up Queen!! 🙌🙏❤

This might just be, hands down, the most level-headed, well-thought out analysis of this topic I’ve seen. Fantastic take

Yassss thank you

No, I am pretty sure the 10 years of childhood sexual abuse, being forced to quit school to raise my younger sisters, and being trapped with a man who liked to push me into the wall when he was mad; definitely gave me trauma.

I agree. Some people like to deflect instead of dealing with their own pain.

I'm a licensed therapist and I agree that these terms are thrown around too easily and while it normalizes some things, it minimizes others. However, I feel that gatekeeping trauma is also harmful. PTSD isn't just from witnessing wartime or being the victim of physical abuse. Years of ongoing psychological and emotional abuse can actually be worse in some cases and create a more complicated case of PTSD. Hell, people can have PTSD from years of voluntarily taking care of a loved one. Literally doing something they *wanted* to do and wouldn't have changed for the world. This is still psychologically distressing. Sometimes people are genuinely traumatized without even recognizing it (because it wasn't *bad* enough) and gatekeeping trauma will prevent these individuals from seeking help they may actually need.

This is brilliant. Perfectly said, and timely.

You're videos al make me feel better thank you

Beautifully said!

Relational trauma is real and it manifests itself across a variety of experiences. Although I agree that every hurtful situation is not trauma, let's now downplay situations that actually are.

Thanks Anna! You are always on point girl!

Ive been struggling with this topic 🙏🏽 thank you for addressing and clarifying. I do want to say, emotional & psychological trauma are real, and these kinds of abuse are often the most insidious. As someone who suffered severe emotional & psychological neglect and trauma as a child, i WISH it had been physical trauma. It is so much easier just to tell someone you got the sh*t beat out of you, than try to explain the deep twisted and subtle ways you were tortured abandoned denied disowned rejected betrayed, raged at, and ingnored on an ongoing daily basis, year after year, throughout your entire childhood. Trauma is not* just physical. And/but it is not a term to be overused and thrown around lightly in the way that it has become used.

This one is interesting but also a bit confronting for me. I was in a relationshio with a narcistic addict. Not a label i put on it myself but actually diagnosed. After the break up, I thought i was 'just' very very hurt. So after that relationship I started dating around a lot and make the same mistakes over and over. Eventually I realized there was a pattern, that wasnt working for me. So I went to therapy and discovered i wasnt just hurt, but traumatized. My therapist made me feel heard and understood there were underlying patterns. I finally understood that I actually was gaslighted, manipulated (emotionally and financially) and mistreated. The thing is, I also very much agree with you that a lot of these terms have been thrown a lot and have been misused. I did realize that i needed to work on myself first, because otherwise i would keep making the same mistakes. Which i dont want to make. The way to get there tho, took a lot of steps and if I hadnt found some of the information i found online, I dont know if I would have gone to therapy. Also i do agree with a lot of the comments about traima and how it has many forms. One last thought: there has been a lot of backlash about this therapyspeak, and i agree with most of it. But if also makes me doubt myself sometimes. Is my trauma, trauma enough? Did i need therapy? Was it really as bad as i remember? Conclusion: its a difficult balance.

SO GOOD ANNA. Thank you!!

THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS

I actually do have severe trauma. Some: severely abused as a child, gRapes as a child and adult, kidnapped multiple times and so much more. I do have PTSD events several times a day (that is rare) So it really bothers me when ppl use it loosely. It’s not cute and even with insurance I pay thousands of dollars to get help. If you do have issues please get help but don’t use those words unless you are actually diagnosed..

yeeesss thank you for this

Topic sooo on point!!! Thank you Anna ❤

THANK YOU

Love to you, as ever, for this one!

Every word of this was on point. Well said!

Thank you Anna! Don't know you, but this was timely. I needed a reminder to keep my perspective open and to not try and "diagnose" people when I run into road blocks with them.