We will generally hear about more life-experiences then we will actually experience in person, for better or worse. So most of us tend to have at least a basic idea of what most occurrences will look like. However, the human brain has a way of “protecting” itself, so topics like “traumatic events” are often hard to discuss and explain.
Someone asked “What is something that is actually more traumatizing than most people realize?” and people shared some poignant examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the ones that you agree with and add your own thoughts to the comments section below.
#1
Losing a pet. People acknowledge it’s sad, but unless you’ve been through it, you don’t realize just how deeply it can break you. It’s losing a best friend, a daily companion, and a source of unconditional love all at once.
Image source: AlaricVass, Getty Images
#2
Working under a toxic manager. I have work related ptsd.
Image source: RoamingGnome74, Yan Krukau
#3
Being poor/debt/financial instability.
Image source: casuallycruel420, Mikhail Nilov
#4
Functioning depression. People don’t realize how exhausting it is to put on a “happy” face every day when you’re out in the world when all you want to do is curl up in a ball and cry for a week straight.
Image source: CianGal13, Andrew Neel
#5
Growing up non diagnosed nurodivergence and never really fitting in and not knowing why while also not getting any support from the adults who should have noticed something.
Image source: Economy_Bathroom_156, Mikhail Nilov
#6
Being raised by parents with undiagnosed mental illness.
Image source: saltyt00th, DragonImages
#7
Job searching! The fatigue of getting multiple rejections, being ghosted, while trying to pay bills can be crushing.
Image source: lobstersareforever, Ron Lach
#8
Feeling like no one loves you or understands you.
Image source: Naive_Traffic6522, Victor
#9
Not all, but a good amount of childbirth experiences. I regularly tell people it was the worst day of my life and they’re shocked. Of course I was happy to meet my baby but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a massively traumatic day getting there.
Image source: chocolate_turtles, Nathan Dumlao
#10
Being bullied. On TV, people act like it’s funny. But it can provide life long trauma.
Image source: Humble-Midnight4067, Keira Burton
#11
Becoming disabled. Nobody treats it as the truly traumatic experience it really is. There is no psychological support for us, as it happens. We are left to figure it out on our own.
Image source: Luna7789, Getty Images
#12
Growing up as the “gifted” child, only to wind up the Family Disappointment.
Image source: MisterScrod1964, Getty Images
#13
Being cheated on can ruin your life.
Image source: BasedChristopher, RDNE Stock project
#14
Someone you trusted taking your deepest traumas and insecurities to ‘win’ an argument.
Image source: Flimsy_Tomatillo_334, Timur Weber
#15
Being raised in Evangelical Christianity or other high-control religious environments.
Image source: Suspicious_Program99, Arina Krasnikova
#16
Growing up with parents who simply do not love each other, who scream at each other all the time, and never get divorced.
Growing up in a household where you learn to be responsible for your parents’ feelings from a very young age.
Edit to add: I didn’t think this would resonate with so many people. Thank you to everyone for sharing if this hit home for you. Just knowing that there are other hearts out there who know what it felt like, and feels like to carry into adulthood no matter how old you are, feels supportive. 🤎.
Image source: CheesecakeQuackery, Curated Lifestyle
#17
Being ghosted for no reason by friends.
Made me lose all respect I had for myself and made my anxiety 10× worse.
Image source: Thecrowfan, Getty Images
#18
Feeling emotionally invisible. It’s a slow, quiet kind of trauma that builds over time. I think people often underestimate how much it affects your mental health when you constantly feel like no one truly sees or hears you.
Image source: nova_8, Zhivko Minkov
#19
Volunteering with animals. it’s not just playing with puppies and kitties. i work in animal welfare now and i have years of trauma and guilt from the terrible s**t people have done to these animals.
Image source: georgiabeanie, Mia X
#20
Growing up with a parent who goes silent when angry. I never knew if it was me she was mad at, and if so, what I did. I’m 70 years old, and while I consciously fight the feeling, if someone is quiet I assume they’re angry with me, even if there’s no reason they should be.
Image source: Yajahyaya, Monstera Production
#21
Being laid off through no fault of your own.
Image source: LongjumpingPath3069, Yan Krukau
#22
Close friend break ups. Just as bad if not worse than relationship breakups.
Image source: IdkJustMe123, Jackson Simmer
#23
Having a verbally or physically a***ive sibling.
Image source: Pure_Wrongdoer_4714, David Fanuel
#24
Taking care of a parent with dementia. It is soul draining. It’s a full time job. It’s dirty and embarrassing for all involved. It’s heartbreaking watching your once competent, intelligent, funny parent regress until they are a husk of a person. You struggle with keeping them in their home and “honoring their wishes”. Dealing with insurance, Medicaid, hospital stays, and affording any kind of respite care is mine-boggling complex and expensive. Cleaning up grown man pee and poop from every corner of the house is maddening. The tedium of repeating yourself a hundred times a day, listening to the same questions, the same complaints and stories. The list is neverending.
I wish there was assisted s****de in America that you could put into an advanced directive for circumstances like this. He wouldn’t want to live like this and it is ruining lives.
Image source: EagleLize, Kindel Media
#25
Chronic illness.
Image source: Previous-Artist-9252, Yaroslav Shuraev
#26
Having a boss who criticizes every little thing you do, for literally hours at a time, until finally you start to wonder whether you actually ARE that stupid and incompetent. .
Image source: strawberry2801, Jonathan Borba
#27
Being the black sheep of the family.
Image source: Sweet_Principle_2359, Pixabay
#28
Going through a divorce. Even though divorcing my ex was one of the best decisions I ever made , at the time it was so much more painful and stressful than I could have imagined.
Image source: akmhykes, Getty Images
#29
Choking on food. It’s literally life or death and it can stick with you if you survive that scenario.
Image source: DEFALTJ2C
#30
Infestations. Bed bugs, roaches, fleas, mice, you name it. Absolutely corrodes your psyche.
Image source: SpecificAttempt9057, Getty Images
#31
Legitimate near death experiences. People will say “I thought I was going to die” but if you actually have a moment when you deeply and truly believe that, it can really mess you up. If you’ve had one of those moments then you understand what I mean.
Image source: WingZombie, Getty Images
#32
Having a confrontation with neighbors. Having anger/fear/discord invade your living space is really upsetting on a basic subconscious level.
Image source: bes6684
#33
Allowing bad friends to stay in your life for too long.
Do not waste your life , energy and time on people who only take.
Seperate from them and watch how much better your life gets.
Image source: No-Orchid-53
#34
Getting paid late, bills don’t stop just because a company can’t plan ahead financially. .
Image source: finallyflyby
#35
A book I read on trauma listed immigration as one of the top 5.
Image source: MeteoricColdAndTall, Phil Mosley
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