Are You RE-Traumatizing Yourself? 16 Self-Defeating Behaviors Common with Childhood PTSD.
Inside Traumas: What They Are and How to Heal Them
In this video, Anna Runkle talks about inside traumas, which are things we do that tend to re-traumatize us. She provides a list of common inside traumas and explains how they can make healing more difficult.
Common Inside Traumas
- Black-and-white thinking: being drawn to extreme views or groups or authority figures.
- Neglect of your body: wearing shabby clothes, poor hygiene, avoiding medical and dental care.
- Addictive use of food: being extremely overweight, having eating disorders, binging on carbs and sugar.
- Addictive use of media and entertainment: watching TV or browsing the Internet enough to interfere with daily routine.
- Blame: having a hard time seeing our own role in problems, victim-thinking, bitterness.
- Numbing with substances like alcohol or drugs.
- Irritability: getting angry sometimes for no reason, mistreating other people and even violence.
- Attraction to troubled partners and friends.
- Abuse of our sexuality: overly sexualized appearance or inappropriately seductive behavior due to distorted sense of messages we're sending or what is healthy for us.
- Fantasy: generally either romantic like imagining being with somebody we're not actually with or imagining a successful future that we're not realistically on the path towards.
- Total avoidance of people.
Healing Inside Traumas
- Seek professional help if necessary
- A therapist can help you identify your inside traumas and work through them
- Joining support groups can also be helpful
- Practice self-care
- Take care of your body by eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep
- Avoid numbing behaviors like substance abuse or excessive media use
- Challenge negative thoughts and beliefs
- Work on changing black-and-white thinking to a more nuanced perspective
- Practice self-compassion and avoid blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong
- Build healthy relationships
- Surround yourself with people who support you and encourage your healing journey
- Avoid toxic relationships that re-traumatize you
- Set realistic goals
- Focus on achievable goals rather than fantasies or unrealistic expectations
Inside Traumas
In this section, the speaker discusses the inside traumas that people with childhood PTSD may experience.
Debting
- Debting is a common problem for people with childhood PTSD.
- It involves not caring for our earning and spending, which can lead to living beyond our means.
- In its worst forms, debting can turn into a gambling addiction or unsustainable get-rich-quick mentality, leading to foreclosure, bankruptcy, and homelessness.
Repeating Traumatic Patterns
- People with childhood PTSD may have a habit of repeating traumatic patterns.
- This can result in an inability to detect trouble or step back when danger appears.
- Relapsing into a traumatized state can trigger depression, rage, collapse, and a reversion to old behaviors.
Healing from Inside Traumas
- Recognizing harmful behaviors resulting from childhood PTSD is half the battle towards healing.
- Free tools and online courses are available to help recognize and heal these signs.