War, conflict, and organized violence

Being directly targeted, threatened, or harmed because of your political beliefs or public role

Being threatened, harassed, fired, prosecuted, or physically harmed because of your political beliefs, your political work, your vote, or a role you held in public life. Including people targeted for doing their jobs in government or public service, people threatened for speaking publicly, and people whose safety was taken from them because of what they believed or what they stood for.

If some version of this is part of your story, you already know that the hardest part is rarely the memory itself. It is carrying it in a world that mostly does not want to hear about it. This fellowship exists so you do not have to carry it alone, and so you never have to explain it to someone who has no idea what it means.

What can follow an experience like this

No two people carry the same experience the same way. These are some of the effects that people with this experience often describe. Having some of them, all of them, or none of them says nothing about how real what happened to you was.

Flashbacks and reliving what happened After certain experiences, the brain can get stuck, replaying what happened through flashbacks, nightmares, or sudden intense reactions to things that remind you of it. Shame or feeling like something is broken in you Not guilt about something you did. Not knowing who you are, or experiencing multiple parts or identities A self that shifts depending on who you are with. Rage or anger that is hard to control Anger that comes fast, feels bigger than the situation, or has caused harm to relationships or situations. Financial devastation or losing everything Financial ruin is often what trauma leaves behind. Loss of faith or not knowing what to believe anymore Something happened and the belief system that held your world together stopped holding. Giving up or feeling like nothing will change When nothing you did made a difference, when effort did not produce safety, when asking for help did not bring help, the nervous system eventually stops asking. Hypervigilance or always waiting for something bad The nervous system that learned to scan for danger all the time.

Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and nothing here decides what is wrong with you, because nothing is wrong with you. Something happened to you. This page exists so that when you are ready, you can find people who understand it from the inside.

You do not have to carry this alone.

Bridge of Hope Recovery is a free, anonymous, peer-led fellowship for trauma survivors. Meetings run throughout the week by phone, by video, and in person. No cost, no waitlist, no one asking for your real name.

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