Institutional and systemic failure

Being failed or harmed by a government or state agency

Being failed by a government agency that had responsibility for your welfare. Immigration authorities. Benefits systems that denied what you needed. State agencies that had power over your life and used it badly or failed to use it when they should have.

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.

Hypervigilance or always waiting for something bad The nervous system that learned to scan for danger all the time. Depression Not just sadness. Shame or feeling like something is broken in you Not guilt about something you did. Anxiety and constant worry The background hum of dread that is always there. 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. Not knowing who to trust Trust that was broken, repeatedly, by people who were supposed to be safe. Problems with authority or people in power The original experiences with authority figures, parents, teachers, institutions, abusers, shaping the automatic response to anyone who holds power.

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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