War, conflict, and organized violence

Experiencing or witnessing political violence or state sponsored violence

Being targeted, harmed, or witnessing harm carried out by a government, regime, or political group. Disappearances, torture, execution of people you knew, living under a regime that used violence to control its population.

Surviving a state that turned its machinery against its own people leaves an education in fear that comfortable countries cannot easily grasp. The disappearances, the knocks, the things that could not be said aloud. You carry knowledge most around you do not share. Here you can put it down long enough to breathe. It will be believed.

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.

PTSD 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. Hypervigilance The nervous system that learned to scan for danger all the time. Trust issues Trust that was broken, repeatedly, by people who were supposed to be safe. Insomnia Difficulty falling asleep. Startle response The nervous system calibrated to danger will flinch at sounds, movements, or surprises that others barely notice. Depression Not just sadness. Anxiety The background hum of dread that is always there. Problems with authority 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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