When Someone Else’s Trauma Affects You: Where to Find PTSD Help for Secondary Trauma
Michelle Thorsteinson
We typically think of trauma as something that happens directly to us and that PTSD only happens to those who’ve lived through something terrifying. There’s another kind of trauma that’s harder to understand; one that affects people who spend their time helping, listening, or supporting others through painful experiences. It’s called secondary trauma, and it can leave you feeling drained, anxious, or emotionally raw, even if the trauma wasn’t yours to begin with. If you’ve ever walked away from a conversation feeling unsettled or found yourself thinking about someone else’s pain long after they’ve shared it, you’re not imagining things. You may not understand why, especially if nothing happened to...
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