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I regularly see people talk about traumatised people as if they’re basically lost souls. Like how some talk about the people in Gaza as if they can’t be saved due to the trauma they already endured. Just like any other disability, incurable trauma can restrict many capabilities. But traumatised people are still people able to experience life in their own way. Not being able to (for example) engage in deep emotional connections with others people doesn’t mean that your life experience is less valuable. It frustrates me when people, doctors especially, imply differently.
Some people who made historic achievements did so while dealing with ptsd because it can make you want to work 24/7 to distract from the stress. That’s not say that this is a healthy way to cope, it’s just something that people who think that work output is the only measure for value of life ignore.
Personally I’m proud of my traumas because they defined and motivated my political pathway and helped me understand and empathise with other people who are struggling in some way.
The brave people in Gaza have paid and struggled for their existence and continue to do so. Some may consider themselves lost, and that’s completely valid, but that’s not for anyone else to decide or judge.
Humans are commodities in a capitalist world. If you have anything "wrong" with you, that makes you not function the way they want, or makes you cost more money to run then you are lesser and unwanted, like worn out old trash fit only for the scrapheap. Whether it's trauma, neurodivergence, disability, illness or anything else. We exist only to work and turn a profit for our overlords. If we aren't doing that we do not deserve to exist.
Traumatized people are first and foremost people. Just because you experienced trauma you're not automatically less of a person, that's just ableist, plain and simple. The example of Palestinians in Gaza is driving me mad, too. If there is anyone on the planet that I've seen being hopeful and alive, no matter what the state, it's people in war zones. There is no hope, no life like those who continue no matter how deep their trauma is. It's not inspiring, heck, it's not even a "look how strong they are" kind of sentiment; it's people pulling through the worst that could possibly happen to them, and they'll carry these scars forever but they are still here. You don't lose your soul through trauma, nor are you lost. I vehemently hate this sentiment, it goes against everything that makes up trauma. If there is such a thing as a soul, I think the only thing that can make you lose it is committing heinous crimes, and not being at the receiving end of it.
Sorry for going on such a rant in reply to your very true and fitting post. You are correct, with everything you said. I'm sorry you carry trauma with you, Salah, I'm in the same boat. And while I may not see my trauma in a similar way as you do (everybody's different), I can appreciate where you're coming from
Yes, I'm not sure what annoys me more. People who treat the traumatized as if they're damaged goods, or people who brush peoples trauma aside as a burden