Inspiration Haven

scripttraumasurvivors:

Some people are too broken after trauma to function-

in the environment that they’re being forced to try and function in.

I think this is an important distinction especially when looking at a character. I don’t mean ‘until the MC comes in and saves the day’

I mean ‘until something about how they’re being expected to function changes significantly’.

If you look at 19 year old me’s symptomology and the way I was … functioning- I was too broken to function. The environment I was in was triggering, I was under high stress, I had next to no support system and further more, I didn’t trust any attempts for a support system to exist- considering the last one I’d had decided to take advantage of me while I was dissociating heavily, knowing I was dissociating. I was an addict with a supply. I had someone who was willing to let me use sex as self harm.  I regularly lost time. I couldn’t keep a friend to save my life, I was… broken. Too broken to function.

21 year old me worked an office job 40 hours a week and did volunteer work for… basically another 40 hours a week. Still had symptoms, but I wasn’t a walking time bomb until a. I was in a car accident and b. my father’s health started tanking again.

The difference between 19 and 21 isn’t ‘lots of therapy’ or a savior figure. (though, there was some therapy in there.)

The biggest difference was the environment.

I got taken away from the people who were enabling my self destruct. I was no longer in that triggering environment. I was still suspicious of attempts to help, but I was no longer paranoid they were in contact with the person who hurt me. I was no longer under the same kind of stress and deadlines, and I definitely didn’t have to keep looking over my shoulder for the person who hurt me.

All of a sudden I had time to learn how to deal with my anxiety and my nightmares and my trauma. I had a space to do it in without 7000 other things on my plate as well.

Characters should work similarly. Either the environment should change or they should *learn* something that helps them deal with their environment.

A character whose symptomology involves… agoraphobic tendencies might not function if they’re forced out of their house all the time whether they feel comfortable or not. Might do better if they’re allowed to find their new safe and encouraged to do… smaller, controlled experiments with leaving those safe spaces.

A character who is near people who remind them of their abuser may be too panicked to function. Too dissociated. Too _________. But given space from those people, may do alright.

A character who has been dealing with insomnia and sleep deprivation should find that over symptoms get better when they’re finally able to sleep well (for more than just a night).

A character’s anxiety might make them unable to function in a job that involves a lot of people- but they’re just fine when they’re in a position to not have to deal with the public.

I do think having characters that are just simply…. too broken to function and not showing that it is a. in part because of present factors and b. able to change-

it contributes to two things I think we should strive to avoid in our work.

The message that traumatized individuals have no hope of getting better ever. Which… leads people to some very dark ends when they believe that.

And the message that if one must be this traumatized to ride, so to speak. I’ve worked with a lot of people who didn’t believe what happened to them counted or effected them because it didn’t completely destroy them. They either got angry at themselves for having some side effects (since they weren’t as bad as those broken people, they should just.. be able to get over it already) or refused to acknowledge their symptoms as symptoms.

Hopefully that helps a bit,

TS