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#trauma responses
schnumn · 1 year
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There's a LOT of autistic fawners out there... let's explore that  A short comic about autism and the fawn trauma response. Written by @gingergamer1403 , drawn by me :>
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unwelcome-ozian · 10 months
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kenmakaminari · 1 year
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Things I thought were normal until people I know pointed out that they were trauma responses!!!
(people being my friends, and even my therapist(s))
18 bullets
WARNINGS: mentions of abuse, mentions of csa, mentions of death/dying, disassociation, talk about tampons, probably quite a few typo's
Disassociation, especially when people are yelling or i feel like they are upset with me
Over explaining myself
Not being able to make a decision, even a small one
Not crying for over 10 years!
Never feeling attached to anyone or anything
Reading. Not normal reading, but always having a book or my phone on me, ready to read whenever normal life felt like it was too much
Hypersexuality starting at age 8
Tampons never feeling comfortable, or my body physically rejecting them and pushing them out
Being scared to tell the truth, but also scared to lie. And therefore just saying "I don't know" to even the smallest things
Being afraid or adults or any form of authority, even other kids
Being scared of going to sleep, because i thought that I was going to die. But then being confused because I wanted to die, so why was I scared? (I was scared because I didn't want my younger sisters finding me dead, because I knew deep down that they would check on me before my parents ever would - found that out years later)
Forgetting that I had a baby sister when I was 5 years old (she was in a different foster home than my other sister and I. Luckly we were all adopted together)
Thinking that since my adoptive parents have never hit, touched, or neglected us I have no reason to complain about them, and I'm just being dramatic
Starring blankly at walls, or into space for minutes to hours at a time
being incredibly quiet one day, and then being super hyperactive and happy the next
Crying when angry, and then crying more because I'm trying to be mad not upset
Over-analyzing everyone's intentions, always thinking that people have ulterior motives for being nice
Knowing which family member is walking past my room by the sound of their footsteps.
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randomfoggytiger · 1 year
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My Encyclopedia of My X-Files Fic Lists, Analyses, Fan Vids, and Fan Fiction Resources
So, I pushed all my little anthills into one dust pile because I got sick and tired of having to manually search through my colonies to find that ONE drone. 
~~~X-Files Collector’s Edition~~~
Overview
The Fics That Started It All 
Meet the Mulders
Car Accidents, Injuries, and Fluff- Oh My!
Creepy and Cozy Cabins
Redux II Samantha Was Real
I Want To Be Leaves (Fall Fics) 
 Mulder’s Early or Late Birthdays (Season 1)
Mulder’s Early or Late Birthdays (Angst)
Amor Fati(gue) 
Amor Fati(gue) AUs
Time Travel, Time Loops, and Just Wrong Timing 
Happy Halloween with the Mulder-Scully Family  
Many Mondays and “The Creeps”
Ghostly Hauntings and Experiences- AUs 
Thanksgivings Are Better Twofold 
Flying for Christmas 
Christmas and Emily’s Fate 
New Year, New Relationship   
Canonical-Esque Crack Fic {Edited}
Off-The-Wall Crazy Crack Fic  
Coming Home to Their Unremarkable House 
Little Samantha’s Life in Capture 
Car Wrekt  
Friendship Fix (According to Various Authors) Part 1 
Friendship Fix (According to Various Authors) Part 2  
Valentine’s Day, the Platonic Way
MSR Kicks Platonic Valentine’s to the Curb
Mulder and Scully Fight Insomnia  
Scully’s Arcadian Birthday 
The X-File That Started It All 
Diana Fowl(ey) Play-- All Parts 
S9 Mulder Stays or Returns While the Mytharc Barrels On
Anasazi– Shot and Emotionally Fraught
Pranks and Other April Fics
Celebrating Passover and Easter 
Poll Results: Fic Niches and Polls 
Fics That Deserve More Comments (Part I) 
Fics That Deserve More Comments (Part II)
Fics That Deserve More Comments (Part III)
Fics that Deserve More Comments (Part IV)
Fic Moments That “Hit Different” 
Fics That Fit My Niche "Dad!Mulder" Likes
MORE Fics That Fit My Niche “Dad!Mulder” Likes
Dad!Mulder, His "Mini Me"s, and Sports 
Fight the Future Fics (Part I)
Fight the Future Fics (Part II) 
Crazy X-Cops (and Watching the Tragic Ep. Later)
S9, The Season of Secret Dad (Long Fics) 
MOTW but Rinse and Repeat 
The Field Where I Fix-It Fic-ed
Beefy Revival Mulder
S8 Mulder Resurrects to a Miracle 
X-Files Collector’s Edition: Mulder, Scully, and Scents
A Short Fic Tribute to Samantha's 50th Anniversary
Mulder, To Jew or Not to Jew
It’s the Most HTGSC Time of Year
Mulder and Scully and Dancing
Sins of the Eaten Flesh
Mulder, Scully, and Courthouse Weddings
Cars and Conversations (Part I)
Cars and Conversations (Part II)
Bill Scully, MSR, and Pain (Part I)
Reviving that Love
~~~Curated Authors Collection / Short Entries~~~
randomfoggytiger’s Son of Egypt
randomfoggytiger's Fictober Wrap Up
randomfoggytiger’s Chariots of Fire 
Eight Nights of Mulder 2023 
randomfoggytiger’s “Mr. Mulder, I Know Something About You”
randomfoggytiger’s “You Up For Joining Us?” 
randomfoggytiger’s “Think He’ll Call You Tonight?”
randomfoggytiger’s ”You're Not Here, Dana-- You're a Million Miles Away"
randomfoggytiger’s "You're Only Going to End Up Hurting Yourself"
randomfoggytiger’s The Hospital Where You Slept
randomfoggytiger’s "I Know You. It’s What I Do."
randomfoggytiger’s “I Think It’s About Fate”
A Happy Family (Curated Baroness Blixen’s S9)
Curated Baroness Blixen’s Millennium Fics  
Curated Jamie Greco 
Alligator Moon by jordan  
Still Waters by XP1 
Everything But the Kitchen Sink by Amy Schatz
Morse Cody by grumpysimon 
Fox’s Den I/II/III by Thalia D’Muse 
Curated suitablyaggrieved/ScullyLovesQueequeg’s Cancer Arc Fics
Haze and necromance by astronaught 
fragility by homecomingserf 
Just Another Day on the Oil by Vickie Moseley  
Skyland Mountain (AU) by JenAndrews 
My Favorites Curated Fics and Quotes by suitablyaggrieved 
X-Files Fic That Irons Out the Mytharc... by touchstonea
Curated muldertxf Fics 
Curated melforbes Fics
Curated settle-down-frohike Fics
Curated Baroness Blixen’s Car Conversations
~~~X-Files Fan Fiction Resources~~~
Collected Resources
~~~Analysis~~~ 
Mailboxes in Arcadia: Allegory, Leitmotif, and Chekhov’s Gun
Arcadia Analysis: Scully Was Enjoying Herself Immensely 
Arcadia Analysis: Mulder’s Struggle
 Arcadia Analysis: Their Worst Nightmares and Trauma Responses 
Babylon Dance: An Alternative
Mulder Did Not “Lose Himself” in His Early VCU Days 
Biogenesis’s BIG Problem with the Alien-Human Hybrid Virus 
One Son: An Intense, One-Shot Analysis of “You’re Making This Personal”  
Never Again: An Intensive Essay 
Mulder: Sick Fic Vs. Reality
MSR Communication Summed Up
Mulder and Scully’s Most Defining Moment-- “You. Help. Me.”
Charlie Scully in Beyond the Sea
S8 Scully Would Not Have Let Essence and Existence Happen
Mulder Would Never Let Scully Walk Away with Words Left Unsaid 
Mulder’s Necessary Emotional Growth in One Breath 
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part I): Colony and End Game
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part II): The Past Is Important to the Present
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part III): Dissecting the Dynamics in Demons
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part IV-1): The Death and Redemption of the Man Who “Threw In”
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part IV-2): Bill Mulder’s Tainted Legacy
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part V): Tena Mulder’s Relationships Begin to Change
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part VI): Talitha Cumi and Tena’s Lies
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part VII): Childhood Damage in Herrenvolk
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part VIII): Tena, Amor Fati, and Who’s the Daddy
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part IX): Tena Mulder’s Suicide and Saving Mulder from Himself
The Mulder Family In-Depth (Part X): Samantha, Spitfire and Stardust
Mulder Was a Father, Even in the Desert 
S8 Scully Healing Before Deadalive
We Don’t Value Skinner Enough 
Scully’s Complete Change From One Breath to Herrenvolk
S5 Is a Pretty Dark Time for Mulder
The Glaring Ideological Difference Between Mulder and Scully
I Wish: Post Three Words and Mulder
Ascension: Mulder and Maggie’s Bond
Mulder Saw That Scully Was Alone in Redux II 
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part I): Childhood and The Pilot
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part II): The First Christmas Death
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part III): A Facade and a Funeral
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part IV): Luthor Lee Boggs, Love, and Letting Go
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part V): Miracles, Lyle Parker, and Psychic Charlie?
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part VI): Maggie Scully and Mulder Meet
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part VII): Mulder, Maggie, Melissa, and the Snake
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part VIII): Maggie Calls Mulder "Fox"
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part IX): Mulder and the Two Scully Sisters
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part X): One Breath and the Scully Men
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XI): The Last Conversations of One Melissa Scully
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XII): Prophecy, Death, and the Question of Fate
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XIII): The Erosion of Scully’s Security, on Tape
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XIV): When Nature Turns So Cruel
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XV): "Other Fathers", Deleted Scenes, and "Things to Prove"
The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XVI): Crouching Cancer, Hidden Motives
Spooky Jr. Was Born in a Ghost Town
Mulder Is a Brooder; and Scully Is His Concluder
Scully and Christmas Ghosts
I Love the Unanswered Questions of the X-Files
Mulder Respects Scully’s Medical Choices in the Most Baffling Ways
Scully’s Failures and Her Villains
Mulder Has Max Fenig’s Cap in Beyond the Sea
Scully Is the Conduit Conductor and Mulder Is the Dancer
Mulder Didn’t Use Scully’s Apartment Key Until He “Belonged”
Frohike is THE Man
Mulder and Scully Picked Exes With the Most Red Flag Names Possible
Mulder, the Arcadia Trophy Husband
Mulder Trauma Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn?
Scully Trauma Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn?   
Arcadia Mulder and His Pillows
How Scully Taught Mulder to Hug
Alpha In-Depth: All Parts
Mulder and Dreams
Milagro In-Depth: All Parts 
How the Ghosts Stole Christmas In-Depth: Full Analysis
Scully's Speech in HTGSC Proves Mulder Is Her Ouroboros
Mulder and Scully Didn’t Want a “Network” Outside of Each Other
All Souls, Lost Girls, and Grief
Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part I): Waking Up to Miracles 
Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part II): PTSD and Guilt
Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part III): "Processing" How to Fit Back into a Healing World
Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part IV): Passive Mulder Turns Passive-Aggressive
Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part V): The Mutual Pain of Reconnection
Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part VI): Bonds Once Forged Cannot Be Broken
Mulder’s Alien Baby Baby Trauma In-Depth (Part VII): Trickery, Terror, and Tears
Movies Were Mulder's Comfort Placebo Pre-Scully
Mulder and "Killing" Scully
Scully, Snakes, and Reincarnation
CSM Inflicted Insanity On the Syndicate
Mulder’s Little Smile in the Paper Hearts Morgue
Mulder and Scully and the Graves of Many Little Girls
Elegy: A Lie Between Two Truths
Mulder and His Nests
Mulder’s Dichotomy in Three Words
Skinner’s Regrets
Fire and False Romance, Ice and Love
All IVF Roads Lead Away from The Unnatural and to Millennium
X-Cops and Vince Gilligan’s Mulder
The Cancer Arc and Scully's Reliance on Mulder's Strength
Tomboy Scully and Pretty Boy Mulder
Mulder and Scully's Love Story: Season 1
You’re a Magician, Scully
"Proving" Mulder Knew He Was the Father of Scully's Baby
Mulder and Scully Broke Each Other’s Patterns
AU Samantha and Schizogeny Thoughts
Explaining the Never Again Script
Dreams, Alternate Realities, and Agency
One Breath Walked So Firewalker (and Episodes Proceeding It) Could Run
The List: Setting the Stage for Scully’s Loneliness and Mulder’s Panic
Elegy Explanation (and Realization)
Scully and Matters of the Heart: S1-4
Gethsemane, Bill Scully Apologia, and Maggie the Emergency Contact
Mulder: Jewish or Religious References (and His S8 Funeral)
Little Green Men and Teliko Parallels
I Want to Believe: A Character Study in Disordered Writing
HTGSC: Old Tricks and New Lessons
Mulder and Vulnerability
Developed Psychic Ability and Death
Psychics Developed Their Abilities Through Alien DNA
Attractive Monsters and Mulder
Disproving CSM’s Conjecture in En Ami
An Evolution of Mulder and Scully’s Forehead Kisses
Bill Scully Kept Melissa Scully’s Photo in Baby Matthew’s Room
Update: The Therapist in The Red and the Black
Scully's Abduction, Emily Sim, and the Lost Scully Baby
Mulder’s a Big Wig in the Conspiracy Community (and Colonization Thoughts)
Mulder and Scully, Past Lives, and the White Buffalo Calf
Scully the Honest, Mulder the Relentless
The X-Files and Werewolves
An Avoidance Shared by Two
Scully and Emily Parallels
Dana Scully and Relationships: Initial Commitment and Cyclical Self-Doubt
Scully’s Survival Broke The Field Where I Died’s Cycle
Diana Fowley, the Four-Poster Bed Instigator (Perhaps)
Dreamland II: Golf Clubs, Diana Fowley, and Mulder’s Father
~~~Typing~~~ 
How to "Type" Personality Types: An Ultimate Resource 
MULDER, The Spooky INTP 
{{Extraction: Proving Mulder Is Not an INFJ/INFP}} 
SCULLY, The Enigmatic ISTJ
Mulder and Scully: Love and Touch for INTPs/ISTJs 
Dissecting ‘One Son’ (Part I)   
Dissecting ‘One Son’ (Part II) 
‘Never Again’ and Fear 
KRYCEK, An Unstoppable Manipulator
INTPs In Their Own Words 
SKINmanNER, The Bald and the Beautiful 
MAGGIE, The Passionate Scully
MELISSA, The Soulful ISFP
BILL SCULLY, Junior and Senior (and Charlie?)
~~~Musicals/Fan Vids/AMVs~~~
Fight Club (Finale)
Fight Club: Finale Redone with Less Kathy Griffiths
TINH: Scully’s Solo
S2 Abduction: Mulder’s Torment 
Drivin’ Right Along
Hungry: Everything Is Food
Our Town: Everything Is Food
Krycek and Marita: You’re My Little Choochie Face
Syzygy: Everything You Can Do I Can Do Better
Mulder and Samantha: Miracle of Miracles
Amor Fati: If I Never Knew You 
Arcadia: People Will Say We’re in Love 
Scully, Far from the Home She Loves
CSM and Diana: The Riddle  
The Mulders: Sunrise, Sunset
HTGSC: Christmas Can Can
Melissa: Mother Earth and Father Time
Monday: There’s Always Tomorrow
Memento Mori: I Bring You a Song
Pilot: I Ride Alone
Milagro: Hellfire
Darkness Falls: Walk Outside
Emily: Come to Me
~~~Extras~~~
React: "Return to Me" from the POV of Someone Averse to RomComs
Personality Typing: Return to Me
Personality Typing: Bringing Up Baby
React: Watching I Want to Believe for the First Time (and Losing My Mind)  
Personality Typing: Hank Moody, Maggie Scully, and ESTPs
What Happens Later: Misdirection and Miscommunication
What Happens Later: ESTJs, ESFPs, and Building Back Love ‘N Trust
David Duchovny’s Face: an Aesthetics Study
Seasonal Color Theory: a Reference Guide
Seasonal Color Analysis: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
Seasonal Color Analysis: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Their Colors
Kibbe Body Types: Gillian Anderson
Kibbe Body Types: David Duchovny 
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hauntedselves · 1 year
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What Survival Looks Like at Home
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From 'What Survival Looks Like at Home' by Helen Townsend, from Beacon House & Inner World Work (PDF)
Quick cheat sheet:
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Noticing Freeze
Bored, not interested
Confused, forgetful
Distracted, not listening
Clumsy
Talking about something else
Not moving to where you’ve asked
Scanning the room
Wide eyed, pupils might dilate
Daydreaming, staring into space
Grounding Freeze
Stay with me, don’t leave me
Tell me I’m ok & that I am safe
Watching TV
Deep breathing
Spinning on a swing
Climbing & hanging
Rolling or cycling down a hill
Digging in mud or sand
Jumping on a trampoline
Do my chores with me
Gently wonder where I have gone & invite me back to you
If I have forgotten what I was supposed to be doing, remind me again gently
Hot chocolate & toast
A warm bath & a warm towel
A soft teddy for bedtime
Noticing Flight
Hyperactive, manic, silly
Aggressive, threatening: stiffening up, clenching fists
Running away, escaping, disappearing, hiding under the table/bed/sofa
Clumsy
Disruptive, loud & noisy
Can’t cope with free play
Can’t follow house rules
Not doing what you’ve asked
Lonely
Keeping super busy
Baby talk/silly voices
Bumping into people
Needing to get into the car/house/park first
Grounding Flight
Keep me close by
Find me again happily or patiently
Deep breathing
Give me a familiar & easy chore
Crunchy foods – carrot sticks, a biscuit, a rice cake or crisps
Tell me that I am safe with you
Hanging from monkey bars
Talk through what you think I am finding tricky using a kind voice
Heavy blankets
Create a safe space where I can hide away I when I need to
Tug of war
Cup of warm milk or hot chocolate
Hot water bottle & a soft teddy
Recognize I sometimes find 'normal' family life threatening
Accept that if I feel threatened, I feel in real danger.
If you send me to do something & I forget, just patiently ask again
Noticing Fight
Hot and bothered
Argumentative, angry and aggressive
Controlling, demanding and inflexible
Lie or blaming
Unable to concentrate on one thing
Unable to follow the house rules
Confrontational
Disrespectful
Disregarding of others, pushing away friends/family members
Shouting, loud and noisy
Immature
Grounding Fight
Tell me you love me even when my I push you away
Don’t punish me for being cross; reward me with your kindness and love for getting calm again
Keep me safe from hurting myself
Match my energy
Deep breathing
Chewy foods
Support me socially
Hanging, swinging and climbing
Warm bath with lots of bubbles
Warm milk or a hot chocolate
Hot water bottle
A super soft teddy and/or blanket
Give me a task that makes me feel important
Connect with me and show me empathy before exploring the consequences of my behavior
Create somewhere safe to go to so I can calm down
Make things predictable. Tell me about changes before they happen, especially if strangers are coming to the house or I’m going somewhere new
Accept I might not know why I behaved in that way & I might not remember what happened
Listen and acknowledge how I feel, even if you see it differently, it will help me feel listened to
Noticing Submit
Unhappy, low mood
Alone or withdrawn
Fidgety but not disruptive, anxious
Never questioning or asking questions
Never drawing unnecessary attention
Yes or no answers - doing just enough to avoid being noticed, unable to think
Quiet & passive, compliant
Grounding Submit
See me, listen to me
Give me small repetitive things to do
Weighted blanket
Building with Lego or Play-doh
Tell me I am safe
Deep breathing
Swinging
Let me spend quiet time just with you
Understand that social media might symbolizes a comforting connection
Hot chocolate and a crunchy biscuit
Wrap me up in a soft blanket & watch TV
Understand that playing computer games, lets me be by myself somewhere safe
Recognize I am hurting inside & might need professional help
Know that I am easily bullied, look out for this, don’t expect me to tell you.
Notice I will say what I think you want me to say
Be aware that I am an easy target & can be coerced easily to keep the peace
Know I can't cope being the center of attention
Watch for me removing myself
Warm bath and a warm towel
Warm pyjamas
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ghostwithpants · 3 months
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dnotive · 1 year
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You know it's always bothered me how it became sort of socially acceptable in some circles to poke fun at people using flowery language to make their points...
...because, yeah, there are definitely dickheads who wax prose to make themselves look smarter than they are, but there's also excessive verbosity from trauma too.
Like, when you come of age in an environment with terminally unstable people who can lose their shit if they take anything you're saying even slightly wrong, you start to lean on extremely precise language to make sure your intentions are never misunderstood or misheard.
When come of age with friends who take everything as a personal criticism, you learn to get extremely specific with your comments, or when you grow up with parents that are looking for excuses to start yelling or throwing things, you learn to communicate your needs with masterful care, otherwise you're going to spend the rest of your night cowering and fawning.
Even as an adult you might find yourself with a partner or a boss who is committed to misunderstanding you, and the incessant need to over-explain your position as a way of getting them to back down is still there, tucked into the back of your mind as a genuine trauma response.
Just food for thought here.
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Source: Dr. Glenn Doyle
Never thought about it like this. But that's really the truth. I need to start paying closer attention to myself and the situations I find myself in.
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Note
(Sorry about sending this ask while you're taking it slow. Hope you get better)
So, a thing people don't realize that sometimes happens with PTSD, especially mixed with other disorders, is that I'm Inherently Abusive.
This isn't a cognitive distortion, this is just my disorder not being palatable.
My love is abusive because I can't love right because of my trauma. It hurts and it's exhausting for everyone. My love goes to the wrong people and the wrong things. My empathy doesn't exist until it's wrong. I hurt people because I love them and because I hate them, I let myself be hurt because I love and I hate in the same vein.
I can mask just fine for the most part, even with it starting to slip, but people just won't understand that I'm abusive. Do I need to spell it out for them and unmask so hard they get the fucking hint?
And don't even get me started on my sexualization of everything! How am I supposed to talk about it??? Literally everything is sexualized or loathed or terrifying to me.
Sexualization, fear, and hatred are the only options in my brain. It's my default. That's how PTSD can work. I'm nobody's little bean to infantalize, I'm nobody's dog or kid or whatever, I just force myself to be because it's more comfortable for everyone.
[You don't have to apologise. We accept asks at any time, we just may answer them until later.]
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serenityquest · 7 months
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unwelcome-ozian · 8 months
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Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited. Indicators of more severe responses include continuous distress without periods of relative calm or rest, severe dissociation symptoms, and intense intrusive recollections that continue despite a return to safety. Delayed responses to trauma can include persistent fatigue, sleep disorders, nightmares, fear of recurrence, anxiety focused on flashbacks, depression, and avoidance of emotions, sensations, or activities that are associated with the trauma, even remotely.
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heartnosekid · 29 days
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A positive thing that happened recently is that I discovered a new way to help my girlfriend with certain trauma responses! As a bit of a background, she's a big fan of perfumes and lotions, and has a problem with dissociation. The other night, after being woken up from a really shitty intrusive memory nightmare, she couldn't connect with her body and felt like it wasn't hers. After a little bit of reassurance (reminding her that we'd talked about a nail being broken the night before, etc.) I suggested that we get one of her perfumes or lotions that she always wears. She picked out a lotion that she wears daily without fail, and the scent of it on her body really helped. I think it has something to do with how strongly scent is associated with memory. She's also mentioned in the past that a hair perfume she uses is very grounding.
Anyways, this is a super positive thing because it means we have a new, really effective strategy to tackle a major challenge she has. Between this and her getting a diagnosis for her early onset arthritis, we've been making a lot of progress with her health- both physical and mental.
I'm wishing the best for you, and I really hope you get to a place where you're safe, comfortable, and healthy as your body and mind will allow. I'll keep you in my thoughts, and I wish you the best in your struggles with food
you know what, this is such a sweet and helpful ask. i also struggle with this to be quite honest, just waking up feeling disconnected, and that is such a smart thing to do to initiate and aid in grounding! i am so happy for you two and i am so proud of the progress you’re both making, you seem so thoughtful and caring for your girlfriend. this is just so sweet and wholesome 💕
thank you so much for your kind words and well wishes, this ask made me so happy and i feel so much love and care emanating from you. again thank you so much for this, and i hope you and your girlfriend have a wonderful day or night and a lovely upcoming weekend and continue to make so much progress going forward 💕💕💕
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in-tua-deep · 8 months
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Okay I understand that people wanted to keep the “f” theme with fight, flight, freeze, fawn
But if I were I charge we would be following the rhyming scheme!!
Fight flight
Freeze appease
This makes it just so much nicer to say for me
(This may or may not be related to the fact that I have to pick what accent to use to say fawn rip)
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af4ll1ngp1n37r33 · 1 year
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Anyways, let me be VERY fucking clear due to what I just saw on my tl
hypersexualization & hypermodesty are both equally valid forms of self-expression after trauma. Never let a mf tell you how to express yourself no matter what. Your hyper-whatever is between you, yourself and either whatever god you believe in or yo therapist.
Also: Fuck terfs & "radfems". yall mfs are disgusting.
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randomfoggytiger · 10 months
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X-Files Scully Trauma Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn?
Picking up from this post about Mulder, we have Scully's turn!
There are four main trauma responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn (taken from the book Complex CPTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker-- see Disclaimers section below for info.) In short: Fight Types respond to stress with physical intimidation or verbal bullying; Flight Types run as far as they can from danger (physically or metaphorically), fleeing or distracting their minds with obsessive-compulsive work; Freeze Types disassociate, seeing fight and flight as futile and becoming numb to life; and Fawn Types try to win favor from their oppressor, leaning co-dependently on others.
Scully's Primary Trauma Response Type
Flight Types
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"A Flight response is triggered when a person responds to a perceived threat by fleeing; or, symbolically, by launching into hyperactivity. .... Extreme Flight types are like machines with a switch stuck in the 'on' position. They are obsessively and compulsively driven by the unconscious belief that perfection will make them safe and loveable. They rush to achieve. They rush as much in thought in action, compulsion."
Beyond the Sea explored the breadth of Scully's Flight Type Trauma Response: Scully tried to avoid the pain of her father's death by distracting herself with work before the funeral; but was forced to sit in her feelings of inadequacy and beg for reassurance of his fatherly pride from her mother. "Was he at all proud of me?" is the backbone of her type, just as it was in relation to her partnership with Mulder, her daughterly duties to Maggie, her sisterly duties to Bill, and her professional duties as a medical doctor, Academy instructor, and field agent. Furthermore, this episode laid the groundwork for the infamous hallway scene in Fight the Future. As Rob Bowman stated: "‘I need you, I need you.’ That’s a theme of the movie – Mulder needs Scully. And never before has he come to that understanding quite so strongly as he does in this story. So she’s running because she’s afraid that he’s going to talk her out of it, and so the best thing she can do is hit the elevator button and go, go, go."
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Classic Flight Type, classic.
(An interesting note: As stated above, Scully's "machine" is stuck in the "on" position-- the exact opposite of Mulder's type, which is stuck in the "off" position. Scully's traumatic response is to bury herself in obsessive-compulsive disordered behavior to distract from the lack of control she has over her life--finding refuge in long-working hours or needlessly consuming chores-- after her father's death, Emily's death, Mulder's disappearance and death, her mother's death, her son's fake death, etc. While Scully seeks out tasks, people, and duties from life (a.k.a. whether that be her on-the-clock job or extra busywork on weekends and holidays), Mulder retreats from people during his traumatic responses, becoming reclusive and alienated, dungeonIng himself away from life in his basement or leather couch.)
But what if her primary trauma response isn't working fast enough to combat fear or danger? In this case, Scully will develop a secondary trauma response, the polar opposite of her dominant one:
Flight-Fawn Types
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Flight-Fawn Types (also known as Super Nurses, ironically) turn the obsessive-compulsive workaholism of the Flight Type into the bend-over-backwards self-imposed slavery of the Fawn Type. As Pete Walker explains: "The Fawn-Flight Type is the most typically seen in the busy-holic parent, nurse, or administrative assistant who works from dawn until bedtime providing for the needs of the house, the hospital, or company. He" [she] "compulsively takes care of everyone else's needs with hardly a gesture towards his own. The Fawn-Flight is sometimes a misguided Mother Theresa-type who escapes the pain of her self-abandonment by seeing herself as the perfect, selfless caregiver. She further distances herself from her own pain by obsessively-compulsively rushing from one person in need to another. Some Fawn-Flight clients become OCD-like clean-aholics."
As we know, Scully fashions herself as Mulder's partner, primary caretaker, and right-hand Starbuck, while also acting as his translator, justifier, and report writer to the higher ups.
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When Mulder messes up in all areas of his life, she flies in to patch him up and cover for him. This, of course, is fulfilling... but it's also distracting, purposefully so. Her Flight-Fawn Response also emerges its head whenever she tries to placate her brother Bill: cut off from Flight, she will utilize Fawn-- letting him ramble, pushing back only a little while pleading for understanding-- before ultimately volleying back to Flight whenever he gives her enough room to squeeze by and make her escape. Even on her last legs during the cancer arc, Scully still got swept up into verifying Mulder's quest against her previously expressed wishes--Flight-Fawn in full effect.
Why Scully Is Not Primarily Fight, Freeze, or Fawn
Fight Types
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"A Fight response is triggered when a person suddenly responds aggressively to something threatening. ...Fight Types are unconsciously driven by the belief that power and control can create safety, assuage abandonment, and secure love...." Fight Types often become bullies or narcissists to their loved ones as well as their enemies if left unchecked. At their worst, they can become demanding, demeaning, and punishing because they equate strength as power exerted to weaken a threat. Fight is the first Trauma Response all humans develop; and if it's used effectively, Fight Responders stick to this "effective" method rather than trying out others (the second Flight, third Freeze, or fourth Fawn.) This translates to a bitter outlook on the world, always suspicioning the motives of others in cruel or judgmental ways. Severely traumatized Flight Types usually grew up in homes where they had to fight back against physical abuse or protect others from it. Dana Scully, while aggressive and cantankerous in the face of sniveling injustice, never uses her anger as a way to control or manipulate others; nor does she see other humans as self-interested threats.
Freeze Types
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"A Freeze Response is triggered when a person, realizing resistance is futile, gives up, numbs out into dissociation, and/or collapses, as if accepting the inevitability of being hurt…. The Freeze Response, also known as the Camouflage Response, also triggers a survivor into hiding, isolating, and avoiding human contact. The Freeze Type can be so frozen in the retreat mode that is seems as if their "Starter” button is stuck in the “off” position. While all 4 F Types commonly suffer from social anxiety as well, Freeze Types typically take a great deal more refuge in solitude." These Types have learned from a young age that fighting back will only get you punished and that fleeing will only get you reprimanded; so, they collapse in on themselves instead. Dana Scully wields her independent agency freely and often, so this is definitely not her primary Type.
Fawn Types
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"Fawn response is triggered when a person responds to threat by trying to be pleasing or helpful in order to appease and forestall an attacker.... Fawn Types seek safety by merging with the wishes, needs, and demands of others. They act as if they believe that the price of admission to any relationship is the forfeiture of all their needs, rights, preferences, and boundaries. The disenfranchisement of the Fawn Type begins in childhood... learns early that a modicum of safety and attachment can be gained by becoming the helpful and compliant servant of... exploitive parents." (As an aside, this type is formed from having at least one narcissistic parent who beat wore down the first natural human response-- Fight-- the second response-- Flight-- and the third response-- Freeze-- until all that is left is Fawn.) Dana Scully has never kowtowed or cheaply sold her self-respect to appease to others; and has only ever dipped into the Fawn Response as a capitulation or bargaining tool, hence why it is her secondary and not primary response.
Thank you for reading~
Enjoy!
**Disclaimers: Most of the information was obtained from Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker, a private counselor and lecturer for thirty-five years. As a victim of CPTSD himself, he made a study of its victims and helped craft a system for CPTSD recoverees to understand themselves and progressively heal. (Highly recommend his book-- excellent.)
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fieldsofwax · 10 months
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the entirety of tvd is about two brothers who from childhood, as a trauma response (abusive alcoholic father), colluded with each other into playing roles of morally good brother and bad brother and them doing all they can to reinforce that (damon the scapegoat, stefan the secretive ‘hero’) -but vampirism, as a condition of forced moral greyness, challenges this act of being moral opposites that they do. Stefan continued the cycle of “addiction” in being a ripper as a vampire, and Damon displays dry drunkenness and scapegoat/rebel behavior. And when a human (who is not forced into moral greyness)-Elena (the mediator), manages to actually get to know these vampires, she gets to them to realize that neither is "good" or "bad"-no one is.
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This is best displayed in the season 7 scene of Damon and Stefan as children. Their alcoholic father proclaims that someone stole his money out of the house. Damon takes the fall for it so that Stefan doesn’t get abused. Their father then asks Stefan to grab his lighter so that he can light the cigar that he uses to burn Damon with as punishment.
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