Guilt for being traumatized

[DD]

I'm noticing how much guilt I feel over being traumatized. Every time I have a trauma-based reaction, the moment I notice how badly I've over-reacted, I'm hit with a  of guilt. It's guilt of being a burden on the person who supported me. It's the feeling of I'm not all here as I am a quilt of pieces of a personality thanks to the life I have lived. It keeps impacting people who had nothing to do with the original thing and I feel so much guilt over that. What ways have you come up with to alleviate this feeling? Because if I then ask for support for the guilt, then it's another spiral and it's a never-ending loop.

[Kizzie]

I have a long history of feeling guilty for being 'that person', the one with issues and sensitivities and reactions...  As I read your post though I realized that I am feeling less so these days and the reason is understanding emotionally not just intellectually that I am this way for good reason. I was abused, we all were (and/or neglected) and that had ramifications on the heart, body and mind as anyone here can attest to.

Would I give up being 'that person' if I could?  In a heartbeat. It isn't about attention seeking, if anything many of us hide our symptoms as best we can and then when they leak out because our mental and physical system are overwhelmed, boom we feel that guilt you write about.

In addition to now knowing that my symptoms are part of who I am because of what happened to me (the same as if I'd been in a car accident), I see now that if someone has a medical condition likes heart issues, cancer or whatever, we (society) don't hold them accountable and we understand they need to manage their health and well-being. I've come to believe that we deserve the same. It's one reason for this website, forum and for the book and healthcare project just completed - they are meant to educate others (and ourselves) about what happened to us, how it impacted us, why we deserve understanding, respect and support, and to take away the guilt so many of us feel.

I hope you will be able to let go of the guilt as you recover