āretraumatization through media is not a healthy coping mechanism and exposing yourself to something that idealizes, sexualizes, and/or romanticizes your trauma is not exposure therapy.ā
Iām just gonna copy and paste it. And actually now I have to talk about it. Hereās the thing, knowing the OP is an anti makes this post actually fucking stupid and twisted and intentionally vague for brain warming reasons, so Iām going to give you a true take.
What I assumed OP was talking about was finding media where people experience what you went through, and re-experiencing it in an unguided way, on your own, outside of a community, or just specifically Alone. In a setting where you are consuming triggering content created by someone you donāt know, you have no control and your body knows that. Even if you do know the person, if you arenāt Very far along in your recovery, even that will likely make you feel like you arenāt in control. Feeling out of control while being triggered is literally how retraumatisation happens. Either of those WILL retraumatise you and it isnāt health.
But knowing this person is an Anti, they are probably suggesting that writing stories or creating media, which includes your trauma, is the same as the above thing.
You absolutely do NOT want to spend very much time in someone elseās trauma while you are recovering. It will set you back and it will make processing your own trauma extremely confusing.
But creating your own media which is about your trauma is ABSOLUTELY a way for you to externalise and reprocess your experiences in a healthy way. Especially if you can package that trauma into an analogy that allows you to share your emotional experience with people close to you. In fact, you can use kink in that way, and In Fact, I have used my writing, my 12 year old primary setting, as an outlet for reprocessing my trauma by writing about it and itās EXTREMELY helpful. In particular, it makes me feel EXTREMELY in control of the things that have hurt me and makes compartmentalisation DRASTICALLY easier.
But sometimes people need to externalise their experiences in ways that are truly horrible to look at, and they still Need to do that to get the emotions out of their body. That is not in itself unhealthy, but it is a kind of therapy, which means that in order to actually help, it needs to be done in a disciplined and deliberate way.
Donāt attempt any kind of therapy on yourself ALONE! Donāt attempt any kind of therapy on yourself without people who you trust around. Every kind of therapy no matter how minor seeming, has the capacity to unravel bits of your trauma that you may not be ready for. Always seek supervision and support by someone you can trust.
But also, intentionally exposing yourself to triggering content that you have no control over , ESPECIALLY if it was created by a stranger to you, has the propensity to harm you Severely. Even with supervision, it is almost always harmful, and isnāt exposure therapy. It can even lead to horrifying situations of becoming trauma bonding to a stranger who doesnāt even know you exist.
Just Donāt reexpose yourself if it isnāt coming Directly from your head, and if youāve made significant progress, then maybe you can hear personal stories from people you know and trust. Just Donāt ever expose yourself to triggering material produced by a stranger. Just simply donāt. It will hurt you.
Oh but also regardless of justification people can write whatever they want and they donāt owe you an explanation.
Also donāt ever reblog this I have no interest whatsoever fielding questions from antis who think a moralistic surveillance state is an acceptable way to āprotectā people, I will never ever be in the mood for that and my mental state is barely holding on by a fucking thread. So just donāt. This is post is for you lucky few. If you want to paraphrase me without credit, go ahead.
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