On today's episode: how trauma1 fuels cognitive dissonance, specifically when healing from withdrawal.
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The emergency tactics of the human brain are effective methods of self-preservation as well as spectacular exercises in self-sabotage.
Take stress: the ability to enter 'fight or flight' at the blink of an eye is an outdated function, working as intended. Modern threats to our survival are much more tangential than your friendly neighbourhood sabertooth tiger, but the nervous system still responds to due rent as it would to a predator.
Social withdrawal as a trauma response has aged a bit better - creating a buffer between us and the people that hurt us still serves to give us time to lick our wounds without the risk of reopening them - but there are significant downsides to keeping your distance for longer periods of time (including but not limited to: depression, heart problems, existential torment2, a shortened lifespan).
In pervasive situations, the detrimental effects of isolation have to be weighed against whatever drove us there in the first place. Both can be incredibly harmful to our sense of community and sense of self, and if we are repeatedly cycling back and forth between opening up and drawing back, the two sides might feed into each other to create a merciless self-fulfilling prophecy.
Each failed attempt to reintegrate - every time you were a little too bold or let your guard down a little too soon - justifies and perpetuates the (real or imagined) inadequacy that others us from the rest of the group. Trauma knows better, why didn't you listen to it? Why would this time be any different?
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If you're wondering if there's a name for this, the answer is yes. Rejection-sensitive dysphoria (or RSD) is characteristic of neurotypes that commonly experience social rejection at a young age, fine-tuning our perception of exactly that to a painfully counterproductive degree.
In previous posts, I've talked about how growing up undiagnosed is permeated by a constant feeling of being in the wrong - RSD kindly provides a "better safe than sorry" approach to the fallout of whatever it is we've said or done this time.3
It should come as no surprise that developing self-compassion (arguably our greatest asset in caring for our mental health) is a rather grueling task for this subgroup of society. After all, compassion isn't that readily offered to us, especially the kind that comes from a place of understanding.
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Coming out of isolation signals the end of a metamorphosis that, if we've managed to unlearn a bit of fearful perfectionism, may involve having a few new boundaries in place, perhaps a pinky promise with yourself to do whatever it takes to show up authentically in some way.
This is where the cognitive dissonance comes in, because now that you're going out and talking to people again, there is a raging battle going on in your head. Inside of you there are four wolves:
- one that's determined to find some genuine connection and is ready to meet people halfway;
- one that would rather pretend to be a papillon than risk ever getting hurt again;
- one that is convinced you are entirely undeserving of anyone's time and should go rot in a hole;
- and one that's angry at having to isolate, angry at having to do the work, and very fucking angry at having to wheedle your way back into people's lives for the sake of your stupid mental health.
Overthinking minute interactions is difficult to avoid when you've done nothing but think for the foreseeable past, and now you've got all these built-up feelings grappling with each other while you're trying to remember how socialising works.
Also, people are generally more well-meaning than they are frank, and if you're not tuned into the non-verbal gestures station you are at quite the disadvantage in determining what sort of impression of you people are left with, something that scares me more than I'd like to admit.
Still, what can a girl do but try?
Whether we've given up on it or not, connection is our north star in this whole mess or a journey. We cannot ignore the pull to be seen (even those of us who hate being perceived) for who we are.
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1 Terminology side note: when I say "trauma", I'm using the clinical definition.
2 Great read. Turns out that isolating really puts you in touch with your own mortality (and I thought I was just being extra).
🖤💗Courage has been stated to be a beagle (with the explanation that PINK beagles only come from the Middle of Nowhere, though I think he’s more of a light fuchsia).
Assuming he lives the averaged lifespan for a beagle (13.5 years), that’s a total of 425,736,000 seconds (or exactly 7,095,600 minutes). Now the entire series run was 1,144 minutes (or 19 hours and 4 minutes). So, if we divide 7,095,000 by 1,144, we get 6,202. Judging by this, we only saw about 1/6202 of Courage’s life.
In the show, Courage spent a total of 1,298 seconds (or 21:38 minutes) screaming, which is 1/53 of the show. 53 times 6,202 is 328,705.
This means that Courage spent 1/328705 of his ENTIRE LIFE screaming (or 1,681,158 seconds, which is 28,019:20 minutes (WHICH IS ABOUT 46 HOURS AND 56 MINUTES AND 20 SECONDS))!!!!💗🖤
will you please be quiet, please? & kafka on the shore
his every nerve spears and pierces through his skin at the grasp to his elbow. he considers spitting in chilton's face.
most kids your age wouldn't make it this far.
"i suggest," the parlance borrowed for this particular audience, "you let me—go." he tears himself away before the final word. two long breaths, inhale-exhale, unsettle his chest. then, deliberately obtuse, "you like thinking about kids?"
