I’ve been carrying someone else’s trauma around in my head, even though it didn’t happen to me directly. I hear the details, picture what they went through, and then my mind keeps replaying it when I’m trying to sleep or doing something completely unrelated.
The hardest part is feeling guilty for being affected. I know I’m not the person who lived through it, so part of me thinks I should just be able to listen, help, and move on. But lately I’ve noticed I’m more tense, jumpy, and emotionally worn out. Sometimes I catch myself expecting something bad to happen, even when everything is calm.
I don’t want to make their pain about me, and I also don’t want to shut them out. I’m trying to figure out how to care about someone without absorbing everything they’ve been through. Has anyone found a way to keep those memories from taking over their own head?