Is Trauma Informed Thinking Promoting “Victim Mentality”?

Well, certainly not any more than the use of the word trauma to describe everything from the reaction to not liking a food to the reaction to having one’s home shelled during war.

“Victim mentality” is often infused with entitlement and privilege. In the years during which my commitment to myself was a victim was a silent cloak for me? I was pretty sure that somebody owed me something for my suffering because of all that happened to me. It was unfathomable that in addition to paying with my sanity, I had to pay for healing. Talk about a double-whammy!

Here’s what’s also true--I may have been victimized by different events, and even people--and I am not a victim. I do not have an “illness”--no virus, bacteria, or germ involved. I do not have a disorder, although there was a time when my behavior was pretty rugged.

When I realized that I needed, as much as anything, to learn skills I simply missed ? Missed because I was too busy trying to survive? Focusing on what I missed and mastering it made it impossible for me to stay stuck in being a victim.

I am so thankful--learning has saved my life again. No, Trauma Informed Thinking doesn’t promote victim mentality. It focuses on learning.