Stop the Olympics (Trauma Olympics, that is)

I’m sure you’ve experienced this: “my trauma’s worse than yours,” “I’ve had more trauma than you’ve had…” “No, you haven’t!” “ Yes, I have! Mine is way worse than yours.”

You know what? That’s the problem when everybody needs to be special and when you rely on an exclusive set of criteria. Reality? Everyone is trauma-exposed. Everyone has faced something so overwhelming they think they might die or lose their mind or be badly injured. No? Okay, they inherit the impact of these things that their ancestors experienced (whether or not those genetic impacts express is a different matter).

We cling to an event named basis for trauma because it’s the way we’ve talked about it for years. This being America, we all want to be special, unique, and different. Trauma doesn’t care.

If you want to stop the Trauma Olympics, stop making it a competition for whose stuff is worse. Drop the diagnoses. Pick up the idea of universal exposure with a unique response.