[THREAD] I had suspended threads because it is already a tough time and I didn’t want to add to it by speaking about anxiety inducing topics. But I think this one is fitting and I will finish it on a good note. So let’s talk about community PTSD. Many of us have experienced

trauma of one from or another. Generally, this trauma is experienced by only one person or a select few. However, there are times when community trauma happens. This is when trauma inducing experiences happen to a big group of people like in wars. However, this is the first

time in history where the whole planet is experiencing community trauma. Not even world war 2 or the Spanish flu were this far reaching because globalization was still in its early days. So what does it mean for us as humans from all corners of the planet and how do we recover?

If you remember before this pandemic started, it seemed like we were at an all time high division between factions, ethnicities, political loyalties, etc...While these still exist and will likely continue, we all have a traumatic experience that we are all going through

regardless of any differences. Many of us minorities have gone through instances of community trauma, whether it was because of discrimination, violence against groups, survivors of assaults and abuse. There were always pockets of community trauma.

When we all experience this, how does it change us? Well if we go by how individual trauma affects people, there is a big mental health impact that needs treatment and when recovery happens, there is generally a bigger empathy for those who share our trauma and better attuned

to the suffering of others because we have experienced hell and survived it. When we have PTSD, we gain a lot of respect for the people who treat us and those who are there for us in the difficult times. So if we were to extrapolate to this worldwide community trauma, it would

mean that empathy, a feeling of community, being grateful for all health care workers, and a return to listening to scientists and experts will likely make a return. We realize that despite all our differences, this shared trauma didn’t discriminate between us. It has connected

us beyond any differences. Hopefully, this community trauma can lead to some beautiful consequences after our collective recovery, a value for life, for our planet, for fellow human beings regardless of differences and a sense of collective community. There is a lot of growth

that happens in all survivors of mental health following their recovery. This is something that gives me a lot of hope and helps me through this pandemic and all those who reach out to me in big distress and anxiety because of everything that is going on. Please cope and do your

best to go through this because better days are coming even if it will take a little while. I am also here to talk when you are not feeling. Stay safe