Don’t even get me started on the concept of “repetition compulsion” in psychological trauma. It may well help some people explain their experiences but it should never be used as a means to disempower survivors and impose a narrative on them that may not be true in many cases.
That it sometimes works this way is not an excuse to suggest that victims seek to repeat their trauma as some kind of general rule. This is false & damaging in many cases & I’m not ok with having that narrative imposed on me by people who know nothing of my trauma.
I did not seek out the repetition of my trauma. How dare anyone suggest this is a general rule as if repeated trauma requires some kind of explanation in the unconscious wishes or behavior of the victim? I’m not saying there’s any shame if that happens or there’s no nuance to it
But to suggest it as some kind of a priori rule or something generally proven is gross AF and really says something about the questions people ask of survivors of repeated trauma: “what must *you* have done or secretly wished for this to happen again?”
I know it’s complex bc of course this can be part of some survivor’s experiences and there’s no shame in that but when narratives purportedly true for all are forced upon survivors as a reason to discount what they share & how they understand their own experiences it’s super ick
So bring me the proof or stop with the insistence on seeking to locate the cause of trauma in the survivor. There may be truth to it sometimes. It may be outright false other times. The only way to know is to empower survivors to share their stories and believe them.
Oops the rest of the thread got put in the wrong spot and aren’t visible. Adding those tweets here (note the typo as well...I meant to say “I’m starting to feel”) https://twitter.com/crys_tom/status/1329715017617313795
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