Are my poor problem-solving “skills” the result of trauma?
I feel like a dysfunctional adult in my late twenties. Life constantly feels overwhelming and my nervous system is constantly in fight or flight mode. I’m constantly in my head instead of grounded and present. When multiple challenges pile up, my brain will shut down and my nervous system collapse. I then feel like dying.
I have suffered from some form of abuse in my childhood. The first one I can think of is my neighbor who was a year older than me (I was 7) sexually abusing me. My mom caught us and I never said anything, I just endured being scolded and told how wrong it was.
Around the same age I was tied down in my bed by my cousins and brother, and they pulled my pants down and laughed for a while at my genitals. I did not say a word either. I just felt numb during that moment.
Around the same age (I know) a very difficult aunt of mine made up a story of me touching her in her privates. I was with my cousins, aunt and uncle, and we were all lying in their bed just talking. I used to place my hands RIGHT beside my body on the mattress, ALWAYS. This was no exception. I remember her repeatedly yelling no! And I could hear her from the other side of the bed, not next to me. I was then told to get out of the room. I later found out I touched her? And I was seen as a pervert by my mom, her sisters and my own grandma.
I honestly have more like these, where I was abused and blamed for it , but these are just to give you an idea. I don’t know if the way my nervous system works is rooted in these events, but I truly feel like a little child when navigating life.
I also constantly dissociate and daydream, I frequently put on music and pretend I’m someone else, and completely disconnect from the present moment.
Posted Dec 1, 2025, 4:01 AM UTC