Dont know if I can help much, I don't have trauma related to my childhood but I can easily relate to others and their feelings, I'm an empathetic person so sometimes when I see a character suffering I feel my chest burning, it kind hurts sometimes even and I feel my heart beating very fast. Maybe having trauma can be triggering but I think that it also depends how much you can resonate with the characters and story. Personally I prefer when I can suffer with the characters because I feel like I'm really envolved with the story and everything feels real. (It can also mean that the author made a really good job writing everything). OH something I also suffer is how some storys have some embarrassing stuff... sometimes I have to stop and breath before continuing riding, otherwise it's physically impossible for me to finish the story
hi sender how u doing? hope u doing good.
i am one of the reader without childhood trauma (as far as i know) but instead i have a friend that experience child abuse both ways (physically and mentally) as he grow up and i lost that friend. here is what i feel, i don't have any physical hurt due to reading, i just feel slightly uncomfort. i think it's pretty understandable because the story is heavily build as psychological genre. i just feel uncomfortable to be witness his trauma without doing anything. i feel useless and found my self crying (but i still continue after i let those emotion out). those uncomfortable feeling happened again and again until Ethan able to letting go the past, after that i feel relief and regret. but still, i relief. from the bottom of my heart, i wish i was jimmy so i could help him overcome his trauma and save him, or i wish i was character 'A' so atleast i have the luxury to told him to held it for once. i was so scared back then, i scared to hurt him even more by my thought and led him to do something i never want to happen. all i can do mostly told him "it's gonna be okay, everything gonna be just fine, you'll be alright", but he wasn't alright and till the end never be!! i wondering, why someone as sweet as them had to hold this burden, life was so harsh for them. even im crying while writing this hahaa, how pathetic i am, i don't have any right. i couldn't save him yet i wondering when it was too late.
back to discussion, this is only prejudice of mine, but i think u need to consult to the professional if u continuously get hurt by watching or reading this typical of works. we may not experience it, but we feel emotional pressure as a watcher. we might held that burden, think that as our responsibilities and subconsciously affect us. this one based on experience, i can't help my self with this grief and regret but you, you can. it's not too late. held ur mother tightly, told her u love her and at a very least she has you by her side. take her on family date once in a while. keep her save, make her happy. this is the only thing i could suggest you, I'm sorry if this doesn't help you at all.
As someone who has childhood trauma, yes that happens sometimes. Story like this tend to hit home even if the situations aren't the same. While reading stories like this I can get headaches, chest pain, and even emotionally my own mental health issues can act up. I don't usually heavily affected by just read. It's just slight reactions that don't last long like mentioned before. The only time I actually have to stop reading and calm down is when the situation or characters are too alike to my irl situations, especially if the character has a similar personality to mine.
If the situation in the story is too close to my own, I feel like I'm taking a look at the past. It brings up unpleasant memories. Plus I get extremely attached to the character going through those situations. So I kinda feel how the character feels. It's much worse if the character has a similar personality to mine or acts like I do. Then it really feels like seeing my past drawn out. That can lead to having my triggers set off and I start spiraling for longer than usual. Nothing I can't handle. Honestly as triggering as some stories can be, I feel a bit comforted knowing there's someone out there who relates. Plus seeing a happy ending to stories like that makes me feel over the moon.
Hi!
I have a quick question for those reading without childhood trauma (and those with trauma, too, really): do you ever feel, like, physical pain when reading things like this?
For context, my mother was emotionally/verbally (but thankfully (besides the very rare light pushing, death grips, etc) not physically*) abusive.
Sometimes, when reading stuff like this, I get pain. Not like major pain, but for example for a good 15-to-20-or-so chapters my right lung hurt? Is this just a feeling emotions thing, or a trauma thing?
(I also had to manually breathe during the whole lung thing, which was great )
My left arm also was numb with some pain all up that nerve for like the entire second half, but I think that was probably more because of how I was sitting (plus my left arm is the arm I hold my phone with) (I binge-read the entire thing).
What sorts of pain do y’all experience reading these? Please specify if you have trauma or not so I can parse that in my mind.
Thank you for any comments that might help me figure this out.