The picture looks like the box isn’t sealable. Do the wipes not dry out after a few days?

That’s a pretty good metaphor

I was lucky to get both physical and verbal abuse from my family, so I’m just a grown up mess now.

I am glad to see the studies come out that validate these experiences on a more empirical level.

Depending on what high school I was from, a lot of former classmates in my first high school wouldn’t even recognize me since both my name and gender presentation are much different now.

I had to transfer partway into my high school years because the school admins had serious safety concerns for when I leave the property (it was mostly filled with aspiring gangstas, extreme homophobes and few decent people in the mix). Least to say, I was harassed and bullied over my behaviour pre-transition.

Yuuup, I really don’t think my traumas made me “stronger” or “thick-skinned”, but instead I feel like I’m even more fragile than before, sensitive and still just as easy to cry.

Now I struggle to talk or hold conversations because I get exhausted from thinking up of response options and picking the most appropriate ones for the context and gauge the level of sharing to give in personal responses, usually by then there’s already a shift to a different topic or interest, and then my process resets.

It’s hard since letting my mouth run has gotten me into a lot of trouble/getting bullied and sometimes, hurt people.

Then there’s the fun part where since I’m accustomed to unsafe situations/interactions, my nervous system sends signals that I’m unsafe when I’m in safe situations/interactions and I… kinda just lock up since my experiences with feelings of safety is that it’s usually short-lived and something bad is going to drop and I gotta prepare somehow

There’s also the access to help which if there is a lot of intense and specialized help needed, tends to come at a cost in both monetary and time aspects. Some people that need the most help can be the least likely to be able to afford those therapy sessions (even at a sliding scale) and in my experience looking for help, the availability of those specialists are limited to like a 10-5, weekday schedule too.

I’m not trying to excuse the attitude, but the serious, intensive help isn’t quite something you can get by from using a “budget”-oriented therapy service or from student therapists, and depending on the severity of the problem, some may require a minimum of weekly visits or visiting multiple times a week.

In my case of finding a trauma-informed therapist, it would cost me well over $1k/month to deal with my issues. So I just keep my mouth shut and try to leave out talking about my problems to my friends until I can afford to start my sessions.

I’ve held an interview with one of my former school bullies from highschool for a position under my team. I only had a suspicion when I came across the resume, but I just knew it was him when I saw his face on cam.

It was nice seeing him fumble over the curveball technical questions that I threw at him, and told HR that he wasn’t only a poor fit, but not to even send a follow up response l either.

Furry sysadmin and trans girl reporting here lol