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[serious] What survival reflexes of your own experience are hard for you to get rid of? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 13 hours ago by Merlu@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Either from abusive parents, toxic relationships, short or long term bullying or any other kind of traumatic past that gave you some survival reflexes that are not longer relevant but are hard for you to get rid of.

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[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 9 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (2 children)

I'm a queer person raised in the US but now living in a saner country. I'm slowly realizing how much living in the US has traumatized me.

Whenever I go to a large gathering I instinctually look for the exits and try to stay near them.
Still scared to go to the doctor.
Minor one, there's a lot of apartment buildings around me named "__ Arms". In the US, I would expect anything with that name to be a huge gun store covered in white supremacist branding. I still side eye the sign whenever I pass by.
Expecting government offices to be heavily armed and require going through TSA levels of security. Turns out other countries aren't police states that treat you like a criminal by default.
Same thing for small venues
Driving is its own ball of anxiety and trauma
Expecting anything with sugar to be sickly sweet. It's no wonder why the US is so obese

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 36 minutes ago (1 children)

Expecting government offices to be heavily armed and require going through TSA levels of security. Turns out other countries aren't police states that treat you like a criminal by default.

lots do but not that openly

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 1 points 12 minutes ago* (last edited 9 minutes ago)

Oh for sure, but in the few cases I've gone into a routine govt office here it's usually just a few guys at the front by reception.

In the US, they X-ray everything and question me about my (fairly mundane) fidget spinner like I'm carrying around a WMD on my keychain. I have to empty my purse and take out anything that a schizophrenic might consider suspicious.