Is this you?

Common Characteristics of non-physical, attachment Chronic Covert Trauma Survivors

Your family growing up looked pretty good — no alcoholism, no incest, no physical violence. It’s never occurred to you to use the term “trauma” to apply to your childhood experiences.

But yet, some of these difficulties trouble you today:

• unsatisfied or lonely in relationships; sensitive to invalidation and abandonment,
• wishing for a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in life,
• physical problems including fatigue or pain
• bothered by reliance on food, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, pain medications, internet, tv, coffee, colas, shopping,
• lack of spontaneity, zest and a sense of joy and fun,
• hard on yourself or alternately harsh and permissive,
• self-hate, even self-loathing, depression, irritability, anxiety or extreme fatigue come “out of the blue” and “for no reason”
• confusion about what is “really” bothering you and why,
• shame and guilt around being “silly” or “oversensitive” or “making a mountain out of a molehill”

You may also have some of these non-physical, attachment Chronic Covert Trauma surivor strengths:

• compassion for those who suffer
• empathetic, very sensitive to the needs of others
• responsible, dependable, reliable
• helpful, cooperative
• able to put things aside and function “if necessary” and you often feel it’s necessary
• capacity to keep on functioning while feeling distressed.
• skillful in acting cheerful, even if you feel lousy on the inside.
• self-reliant, capable of finding ways of getting what’s needed or of doing without.
• skilled at redirecting your attention away from inner states that would interfere with responsibilities and functioning in the outer world.
• do not burden others with your difficulties

If you have even a few of these characteristics, you might benefit from exploring the possibility that Chronic Covert Trauma (CCT), especially non-physical, attachment Chronic Covert Trauma (naCCT) in your childhood relationships, is a factor in your life today.