Trauma Bonding, You’re Doing It Wrong
Somehow, we seem to keep having these types of misunderstandings…
After listening to various misguided online conversations, I decided to make this post. While I’m excited that more people are starting to learn about toxic relationships and how they affect our mental health, it’s also rather annoying to see so many people using overused buzzwords that they haven’t researched and don’t fully understand.
“Trauma bonding” is such a term. I’ve been hearing this critical term peppered throughout various relationship discussions. However, it seems that it’s rarely used in the proper capacity. So, since you’re clearly someone who cares enough to learn about such things, let’s clear this matter up once and for all.
What it Isn’t…
Before we delve into what trauma bonding is, let’s first discuss what it isn’t. And that is the general internet definition, which means bonding over sharing traumatic stories. But unfortunately, I’ve come to realize that many people seem to believe that trauma bonding is literally bonding over past traumas.
However, this is not the case. Based on this definition, trauma bonding would be a totally normal and acceptable convention. It’s actually very natural to bond with others over shared traumatic experiences. Doing so can help us feel understood…
