All of us on the train huddled together in the middle section away from the windows hoping to not be discovered by whoever was putting us in danger. My friend and I desperately embraced each other in silence as we horrifyingly awaited our fate. I heard everyone gasp. When I turned my head, I suddenly became petrified as I watched the gunman enter our refuge.
Thankfully, I woke up before I dreamt anything further.
This nightmare is an example from my own life of what secondary trauma looks like.
I awoke from this after learning the day before about the two separate shootings that happened in Orlando this past weekend—the first killing young singer Christina Grimmie after her concert, and the second occurring just hours later at the nightclub leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded. While reading up on both cases, I felt immense sorrow for the victims who were killed knowing they experienced such terror in their last moments. I also felt absolutely distraught for their loved ones who now have to mourn their loss by going through a most difficult grieving process.
As I continued reading different opinions of what others had to say about these intentional disasters, trying to make sense of what they are feeling and put it into words, I realized that the rest of the world, although not directly affected, could now suffer secondary trauma from this event. This means that we will feel similar symptoms as those who go through post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after hearing about the firsthand trauma experiences by others.
I have recognized my own symptoms making themselves known to me the past couple of days............................................................................................
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