Thanks Brillstep. I've read some of Frankl's work (I can't remember if I actually got through the entire book. It was very good, but I kept crying... so I may not have finished it). The idea of making meaning as the way to process something makes sense, but seems really hard too.

Growlycat - thanks for the reality check. It makes more sense to me that they wouldn't just magically get better, and perhaps the articles I've seen were just putting things in the best light possible.

Thanks Partless. That makes a lot of sense that feeling isolated and alone would make any trauma worse, while feeling connected to others would help lessen the impact. It lines up with things I've seen talking about parenting, how if your child has something traumatic happen, a lot of how well they deal with it depends on how connected and supported they are within their family. It's kind of sad, because I feel like our society is getting less connected (but maybe that's just my bias, from my very disconnected family).

Really good advice to reach out and stay connected, though I think that some of us have families that are not... helpful to connect with. But, it's good to try to find friends you can connect with and support that way.

(((Divine1966))) I'm sorry for your losses. I cry too when I try to talk about this stuff, because it's so overwhelming to me to think about. I was crying in piano lesson earlier this week, talking about this stuff with my teacher. It really is awful to think about (but should not be forgotten). Thanks for adding to the discussion, it makes me really sad to think of people surviving so much only to want to kill themselves after.

Missbella - I'm not really good at history, so honestly, I hadn't thought of all the other disruptions to normal life that people faced, even when they weren't hauled away to a concentration camp. And, I saw something about the critical incident debriefing therapy too recently! I think I saw it on a list of therapies that could be potential damaging to people - and I was *really* surprised. I thought it was considered very well thought of as a way to help folks immediately start to process. I guess not?

Feralkittymom - thanks for the book recommendation, I'll look for it. It sounds interesting.

StarryNight, thanks. I really do understand the inclination to not talk about things. That's probably my #1 sticking point in therapy, and when I started trying to be more open, my brain started obsessing over the song that goes... "don't want to, don't want to talk about it... I said why not? Don't want to think about it!"

I get that... but I wonder how they're able to go on anyway. Maybe that's a question for everyone here, and maybe it's just what people *do*. I feel like there are things in my life where, even though the trauma seems to be very small, my reaction was a big *oh heck no, no way, no how, not ever going there, uh-uh".

Lots of hugs to you all, and good wishes for everyone suffering from any kind of trauma. May we all find some meaning, and peace, and joy, and hope... and all that good stuff.