Hey everyone! I'm new to this place and reason for joining is to find answers regarding interpersonal relationships from my past that, I'm suspecting, are still affecting me to this day.


9 years ago I met someone whom I got very close to and found out some troubling things from their past.

dealing with depression and trichotillomania and intense sense of worthlessness.

I'm talking about her issues out of retrospect but I was 19 and given I was the only person she ever told me made me feel special, like I could save her or something to that context.


to cut to the chase, the relationship was turbulent. She fell in love with someone else and that was it. We had a huge falling out and I cut her out of my life permanently


I'm happily with someone else and I don't regret it. However, during the past relationship I felt her trauma seep through me and It has changed my views on the world. I was told by colleague that it was a sign that I really cared about her and her well being.


I didn't really know what I was going through until I read up something called Vicarious Trauma, in which mental health care providers pretty much absorb patients trauma and it can have negative lasting impact on them.


I never really read about people who weren't first responders or mental health care professionals who were experiencing symptoms.


Has anyone experience secondary or vicarious trauma as a regular person? I just need to know so I can finally get treated.