[RaphTurtle]

My trauma happened some months ago and I was in denial and kept suppressing it and telling myself it was all my fault. Finally told my therapist and totally broke down. Started having more severe mood swings/rapid cycling with my bipolar. Nightmares started getting worse, dissociating more, intrusive thoughts and flashbacks became more frequent. Is this normal that once you open up about trauma for the symptoms to increase so significantly? Im too scared to move forward with processing and working on it in therapy because I feel like it will make it even worse? But it's effecting me so much I know I need to work on it and that's where I'm feeling lost and stuck.

[Open Eyes]

It's normal to struggle even more when allowing self to talk about it. It's important that you explore how you were affected though so you can grieve whatever you feel you lost from the trauma, even when that includes "trust in self". It's normal for individuals struggling to self blame and feel shame and anger. It is hard at first, but when you have a therapist help you work through these feelings you can make some gains on helping "self" and healing.