I think I first came across the idea for this post on TikTok or Facebook.
You know, some of our "bad" or "unhealthy" habits might actually be long-term trauma responses.
Anyway, let me give you some examples.
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You stay up late because it's the only time you feel at peace, the only time you can finally sort out and process what happened throughout the day.
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You spend most of your time doomscrolling because you're afraid of your own thoughts. You don't want to sit with them.
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You've become a perfectionist because it's the only way you feel like you're actually in control.
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You feel exhausted, burned out, all the time because the piling-up stress has left you stuck in that state.
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You over-communicate or repeat yourself too many times because you feel anxious when you're not sure you've been heard.
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You procrastinate not because you're lazy, but because you're overwhelmed by the fear of failure or rejection.
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You isolate yourself when things get tough because that's the only way you know how to protect yourself.
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You constantly seek approval from others because deep down, you feel like you're not enough on your own.
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You avoid conflict or saying "no" because you're scared of being rejected or hurting someone, even if it hurts you instead.
I could go on and on.
I'm not a psychologist, and I don't know whether all of these are really correlated or not. But at least some of them have happened to me. These habits we've been labeling as "bad" or "unhealthy" might actually just be our coping strategies. Things we developed to survive everything we've been through in the past.
I believe being aware of all this is the first step toward "healing" ourselves. And healing doesn’t mean fixing everything all at once. It means understanding where these habits come from and being kind to yourself while you figure it out.
So, good luck!