[TW:Pandemic] What is a clearer word for "Trauma"?

[Jazzy]

I have been thinking about the fact that I have recently come out of "survival mode" after 30 years. I've been looking for a word to explain this concept to my doctors, but the only one I can think of is "traumatized". The word "traumatized" does not even begin to capture the reality of spending 30 years in survival mode, so I'm looking for a way to express that more clearly.

This leads me to another thought about the name "Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". Those words are all wrong. I find that nearly everything labelled "complex" is wrong. Complexity is merely a collection of simple things, which can be understood by breaking them apart and learning about each simple thing one at a time, then how they fit together. Perhaps that's what "complex" means, but I was always taught that it meant "complicated" or "difficult".

Regardless, the point is that "Years of barely staying staying alive by constantly being in survival mode" is much more accurate than "Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". I've been traumatized for 30 years and working to heal from it for over 5, yet I did not realize what the word meant until today. Based on this, I don't think it's fair to expect anyone else to understand, so the words must be changed to something that is understandable.

It's like how I call the current pandemic "the plague". Names like "the novel coronavirus of 2019" are great for the history books, but they are so disconnected from the reality of the current day situation, specifically all the suffering and death that is happening every day. I think people use words like these to hide from the painful truth of reality. This is very sad because we must embrace the pain in order to overcome it.

How many more people will become traumatized, suffer, and die while we hide behind the comfort of politically correct language like this?

[Jazzy]

I now see things differently after 4 or 5 hours of peaceful sleep.

Words like "The Novel Coronavirus of 2019" and "Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" are fine, not only for the history books, but for the use of experts in their respective fields. Most people, especially the media, and even professionals I have worked with, like doctors and psychiatrists, are not experts.

People adopt this expert phrasing because it helps them feel better about themselves. However it is very harmful to many others. Propping people and things up by external means like this is such a horrible thing to do. Not only does it hurt others, but it makes people and things look better than they are, which directly hinders the possibility of fixing the underlying problem.

I see this behaviour all throughout society, people looking for a quick and easy fix, instead of taking the time and effort to fix the underlying problems in order to have a solid foundation to build upon.

What is required is a social change to embrace painful truths, in order to truly make things better in the long run.