Charlie Kirk and Secondary Traumatic Stress STS

Charlie Kirk and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS)
https://infighting.org/causes-of-infighting/secondary-traumatic-stress

​A key driver of our collective trauma from Charlie Kirks public execution and the undermining of his Leadership of Turning Point USA is secondary traumatic stress (STS). STS is just like post-traumatic stress, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), except that post-traumatic stress affects the direct victims of violence, while STS affects the witnesses to violence. (STS has also been referred to as “vicarious traumatization” and “compassion fatigue.”) STS is experienced by many good people who are working to end violence. Not only does STS contribute to infighting, but infighting can exacerbate STS, resulting in a feedback loop. 

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Symptoms of STS include (but aren’t limited to) the following:

1. dysregulation (having a nervous system that’s out of balance and experiencing emotions that may feel difficult or impossible to manage)
2. emotional lability (having intense emotions  and an unstable mood that may change rapidly and unpredictably)
3. feeling like your efforts (e.g., to end the suffering you’ve witnessed) are never enough
4. misanthropy
5. intrusive thoughts (images of the suffering you’ve seen or know is happening suddenly coming to mind)
6. survivor guilt (feeling guilty for not suffering like others are or have suffered, and for simply feeling good)
7. traumatic thinking (seeing the world as an ongoing traumatic event, with only three roles to be played—victim, perpetrator, or hero)