Why we can’t regulate: Watching Due Process Vanish

Illustration of a woman in distress by Liz Pop Art

Source: Liz Pop Art

When the News Feels Relentless

I can’t remember the last time I read a headline that wasn’t traumatic. I scroll, I pause to take a deep breath, I brace and still the news finds its way into my mind.

Carrying Collective Fear Into the Therapy Room

My clients come into session carrying the same headlines I am trying to process. They carry their own experiences of fear, loved ones being taken away, and hiding from a knock that could change their lives forever.

What Chronic Stress Does to the Nervous System

Our nervous systems are shot.

Not because we aren’t “self caring” enough, not because we’re broken, but shot from ongoing systemic threats. We are experiencing fatigue. Brain fog. Insomnia. Heart palpitations. Racing thoughts. Hypervigilance. Isolation. We are constantly reacting to a reality that is volatile.

Living Without a Sense of Safety

We know the truth, our names could be next. We are no longer protected by things that once mattered: due process.

But something is worse. This is becoming normalized.

We are expected to hold what is happening and keep ‘“functioning.” The baseline we’d return to is no longer there.

Refusing to Normalize Harm

I can’t regulate my way out of a system designed to deregulate me. The goal is no longer to feel calm. It is to feel SAFE.

And if we can’t have safety, then I refuse to regulate.

No voy a normalizar este tipo de vida.  Seguire enojada hasta que cambien las cosas.

 

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Rebeca Olguin, LMFT

Rebeca Olguin is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) at Nido Individual & Family Therapy. She specializes in working with individuals and families navigating trauma, anxiety, and the intersection of identity and mental health. Rebeca is passionate about providing culturally responsive care to the Latinx community

https://www.nidoift.com/rebeca-olguin
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"Oh, but you were only a child”