(Reclaiming Safety and Self-Perception After Trauma) Overview Body dysmorphia isn’t vanity—it’s a trauma echo. It’s when your reflection becomes a battlefield between perception and reality. Survivors of abuse, neglect, or chronic shame often internalise the gaze of those who once controlled, criticised, or violated them. The body becomes a scapegoat for pain that was never yours to carry. You may not even “see” your body accurately; you feel it through fear, disgust, or hyper-awareness. For many with CPTSD, dysmorphia begins as protective dissociation—the mind’s attempt to detach from sensations too painful to inhabit. But as safety returns, disconnection morphs into distorted self-image. Healing means learning to re-enter your body as a safe home again. How to Recognise It You might notice yourself obsessively scanning mirrors, avoiding photographs, or picking apart details no one else sees. Compliments can feel like lies. You may fixate on perceived “flaws,” comparing yourse...

(Healing the Fear of Missing the Life You Could Have Lived) Overview Onism is the ache of being stuck in one timeline while imagining infinite others—the haunting sense that you’ve missed out on who you might have become. For trauma survivors, this feeling can become amplified: every lost year, relationship, or opportunity seems stolen by pain or survival mode. Healing demands presence, yet the mind keeps wandering to alternate lives that feel brighter, freer, or untouched by harm. This isn’t vanity or regret—it’s mourning. You’re grieving possibilities that never got a chance to unfold. How to Recognise It You may find yourself saying, “If only I’d healed sooner,” or scrolling through others’ milestones with a mix of admiration and despair. You might romanticise the person you could have been, the art you might have made, or the love you might have received. Sometimes you even resist healing because wellness feels like admitting time was lost. In your surroundings, onism hides behind ...