Finding the Ground in an Unsafe World: A trauma-informed perspective for BIPOC communities
Why This Fear Makes Sense
Trauma teaches the nervous system to prepare for danger before it arrives. When safety has been conditional in the past, the body learns to stay ready, even during moments of relative calm.
National events, public rhetoric, and policy shifts can echo earlier experiences of threat, exclusion, or harm. The nervous system does not neatly separate “then” from “now.” It responds to patterns. It responds to what has happened before.
And it is important to say this clearly. In the current national climate, being BIPOC is, in real and measurable ways, more dangerous. That danger can show up through increased surveillance, targeting, discrimination, and violence. When risk is higher at a systemic level, fear is not just emotional. It is grounded in reality.
This is why reassurance alone often does not work. You can know that you have rights and still feel unsafe. You can understand the facts and still feel your body tighten, brace, or shut down. That is not irrational. That is a nervous system responding to real conditions.
How This Shows Up
When safety feels uncertain, people may notice:
Feeling constantly on edge or scanning for threat
Avoiding public spaces or staying home more than usual
Trouble sleeping or feeling rested
Emotional numbness or disconnection
Irritability, sadness, or sudden waves of fear
Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
Exhaustion from having to stay alert
These responses are not personal flaws. They are protective strategies that helped at some point, even if they now come at a cost.
This Is Not You Overreacting
It matters to say this directly. You are not being dramatic. You are not weak. You are not imagining this. The current situation is objectively more threatening and more dangerous, and that danger is real. When conditions become more unstable, unpredictable, or hostile, your nervous system is responding to an actual increase in risk, not a hypothetical one.
When systems have historically failed to protect people who look like you, your body learns not to assume safety. Burnout, shutdown, fear, and numbness are common trauma responses, especially under prolonged and realistic threat. Needing support does not mean something is wrong with you. It means your nervous system is responding appropriately to what is happening and is tired of carrying it alone.
Regulation helps the nervous system function under stress, not deny that the stress exists.
What Can Help Without Minimizing Reality
Support does not mean pretending everything is fine. It means helping your body find moments of regulation while honoring what you are living through.
This can include slowing the body before trying to think differently, offering yourself validation instead of judgment, choosing how much news your nervous system can tolerate, and being in spaces where your experience does not need to be defended or explained.
Therapy can be especially helpful when it acknowledges how identity, history, and trauma intersect. Feeling understood matters. Safety is easier to build when it is taken seriously.
A Closing Word
If safety feels conditional right now, you are not alone. Your response makes sense. You are allowed to rest, to seek support, and to take care of yourself without having to justify why.
At Turn The Mind, we offer trauma-informed care that understands how systemic stress and lived experience shape the nervous system. If the current climate is bringing up fear, exhaustion, or shutdown that feels hard to manage on your own, we are here when you are ready.
You do not have to navigate this by yourself.
