the issue is not whether it is normal. that's not even a therapist's concern. the issue is whether it's healthy. the perspective is skewed as well. a "normal" reaction to an extremely abnormal situation is by definition not normal. "normally" people aren't perpetually angry because they don't "normally" go through what you've been going through.

PTSD is a "normal" reaction to trauma. should people who suffer from devastating PTSD not seek help because it's a normal reaction? completely skewed way to look at it.

I have long covid which basically is completely debilitating, and my conservative parents STILL talk about "haha wasn't the pandemic silly. We really overreacted :P" meanwhile 4 million Americans are unable to work, and I've been to the ER twice because of something you have a 1/5 chance of getting from covid. Can't believe we were so hysterical about it guys 🤭

Anger is not a productive emotion. It drains you, exhausts you. It doesn't help. Transform it into something cold and calculated, and use it to get metaphorical revenge.

I want to hug OOP so bad ;_; COVID took my dad from us and yeah, it was like that. I want to listen to OOP tell me everything on their mind about their mom... without judging them. Without questioning them. With only accepting them and commiserating. Fuck this timeline and the world we built in it...

Your therapist is garbage & needs to be fired.

Just kill every moron until the population drop below the levels required to sustain a pandemit.

To be fair (lol) how can therapy work in an insane and unjust society? Shouldn't your therapist advice you to join the fascist party since your white and cis anyway, it's better for your mental health (lol). Here are some pills to make you forget, the alternative is joining the resistance and fighting and likely dying (which is definitely suicidal)

EDIT: Just to be clear, I'm being very sarcastic here, there are always productive things you can do even in these times.

This is a very valid feeling. But it doesn't sit well in the context of therapy. Like, this is individual therapy dealing with trauma from systemic problems. Like, if it's outside of my locus of control I can either let it affect me forever or try to do something about it, even if that something is letting go (or even forgiving, as far-fetched as that ideal seems these days). Part of going to therapy is taking agency. There is a problem, in some small way I will do whatever I can about it.

I can't just be mad with this and raise my mental pitchfork bc this is an illustration of someone rightfully truly struggling and their mental health physician pointing them towards the painful way out. I think the takeaway is less "how could anyone expect anyone to get over anything this heinous" and more one of horrible feeling of trying to hold onto the one thing you're left with when someone is taken from you like that --anger-- and coming to terms with the fact that that anger is still hurting you long after. Your therapist is not going to start the revolution or the purge for you. They are literally there to help you and you alone with things that trouble you and you alone. When they talk to survivors of abuse as children, rape victims, they aren't going to go out and slay the offenders, even if they want to. They are just trying to work with the tiniest amount of control a victim still has after the crime to help the victims make real change for themselves.

I guess overall it might not be productive to take that private struggle and put it out to your tumblr mutuals to validate you and build resistance to letting go but Idk. Healing can take many forms.

The worst part about things like this is when you try to have a conversation like this with your average friend/coworker/acquaintance/etc. they're all like, "calm down; you're overreacting". I'm like, "no, fuck you; you're underreacting! People DIED."

Has anyone else over the age of 35 notice a major shift the past couple of decades regarding how little people care about literally anything? It's like humanity as a whole have turned into emotional zombies. You can't even say hi to strangers in public anymore. They just stare at you like, "who are you and why the fuck are you talking to me"? It's so bizarre compared to how people used to be in the 90s and 2000s. Nobody even wants to make eye contact with anyone anymore, let alone wave as you pass each other down the street. Not unless you're someone they know.

It's as if people forgot how to communicate with each other outside of the internet... Is it just me? Maybe I just have a bitchy resting face. IDK. But anyway this YT Short perfectly exemplifies exactly want I mean. (Piped link)

I am really tired of being emotional being an insult when its a major point of humanity.

The problem is there's no accountability anywhere. I'm a bit older so for me it's been 9/11, Iraq with WMD lies, Afghanistan Taliban replaced by the Taliban, Arming the Latin Cartels, Panama Papers, COVID, Epstein Files, Bailouts for Wallstreet, there are more for sure but nobody is ever held to account for anything. The bigger the lie the bigger the corruption the more it just gets swept away like nothing happened. It causes you to lose faith in your country and die a little inside each time. So I get it.