Betrayal Trauma: America’s PTSD Over the Epstein Files

What we are learning from the Epstein files is creating post-traumatic stress in Americans who are paying attention to these revelations, especially triggering to those who have ever suffered rape, sexual abuse, assault, or narcissistic emotional abuse. Those who are even experiencing it once removed just through viewing it in the files is still a form of trauma.   

It places us in an irreconcilable predicament—on one hand we need to understand what is really going on and must spend time learning the sordid and horrific reality presented in the files; on the other hand, we need to protect our nervous system, minds and hearts from evil, from overloading in righteous anger and sickening disgust. We need to ensure we protect our minds. How do we navigate these perilous times of deep psychological betrayal, as citizens and as a society as a whole? And how do we deal with human cruelty that we are witness to?

What Americans are living through—and this is just the beginning of the revelation—is the psychological damage that one experiences from covert narcissistic abuse, when one betrays you and then lies about it to your face in the face of contrary evidence. According to Google Gemini:

Betrayal and gaslighting are deeply interconnected forms of relational, psychological, and emotional abuse that shatter a person's sense of safety, reality, and self-worth

While betrayal (such as infidelity) destroys trust, gaslighting is the psychological manipulation used to cover up that betrayal, designed to make the victim doubt their own perceptions, memory, and sanity. Together, they cause "betrayal trauma," a profound, sometimes life-altering experience that impacts the brain and body, often leading to symptoms like PTSD. 

 Also from taken from Google Gemini:

The Psychology of Gaslighting

Gaslighting is a, often, slow-acting, systematic form of psychological abuse where one person makes another doubt their reality. 

Goal: Control and Avoidance: Gas lighters use this tactic to avoid accountability for their actions (e.g., covering up an affair) and to maintain power in the relationship.

Distorting Reality: The abuser consistently denies, lies, or twists facts ("That never happened," "You're too sensitive," "You're crazy"), forcing the victim to rely on the abuser's version of events.

Americans, and citizens of other countries, are experiencing this psychological upheaval—not just from the “betrayal trauma” from our entire societal structure, but on a more visceral level, from being psychologically exposed to horrific, evil acts of child abuse.

When our very President is telling us that the Epstein Files are “a hoax” and Howard Lutnick, head of Department of Commerce, is cracking up (laughing) in the background was in fact in business with Epstein, and the top leaders of DOJ and FBI have been shown, in retrospect (now that the files were legally forced to be released by a Congressional vote) to have blatantly lied under oath to Congress (and to us, the people our Congressmen represent), how do we cope with this? Finally, once seemingly “upstanding” individuals in our society are revealed in the files as morally devoid, sick monsters, how do we handle this as a society? As a human being?

How to take action while protecting our psyches

I have thought of a few practical ways, for myself, as well as for all of us about how we can balance our minds and hearts in the face of this depravity, gaslighting and betrayal while still taking action.

Some of us might put a camera in their face or become citizen journalists on TikTok, while others might file lawsuits, still while others may just take small, but significant action. Our power is collective power.

At the same time, we need to limit our exposure to this, so allotting time to learning the truth and then taking some action, and then counter-balancing that with healthy, psychologically sound activities. Here are some suggestions of the actions you can take:

Email or call your Senator and House Representative and demand for the full truth (fully unredacted files) as a first step. Most feel helpless and have become passive watchers.

Spread the truth on social media or by email. Spreading awareness, even if it's just within your internal networks, or on your public channels, is key. Remember they are banking on Americans not paying attention so they can continue their corrpution and avoid consequences. Everything else in the media is just a distraction from the biggest scandal to ever hit our country.

What we see in the files exposes the root source of all problems in America—what we all felt and knew but couldn't prove—money misspent, laundered by billionaires, funding wars for profit, manipulating our minds through "news," and lies, running and facilitating human trafficking and child sex trafficking by our agencies, mafia hitmen killing those who will testify (countless examples), and blatant impunity for all those participating for at least four decades.  

Unfollow the perpetrators on social media. This is especially important for celebrities whose lives depend on you supporting them.

Divest from their businesses if you are an investor in the stock market or buy those people's records, or sit on boards with these people. They’ve lied to our face and they should be de-platformed at the very least, but I do hope for their prosecution in a court of law.

Talk about the truth, as disturbing as it is, and point friends and family to the files with actual links to specific files so they can read it themselves. https://www.justice.gov/epstein When posting on social media, include the links to the actual files.

Support journalists who are covering this in depth with your attention and/or dollars and shares.

Support the victims and survivors,who are so brave to keep fighting for truth and justice, by highlighting their voices.

Give bi-partisan support to the heroic Congressmen and Congresswomen through vocal, financial, or volunteer support. They are risking their lives to stand up for the truth, for child victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking by our disgraced politicians and business leaders.

Just by taking even one of these actions, you have done something and exercised your agency in some way as a concerned citizen of this country who demands morally sound, respectable leaders running our society and world at large.

The counter-balance

Spend time with those you love, exercise, walk in nature, pray if you are spiritual, uplift your frequency, do something good in the world—a tiny action that you wouldn’t normally do—all an important counter-balance for our psychological health.

It is incredibly important to take substantial psychological breaks so we can remain strong and fight this sick group of people who have had way too much power for far too long, creating wars, bankrupting our nation, committing horrific acts, and creating destruction in the name of power and profit.

Soul-Prompt:

-What is my individual role in changing our world? What actions can I take, large or small?

-How can be effective while still guarding my psychological health?

-How can I protect my psyche while at the same time standing up for a world that I want to live in?

I welcome your thoughts below.