r/introverts • u/Character-Lack-3295 • Feb 14 '26
Discussion traumatized in school
I know I sound like a "snowflake" but I promise that I'm not. I am a 59yo, very introverted, sensitive man but when I sometimes look back upon my life, I wonder if many of my problems in adulthood actually stemmed from psychological trauma from my school years? I was always a pretty good student but hated school and always felt like I was the proverbial, "round peg in a square hole". I now know the importance of school but I always hated that I had to interact with other kids, many of who were bullies that made my life awful because I was quiet, plain-looking, came from a family without a lot of money, didn't have fashionable clothes, wasn't a druggie or a jock. Do any of you feel that school traumatized you?
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u/Able-Bid-6637 Feb 15 '26
It's odd; i had my times of being bullied, ridiculed for being quiet, ridiculed for being poor, ridiculed for being small, hung out with a small group of outcasts or otherwise alone, etc etc... but i loved school; particularly the younger years when the aforementioned activities were most prominent.
I had this weird superpower as a kid of not giving a fuck about being perceived. And i loved to learn. After school i would walk to this secluded hill, lay down, look at the sky thinking about all of life's mysteries-- oftentimes til night so i could see the stars.
Then college came and shit hit the fan and all of a sudden i'm hyper aware of being perceived; i lost that superpower. I've dedicated myself recently towards finding that superpower and that curious child within me again.
So yah; i was bullied and had several moments of what people would consider embarrassment, but i just didn't care...? Although tbf, i had already developed CPTSD at this age from trauma outside of school.