Trauma has a way of turning the human mind into a perpetual motion machine, desperate for reasons where there often are none. When something destabilizing occurs, the brain interprets missing information not just as an inconvenience, but as an active threat.

Underneath almost every spike of reactive anger or pre-emptive defensiveness lies a simple, vulnerable truth: a deep fear of not being heard.

The earliest trick we learn in life is how to ask for help, and that’s through tears. Infants don’t only cry when they’re hungry. Sometimes, they want warmth, closeness, social attention, safety reassurance, and other emotional reassurance.