By skyforbes 
By Ismail Bolden
I didn’t go there expecting miracles. I just needed a place where my nervous system could breathe. Where I wouldn’t be punished for being tired, overwhelmed, or human.
Instead, I walked into a system that said it was offering care — but handed me something closer to emotional captivity.
The Day Everything Broke
I came in that morning completely exhausted — physically, emotionally, spiritually. Complex trauma does that to you. The fatigue doesn’t ask for permission. It just knocks you out. I told them I needed to leave early. My body wasn’t cooperating.
But instead of understanding, I got policy.
Not compassion. Not flexibility. Not even basic acknowledgment of what I was going through.
Just “you need to stay until noon” — because that’s when their arranged transportation arrived.
Never mind that this transportation came with its own set of triggers. Despite me attending these sessions voluntarily, and that staying longer only made things worse.
Protocol ruled. Humanity didn’t.