05/04/2026
We talk about "professional boundaries" as if we can just switch off our own lives the moment we step onto the ward.
But for many of us, that line isn't just blurred it's overlapping.
Following the incredible response to my post about trauma-informed systems, I wanted to visualise exactly why this work feels so heavy.
We call it The Double Burden.
It is the constant, silent collision of two worlds:
Our Lived Experience: Navigating our own trauma histories, systemic failings, political movements, the cost-of-living crisis, and often our own late-diagnosed neurodivergence (ADHD/ND).
Our Professional Duty: Holding patient trauma, managing moral injury, and surviving unsafe staffing levels.
When these circles overlap, we aren't just "stressed." We are carrying Shared Trauma and an Intersectional Load. We are trying to hold a mirror to a patient’s pain without letting our own reflection break.
We have to stop asking staff to be "resilient" in systems that ignore the weight of their own identities and struggles.
To my fellow clinicians and social care workers: Where do you feel the "collision" most in your role?
