u/HansaSethi

I’ve been bullied since childhood because I never liked talking back, belittling others, or hurting people the way they hurt me. I genuinely like being kind to people, but over time I’ve realised many people mistake kindness for weakness. They mock you, shout at you, disrespect you, or push your boundaries simply because you don’t react aggressively back.

I tried changing myself and becoming more confrontational whenever people treated me badly, but deep down it only tore me apart even more because it never felt natural to me. Now I sometimes wonder whether I should have just stayed quiet, become emotionally distant, or learned some balance in between — though that feels almost impossible in workplaces and everyday life.

Years of this have seriously affected my mental health, and I genuinely wonder: how do other people remain kind without losing themselves in the process?

I was trying to return to work recently, but the HR head told me, “Nobody can be this sick that they can’t come to work for almost a year.” Since hearing that, I’ve gone back into freeze mode — body pain, headaches, stomach issues, weakness, exhaustion.

At my worst, I genuinely couldn’t function properly anymore. I could barely sit, talk, eat, or even feel like myself. I somehow managed to slowly recover enough to try again, but now I’m questioning whether I was actually ready or if my nervous system is still too fragile.

Can emotional trauma/stress really make the body react this strongly again after one triggering comment? Has anyone recovered from something like this?

I keep wondering if I’m just being ignorant or weak, because even a doctor once told me to “just go to the office and fight it” when I couldn’t even look people in the eyes anymore. Am I actually wrong for reacting like this, or does severe mental burnout genuinely affect the body this deeply?

I’ve also recently realized these mental health struggles may not just be from the last few years. I think I’ve been dealing with them since childhood, but I suppressed and normalized them for so long that I never fully understood how deep it went until everything eventually collapsed.