I had to look up what it’s called.
I saw some YouTube vids of people dumping bags of candy into a bowl and telling of a past trauma.
I don’t get it. Are they gonna all share the bowl of candy during a pity party?
Or are you supposed to just film your own. And they mix ‘em all together in a complilation video.
I’ve only seen younger women. Some have some awful graphic traumas
Not gonna research if men are doing it.
I don’t need that algorithm. Don’t wanna see women doing it, but my dumb ass watched a couple. Aaaaaccckkk.
Oh, and young people all that candy is bad for your teeth and waistline. Just as a warning.
I know nothing of this trend.
But speaking as someone who’s been around this block… There is a razor thin line between speaking your truth and wallowing in it. We are in a moment where wallowing seems to be popular. But it is not conducive to good mental health. The fact that watching this had a negative impact on you, the viewer, is pretty telling. In my line of work we call this “passing the trauma ball.” It’s not a nice thing to do to someone else.
I found it odd. And thought these dumb women, the stuff they say could really hurt someone. Some of the trauma confessions are bad.
Then if they were “joking” or over dramatizing, guess what? It’s forever on the internet.
I don’t think it’s a good idea. If it was private at a group therapy thing? Ok.
It’s weird. Is all I know
I get how this might be cathartic for the video creators but I cringe to think what the viewers are expecting to get out of it.
Me and the kids had a pudding fun dump.
I flipped the script. We all got our pudding. I chose tapioca kind. They had chocolate.
We told a fun thing and took a bite.
The twins argued who was gonna tell there’s, cause apparently everything they think is fun is shared. It was adorable.
That is a wonderful idea and story.
I find it healing. Most people have trauma, sometimes severe. So if people are connecting and finding acceptance and understanding by sharing their trauma, good for them.
However for people who would feel emotionally overwhelmed by hearing about trauma, it wouldn’t be good to watch those videos.
The idea that ‘the internet is forever’ assumes stigma about trauma remains static. Decades ago, having cancer was deeply stigmatized, now its something people talk about openly. People talking openly about trauma is hopefully something millennials, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, etc are more prone to. Not just talking about trauma, but also talking about mental health, which was heavily shamed in earlier generations. Ideally we are progressing as a society where admitting to mental health issues and trauma doesn’t automatically mean being rejected or looked down upon.
I find it a good thing that people feel safe enough to discuss their trauma openly like this.
Well, ok. That’s legit.
I do fear some of it is one-up-manship.
Personally I wouldn’t do it.
Mainly because I don’t speak. Don’t do videos. Don’t post videos. Can’t have candy. Yeah, not my bailiwick, at all.
After watching a few videos, I wouldn’t say they’re a safe space for relating trauma. It sure didn’t start out as a way to share trauma. It started out as people (almost always teens) passing around a bowl and saying, “I’m ____, and I brought [candy name].” Dump the candy in the bowl and pass it to the next person. Then everybody eats the candy salad. According to this article,
In May a video was posted by @Itz_Travis461 captioned: “candy salad but we overshare”. In this video, Ray introduces herself by saying: “Hi my name is Ray and I have a thing for clarinet and saxophone players.” This opened up the floodgates.
The videos I saw had teens teens giggling as they flippantly related in a single sentence a trauma that (supposedly) happened to them while dumping candy in a bowl, e.g., “Hi, I’m Beatrix [giggling], and when I was 5 my dad tried to murder my whole family, and I brought Twizzlers.” I’ve read that the trauma dumping candy salad is supposed to be “cringe humor,” and that not all the “trauma” actually happened.
The whole trend seems to me to be more closely related to the Tide Pod challenge or “6,7” than to a serious effort to encourage people to share their personal trauma. .
It’s very much what you say, @nelliebly
It cheapens people whose trauma is real. And I cannot see any real benefit to the person dumping the candy.
I could see people maybe over sharing a “funny” embarrassing moment. We all have them. But, real trauma? No.
Well, oversharing is a common characteristic of PTSD. I had issues with this particularly in college and my early 20s. Eventually I learned that everyone’s got their own shit to deal with, and also, that nobody can really validate what happened because they weren’t there. I had to get that validation from inside myself. I’m not saying I never talk about it, but it’s usually in very specific contexts.
Also, in a really big way, for me, it doesn’t matter any more. I’m too busy to look backward.