Trauma Can Negatively Affect Your Academic, Professional, and Social Life
In season four, Clay Jensen begins to spiral out of control. The trauma of Hannah Baker's suicide, Tyler's attempted school shooting, Bryce Walker's murder, Justin Foley's struggles with drug addiction, and the framing and murder of Monty De La Cruz catches up with Clay, and takes a toll in many areas of his life. He starts hallucinating and losing time, his grades suffer, he becomes extremely paranoid, and he gets in physical altercations with people. While Clay's stress response is highly dramatized, it isn't that much of a stretch.
As I was dealing with the emotional effects of domestic abuse, cracks in my academic and professional lives began to show. Work on my doctoral dissertation came to a standstill. I'm a teacher, and keeping up with grading and lesson planning became harder than ever. My organisational skills slipped. Interestingly, though, I threw myself into teaching in the classroom. Teaching was a great way for me to take my mind off of what was happening with me personally because during each hour of class, I had to focus on my students and their needs. In many ways, this saved me.
If you find that your academic, professional, and social lives are being negatively affected by the trauma you've experienced, please try to find someone to talk to, whether it's a friend, a family member, or a therapist.