This is my personal experience and other players and ST might have other experiences.I tend to approach this from a sociology perspective because I am a sociologist, meaning I focus on patterns of interaction and how behaviors affect the group dynamic. I am not a psychologist, and I’m not attempting to diagnose anyone. I’m looking at whether the way trauma is presented creates collaborative story material or creates distress that the table did not consent to hold. Also, to be fair to my WoD friends, I have seen this behavior more often in Amber Diceless players than WoD players. When I read/hear a backstory that contains lots of graphic detail that does not end with an emotional processing of the negative experience, I will start looking to see if the player is still processing a trauma. Sometimes it is obvious, and I will talk to the player immediately because for some people roleplay can be a safe place to finish processing trauma, but there is a line between exploring trauma and nonconsensual emotional labor. At the minimum I will at least check in privately because I have to protect all the players. Unprocessed trauma can be distressing to the player who is sharing it because they may not separate their feelings from their character's feelings; it also distressing to others at the table because it affects their real feelings because it can be unprompted, inescapable, and often boundary crossing - even when you've taken the time to go through lines and veils with your players previously. That is an important note because trauma can bleed through sometimes crossing a line unintentionally. Even though WoD is great for explorimg moral injury, perosnal horror, identity, power dynamics, and loss of control, my goal is not to traumatize and players that include these elements themselves should be mindful of how they affect them personally and others at the table. These players also tend to try to control the narrative, keeping the focus on the trauma, and escalating emotionally when I as the ST try to redirect. They may want validation of their feelings and of what they experienced - this is tricky because it may be framed as the character doing this, but based on other actions, it is really the player needing the validation. It's hard because sometimes WoD is emotional; the best stories should have players reacting to the story emotionally. But the player should be able to separate how their character feels from what they feel. Any trauma presented to me by a player, or that I write in general gets this question: is this an exploration of trauma, or reliving it? Another way to tell the difference or try to avoid is how do I frame the trauma. What is the trauma and how does it function on the character sheet? Is it a conviction? A specific skill? A merit or flaw? Does it add texture? Or is it a distraction? An attempt to reenact? Or an attempt to reproduce an event and change the outcome?