Trauma – from The World or from Our Self
Trauma is defined as an event, situation or condition that would disrupt significantly most people in the same situation, so as to affect negatively their sense of self, or their functioning on personal, social and work levels.
However, the symptoms of Acute, Chronic or Posttraumatic Stress Disorders are often found in individuals [including animals and plants] who experience something that would not disrupt many others of that species. Then the trauma effect is likely to have come from inside: This means that the way the event or situation is interpreted causes the trauma, not the event itself.
An example is that most of feel very sad if our pet dies, but do not feel as if we have no more reason to continue living, and try to set ourselves alight with gasoline if our pet dies: that would be a traumatic reaction not warranted by the specific event [pet dies], but by our interpretation of it [e.g. no other reason to live; no one else love/can love me, etc]
We are prone to misinterpretation of our universe mainly due to 3 factors: [1] errors in or damage to our thinking [neuronal] system; [2] patterns of behaviour/thinking caused by previous traumatising experiences; [3] patterns of behaviour/thinking caused by previous modelling by Significant Others [people who had/have emotional, spiritual or physical power over us, like our parents, teachers or peers when we are young].
That means, we usually feel traumatically disrupted because for some reason [brain damage, habits or defenses created by previous trauma] we think helpless or powerless thoughts about something.
Trauma symptoms generally include
- feelings of helplessness or powerlessness about something [or even about everything]
- with dire expectations that something terrible will happen, especially if we can’t defend/protect ourselves, for instance through rage, aggression, avoidance, or compliance
- avoidance of similar events, feelings or situations, sometimes to irrational extent [like phobic reactions]
- flashbacks, recurrent images, nightmares or emotional states similar to the traumatising event or trigger
- depression [helplessness and hopelessness], anxiety, irritability, mood swings
- hyper-reactivity [over-reacting], hyper-sensitivity to triggers [like jumping at unexpected sounds], hyper-vigilance [suspiciously being on the look-out for further “danger” – as in the belief “I can’t trust anyone”]
- future-prediction of negative outcome of similar events or states, or generalised to many other types of events or states [e.g., if my dog died when I was in an angry mood, I may try to stop myself from ever experiencing anger again – even in therapy!]
- splitting the event/condition off from other positive events/conditions in our lives
- projecting the upsetting consequences or feelings onto other people, animals, plants, objects or events [e.g. all yellow and black things are dangerous because I almost died when a bee stung me in childhood]
What to do if you experience traumatic reactions:
Please note that this is a short list of ideas and not comprehensive or a treatment protocol. Always follow #1, and use the other suggestions to support the therapeutic intervention or if such consultation is not possible, as interim measures.
1. Consult a professional as soon as possible. Trauma debriefing requires specific expertise. Make sure the person you consult is experienced and knowledgeable in the specific field of trauma de-briefing. There are very effective ways to de-brief trauma very quickly and very effectively, but if not handled by an expert, you may be re-traumatised or not debriefed effectively.
Some highly effective methods are EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing – see article on www.selfgrow.co.za], EMI [Eye Movement Integration – a Hypnosis-based technique], EFT [Emotional Field Therapy – a “tapping” technique], some chiropractic techniques, some CBT [Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy] techniques, and some Meditative techniques, as well as “holistic” and energy balancing techniques [like Chakra-clearing].
2. Use journaling and letter-writing to connect with the emotions evoked by the event, situation or condition – rather than to avoid or suppress the disrupting feelings.
All writing should be done by hand and not via electronic media, and the “letters” are never intended to be sent or given to anyone – so that the expression is not censored.
3. Use all senses – including temperature and position – to connect to the event, then use all sense to recall positive/powerful events or conditions.
4. Use a focus on sensory input in the present to connect to the self outside that event.
5. Use techniques like writing Gratitude statements, to reconnect to your strength and resourcefulness.
Please note that even “old” trauma from childhood can these days be de-briefed very effectively and relatively quickly: you do not have to carry the burden for the rest of your life.
Giving up one’s habitual defensive thoughts and behaviours is very scary and may take quite a bit of work, but the resultant freedom and joy is worth every effort!
Workshops:
Please note that we will resume our Life Skills Workshop programs soon, and they will take place in Parklands, Table View, Cape Town, South Africa. Please consult the web site for more information in a few days’ time.
