The Exit From The Trauma Is Where The Entrance Is

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Sadly, suppressed emotions don't die.

They were only silenced.

But they still continue to influence a person from the inside.

Z. Freud

The first traumatic event that everyone experiences is the process of the birth itself, the passage of the child through the birth canal, especially if there are any complications during pregnancy (or desirable-unwanted pregnancy, etc.) and during the birth process. When a child is born, he is already experiencing stress, but the process of birth itself is the first stress that encourages development, to success, because the child, using all his strength, "gets out" from a place that was comfortable for 9 months, and at a certain stage it becomes cramped. And in the future, the way we were born affects our life, our ability to cope with difficult situations. But this article is about something else …

Unfortunately, psychotrauma - this is not only something that is often shown in films or news, according to statistics, before the age of 18, at least 30% of people experience some kind of traumatic situation. Here we can talk about the loss of the closest family members up to the age of 17-18 (due to death or divorce) - as a rule, in adulthood, such people are prone to depressive states; and stressful events that leave a wound in the psyche - developmental trauma, repetitive traumatic events in childhood, emotional absence and lack of secure attachment (most developmental trauma is not from home, but from society); also, physical and mental violence, at home and at school (they do not always talk about this, sometimes they talk for many years sitting in a psychologist's office, and sometimes they carry this burden in themselves, they do not find the courage to talk about it, and often such injuries give about The body and psyche find a way to somehow adapt to this stress - symptoms appear that contain traumatic energy residues (the presence of physical symptoms indicates that the body does not forget anything).

According to statistics, 50-70% of people experience trauma during their lives. In situations of hostilities, this percentage is much higher. But from the experience of working with my clients, I know that a lot of psychotraumas occur even without man-made disasters or military actions. Not everyone, having experienced stress, a traumatic event, will turn to a specialist for help, because many people still have a stereotypical opinion that it is embarrassing to turn to a psychologist: “What will they think of me?”, “They will say that I am missing something”, Often turn to various healers and try to forget as soon as possible. But a mental wound is also a wound, which is often compared to a wound on the body, and if the wound, which is simply bandaged on the body, and do not take care of it, do not disinfect, do not change the dressing, then the wound can fester, and then even to surgical intervention. So it is with a wound in the soul - if you pretend that nothing happened, and try to forget as soon as possible, then such a wound will certainly make itself felt in the form of a symptom of a somatic or mental illness.

= A 14-year-old boy who suffered from enuresis and therefore had to wear diapers as a teenager; worried about the divorce of his parents, because of constant family dramas, lived with a sense of shame and fear.

= A guy who at the age of 13, together with his father, was a direct eyewitness to the events at the airfield, during the fall and explosion of the plane. Then the parents did not ask for help, and only 12 years later the guy himself turned to me, complaining of panic attacks and constant anxiety.

= A woman who, already in adulthood, with a husband and children, experienced a rape, after that began to abuse alcohol, later for several months she was treated in a rehabilitation center, since she chose alcohol as getting rid of the traumatic event.

= A girl with aggressive expressions and a very strong feeling of hatred, which is striking, given her very young age - at my request to draw her anger and hatred, she draws a school ….

= A young man who returned from the war tells how, after each shelling by the Grad, they drank large doses of undiluted alcohol to relieve fear and strong body tremors …

All these stories are taken from practice (slightly modified, shortened so that the principle of confidentiality is not instituted), and this is only a part of the stories, sometimes there are stories from which you can write thrillers. But they are all about the fact that injuries need to be healed on time, otherwise they will "hurt" and remind of themselves in various ways.

Of those who survived psychotrauma, about 1/3 develop PTSD or other complications such as generalized anxiety disorders, dysthymic disorders, depression, alcohol abuse, or other addictions, the traumatic event may remind of itself with disturbing dreams, etc. PTSD sometimes has a distant onset and can develop after a few months, and sometimes many years later. There is also research showing that PTSD has been passed down for 5 generations.

So, psychotrauma is an event that is perceived as a threat to existence, disrupts normal life activity and becomes a traumatic event, that is, a shock, an experience of special significance. How this event is experienced by a person depends on many factors - on external and internal resources. The same situation can be experienced for different people in very different ways, which can be stressful for one person, while for another it can be a strong shock, psychotrauma and requires a long time for treatment.

PTSD typically has:

= Those who chose a method of avoiding or denying trauma, or those who did not have the opportunity to respond (did not have someone to share their experiences with, did not have someone to cry with);

= Those who have experienced too much trauma, which is dangerous for life, or a person witnessed such an event; victims of sexual violence; those who learned about the suicide of a loved one;

= Those in whose life history there are accompanying stress factors; there is no support from loved ones, no social protection.

It is also important whether the traumatic event is complete, and the person can begin to process this trauma, or continues in time (intensity and duration).

Understanding the mechanism of trauma enables healing:

Mental trauma occurs as a result of an incomplete instinctive response to a traumatic event. Traumatic symptoms such as helplessness, anxiety, depression, psychosomatic complaints, etc. arise as a result of the accumulation of excess energy, which could be mobilized upon meeting a traumatic event and did not find a way out and discharge, and the symptoms that arose retain this remaining traumatic energy … The nervous system mobilized the body to respond to the danger, but the body, out of fear, did not return to its normal functioning. And in cases when it is not possible for a person to discharge internal tension, his body and psyche find a way to somehow adapt to this tension.

This is precisely the mechanism of post-traumatic stress. Its symptoms - which in combination can often look like a mental disorder - are in fact nothing more than deeply ingrained behaviors associated with an extreme event in the past.

In traumatic situations, a state of chaos occurs with the picture of the world, control over one's own life is lost, the world no longer seems so peaceful, trust is lost, a feeling of helplessness “I am not so strong and competent” appears because our (I) is lost. A person is 80-90% in a state of shock (fear) and only 10-20% of our ego remains. And in order to live and feel safe, it should be the other way around.

In order to get rid of the consequences of trauma, it is necessary to complete the traumatic reaction, discharge the rest of the energy and restore the disturbed processes. A person has a natural ability to recover from injury and return to a state of dynamic balance. Trauma is the result of a disturbance in normal psychobiological processes, not a mental pathology or a life sentence, and can be healed. With the appropriate help and support of professionals, trauma can be life-changing, potentially causing psychological and spiritual awakening.

The goals of psychological assistance:

Safety and condition stabilization;

Decrease in stress growth, event handling (recall, mourning and “overwriting”);

Finding resources to restore life.

We must remember that people always tend to use the avoidance mechanism, therefore, we must explain that the essence of healing from trauma is to gradually return to the past in order to complete the traumatic reaction, discharge the remaining energy and restore the disturbed processes.

We can help reduce neurotic responses to trauma so that the traumatic experience leads to a willingness to perceive the traumatic situation as something to learn from. As a result of the experience, post-traumatic growth appears, in the process of which a person's attitude towards himself, towards others changes, life values, life philosophy are revised. As a result of the processing of traumatic events, the person feels both more vulnerable and stronger than before. The attitude towards life is changing, which is perceived not as a given, but as a gift that is worth using. It is in the process of psychotherapy that a person has a chance to restore the lost basic trust in the world, lost basic beliefs about the picture of the world and find new life meanings; to increase the sense of dignity of the individual and the development of psychological flexibility. So that the experienced negative emotions can be transformed into a positive source of strength, wisdom, experience, faith in oneself, a new meaning in life.

Each of the life spheres of post-traumatic growth includes a paradoxical element: "when we lose something, we gain something."

Psychological first aid should be provided as soon as possible after the trauma, followed by psychotherapy and as long as possible in time.

Illustrations: artist Leslie Ann