Unseen Trauma

Few see trauma. That is a problem because right now it is everywhere. 

The whole world has been threatened with Covid death, and millions have died.  Fear has pushed many beyond their coping threshold.  Feeling trapped and helpless is fertile ground for trauma.  Many resist the constraints of the pandemic by rebelliously casting caution aside. Their ability to judge danger has become impaired. They know something is wrong yet they still act dangerously for themselves and the people around them.

 This is trauma, but how does it work?

It’s an overload. An overload that can change everything.

Our complex nervous systems are constantly processing sensory input from our environment and our bodies to warn us of danger.  The data goes to the limbic system in our brains for lightning-fast reads of what might be threatening us. Long before our thinking brain kicks in, our hormones can be preparing us to fight or flee.

 When we get brutally forced into an overload, the quick reads can get crossed up as the delicate calibrations in the limbic system adjust to the unexpected surge.  Thresholds for danger shift, context is obscured, and decision-making becomes cluttered.

This faltering response is trauma. The smooth sensory read is broken, and we begin to misread the signals of danger.  Whatever has been shifted in the overload, stays out-of-place. Rest does not fix it. Behavior changes. Irritability or hypervigilance sets in. Shame, anxiety or chronic pain become part of the day, but trauma is still not recognized. 

 When are we going to recognize that “trauma” is here?

 Many only associate “trauma” with combat veterans or sexual assault survivors.  There is also shame to acknowledging trauma. It’s perceived as weak, but more have been touched by trauma than we want to admit. 89% of Americans have experienced some degree of trauma. It is not just about war and rape.

This denial and lack of awareness keeps healing out of reach.

We must understand trauma enough to recognize it when its presence is affecting our lives.

Right now it is.