Trauma

Trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that can have a profound physical and emotional impact on a person. It can be caused by a single event, such as a car accident or a natural disaster, or by repeated exposure to stressful or traumatic situations, such as child abuse or domestic violence.                                                                                                       Dr. Mayank Saxena

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.                                           I Peter 3:8

I spoke with some clients recently who experienced trauma fairly early in their lives. Now, years later, they still report the lingering effects of those early traumatic events. We know that trauma literally changes the way that our brain processes information. It is not uncommon to have some dissociative effects during the trauma event, and even many years later.

Why does this happen? I don’t know. Perhaps neurologists and other specialists in brain functioning may have an explanation. What I do know is that trauma is a baffling thing. What constitutes trauma for each of us may also be very different. Trauma can be a physical event, a psychological event, or an emotional event- or all three.

We all know of someone who has experienced trauma to the point of having the diagnosis PTSD. Indeed, as I write this, hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps millions of people, in the world are living with daily traumatic events.

As we consider the behavior we experience from others, we may not often pause to think about what events may be informing their behavior. So, think about the story that others may live, and what they have experienced. People live with trauma that is often not shared with others.  

Prayer: Lord, help us to pause and think of the stories that others may silently carry, Amen