We all learn that life is unpredictable, and that there has always been trauma in this world, but it usually happens in waves- a hurricane here, a car accident there. These are nothing to write off, the nervous system responds to all traumas, but these days, it feels like the whole world is on fire. We all need to consider the effects of barbarous acts including war on each of us as human beings in thinking about what kind of a society we hope to build. If we allow and commit such atrocities, we will ultimately experience trauma directly or indirectly. In fact this past week and a half certainly feels like we’ve gone beyond a tipping point, initiated by a terrorist group that’s sole aim is to wreak havoc.

If we don’t deal with our trauma, it lives in our bodies as an unfinished fight or flight response, which often means a freeze response. Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk New York Times bestseller, “The Body Keeps the Score,” explores this at length, as does Dr. Peter Levine’s “Waking the Tiger” and his additional books about trauma. Dr. Judith Herman discusses the impact of trauma in her groundbreaking “Trauma and Recovery” and in her recent follow-up book “Truth and Repair.” Additionally, Dr. Francine Shapiro extensively studied the effects of trauma on the brain along with her founding treatment, and like-named book: “EMDR Therapy.” There are now multiple therapies that can help us process trauma. In addition to EMDR, there is  Somatic Experiencing, bodywork, and trauma-informed yoga. Through this work we can learn to slowly move into and out of the upset in manageable doses with a plethora of resources- real and imagined.

Trauma disconnects us from ourselves and others, creating greater fear and rigidity as the healthy flow of life in our bodies and psyches becomes frozen in our nervous system, inhibiting us from reaching our full potential growth as human beings. In fact, there are those who say that trauma lives in our nervous system following a traumatic event, rather than in the event itself. Those who have lived under traumatic conditions for long periods of time, particularly as children during their formative years, often through ongoing physical and sexual abuse, as well as emotional abuse and all forms of neglect, can become stuck in their trauma, developing Complex Post Traumatic-Stress Disorder (Complex PTSD), making it difficult to move forward in their lives. Those who suffer as adults through experiencing war and genocide are also most highly impacted in harmful ways that affect their everyday lives through potential long-term symptoms of PTSD. Many people with these diagnoses are both hyper- and hypo- activated; feeling extremely agitated one moment, and exhausted and shut down the next.

Multiplying the problem is the intergenerational component of trauma, whereby trauma gets passed down from one generation who has suffered to their children who can become negatively impacted by the terror their parents endured. There’s even a field of study, called Epigenetics, in which trauma-affected genes can be passed along. We must all take the impact of trauma very seriously. Although trauma affects some more than others, it ultimately impacts all of us.