Trauma
Introduction
Trauma is a psychological condition where an individual finds himself feeling stressed due to a past event such as an accident, killings, or natural disaster (Coimbra et al.,2020, Pg.508). The word Trauma deviated from the 17th century from Greek and literally meant ‘wound.’ Not every stressful event can lead to trauma. Additionally, individuals have different ways of responding to trauma. Some people can show signs of trauma after a short while others exhibit the symptoms after a long while. A person suffering from trauma is bound to show emotional responses such as anger, irritability, difficulty in concentration, shame, sadness, denial, anxiety, and hopelessness.
In the video Healing Trauma with Bessel van der Kolk suggests that “it is not a memory about the past, the past is over, but the trauma sits inside of you, and makes you feel and behave as it is still going on…. you feel as it is happening over and over again… the brain doesn’t know it is over.”
Years after my divorce, any email in the notification would get my body to react as if I am getting an email from the divorce lawyers; since then, my email notifications are off. And still, even seven years after my divorce and after an extensive EMDR work (which has made a deep change in my trauma), an email from my ex-husband will make my body reacts as it used to be before we got a divorce. I leave our communication to WhatsApp only, where the communication is short.
Soul Wound Trauma
A soul wound affects the mind, soul, spirit, will, and emotions of an individual. The wound affects the individual for a long time because it keeps ringing in the person affected whenever triggered. For instance, when an individual is involved in a tragic accident or a terror attack in Israel and comes out alive, the scenario can keep ringing in the person’s mind for a long time, qualifying it to be a wound to the soul. On August 9, 2001, my brother was injured severely in the name today Pizza Sbarro Suicide Bombing in Jerusalem. We could not locate him for a while, and then we received the phone call that he is in a critical condition on the way to the hospital. It was terrifying and is still traumatic for all of us. He is functioning today, with sharp nails in his back. He never speaks about it and doesn’t want to talk about it. He describes it as a very long quiet moment (from the explosion). Since then, my mom reacts with much fear when we cannot locate my brother. Not only that, his soul was wounded, but all of the family, especially my mom. She doesn’t feel safe for her, and this was traumatic.
The spirit and the soul are the essence of all the connections of various factors in the universe. Spirituality enables people to live as one since they are interconnected to one another. Individuals live together because they depend upon each other to accomplish various daily tasks (Graham,2005. Pg.213).
Trauma Transmission Across Generations
Transgenerational trauma occurs when survivors of a first-generation transfer the trauma to the second generation by a complex post-traumatic stress disorder mechanism (Heberle et al.,2020, Pg.197). My country is the best example of passing trauma from one generation to another. Unfortunately, terror attacks happen all the time. Many children are orphans because their parents were killed or parents lost their children (in the Sbarro Pizza Suicide bombing, 15 children were killed). This trauma carries from one generation to another to the point that in Israel, there is Family Day instead of Mother’s Day or Father’s Day because many children lost their parents in a war or a terror attack. My dad lost his brother in Yom Kippur, and he was only 21. My brother, who was injured, was named after him. This is carrying our family and wounded our family deeply.
A few years ago, I worked with my therapist on my trauma with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Bessel van der Kolk mentions other therapies like yoga and somatic experiencing, meditation, and breathing. Involving my body while revisioning the trauma helped my miracles. If before the EMDR I could not even stand next to my ex-husband, I easily can be physically next to him these days. I observed first hand how a therapy technique other than psychotherapy helped me grow from this experience. This was one reason I found this program, as my goal is to help others eliminate the trauma and be more mindful.
References
Coimbra, R., Edwards, S., Kurihara, H., Bass, G. A., Balogh, Z. J., Tilsed, J., … & Marzi, I. (2020). European Society of Trauma and Emergency Surgery (ESTES) recommendations for trauma and emergency surgery preparation during COVID-19 infection. European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, 46(3), 505-510.
Graham, M. (2005). An African-centered paradigm for psychological and spiritual healing. Integrating traditional healing practices into counseling and psychotherapy, 210-233.
Heberle, A. E., Obus, E. A., & Gray, S. A. (2020). An intersectional perspective on the intergenerational transmission of trauma and state‐perpetrated violence. Journal of Social Issues.