Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual's ability to cope, causes feelings of helplessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel the full range of emotions and experiences.

           3 types of Traumas 

Acute trauma: This results from a single stressful or dangerous event.

Chronic trauma: This results from repeated and prolonged exposure to highly stressful events. Examples include cases of child abuse, bullying, or domestic violence.

Complex trauma: This results from exposure to multiple traumatic events.

Its your responsibility to unlearn behaviors that can be hindering your growth as a person. 

Chronic Trauma 

In my last article on trauma we talked about acute Trauma pt. 1  This article we will talk about chronic trauma, specifically childhood trauma, and briefly about generational trauma. Healing your inner child. 

Childhood trauma is often described as serious adverse childhood experiences. Children may go through a range of experiences that classify as psychological trauma, these might include neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse, and physical abuse, witnessing abuse of a sibling or parent, or having a mentally ill parent. 

So let me first start by explaining how our brains are wired, concerning trauma. Simply we have 2 brains contributing to our behaviour. The first brain we will call it the human conscious brain, the intelligent brain which is where our personality and individuality is, and where we make choices. This is the part where we think. Our second brain is the primitive unconscious brain, almost animalistic, it does not think it just reacts to the environment. For example you cant think your way out of high blood pressure or an asthma attack. Our primitive brain is what keeps our hearts beating and our lungs breathing. It has been working nonstop since even before you were born. 

More importantly what is located in our primitive brain is survival. So what happens when we experience childhood trauma such as neglect, abandonment, abuse, bullying, witnessing something traumatic...etc. Our primitive brain is hyperactive, our fight and flight mode is turned on, survival mode. This is our bodys way of protecting us. Its good to have this when we are in actual danger. So what happens when we grow up and are no longer in these situations. Our primitive brain does not process this. You are still hyperactive, in fight or flight survival mode when there is no real danger around. The primitive brain is physiologically wired to respond faster than the thinking brain. We react to triggers before we think. Its not smart but its fast. When the brain is hyperactive it is stressed. And as a result itvstarts pumping out stress hormones, interfering with sleep, it can hijack memory. It makes our muscles get tense and therefore generating pain. Most adults will only tackle the secondary problem which is the pain. But what is generating that pain? It is stress. In order to heal you need to reduce the stress. 

Before I talk about the healing process. Let me briefly talk about generational trauma. Trauma can leave a chemical mark on a person's genes, which can then be passed down to future generations. So you can basically be affected by trauma that you did not experience, but your parents or grandparents experienced and did not heal. Your cells were already starting to form when your mother was in your grandmothers womb. So if she experienced stressor, she was already leaving a chemical mark on you. The same with your mother all the stressors she experienced when you were in her womb left a mark. And if you do not heal it in yourself, you can pass it on to future generations. By going through the agony of healing  you no longer pass the poison. It is important and sacred work.

Healing your inner child is important because, if left untreated childhood trauma can almost cut your life by 20 years. Your are 2x more likely to develop depression and 3x more likely to develop anxiety. You are more at risk to develop heart disease, lung cancer, brain damage...etc. 

When it comes to the primitive mind being hyperactive and producing stress which results in pain. We can't think our way out because our primitive brain does not think, so we make behavioural changes. We can start by reducing the stress tension in your body. This can be achieved by stretching, meditation,relaxation techniques, practicing good sleep hygiene, yoga, massages basically lowering the stress that's causing the pain. Now with our human brain we can make changes in the way we talk to ourselves. 

We need no speak life into ourselves and not be so critical. Most of the times we internalise all the harsh things we were told as kids and those same words we believe and tell ourselves today. For example if a parent told you that you were dumb. As an adult  you may still be telling yourself when something happens that " its because you are dumb". You need to start being a better parent to yourself. Be the parent you wish you had. You need to speak positively to your inner child and change those negative beliefs. If you werent given a space or weren't allowed to express your emotions as a child you probably have a hard times expressing your emotions now. You need to validate your inner child. 

When is comes to me I have a hard time identifying or even feeling my emotions. This is probably the aftermath of having gone through depressive episodes. I would mask the way I was feeling and suppress my emotions for long periods of times. The fact that I went through that was not my fault but the healing is my responsibility. Its something I am still actively trying to process and heal. Thus this blog! It helps me to process my traumas simultaneously helping you all in the process. From my first article, where I really shared something very traumatic. Which really takes alot of strength to do. And it feels weird, you are almost reliving it by recalling it. But that is when the healing truly happens. So from my struggle with identifying my emotions I have realised I have become very passive with my articles. There is nothing wrong with that but I am doing it as a trauma response. So the way forward I will try to be more intentional with sharing experiences of things I have not healed from.  

Thankyou for all the support! ❤