The Drama of Trauma and Depression

Live Holistically is a multi-author site.
This post was written by: Susan Blue

We know that stress can kill us. Yet most of us have unidentified beliefs that drive us in stressful situations. “No pain no gain, take it like a man, take it like a woman, cut the mustard,” are some of the terms I hear from those dealing with high stress situations.

Our Bodies Respond to Stresses as a Trauma

The Penguin Medical Encyclopedia defines stress as “any influence that disturbs the natural equilibrium of the body”. A constraining or impelling force” is another definition. We call it nerves, tension, frustration, worry, or pressure. No matter what we call it, we all know what stress feels like.

Trauma is a more severe form of stress and can occur as a single event or as a series of experiences. In trauma, the sense of what is right, what or who can be trusted, or how the world or situations work change. The ability to orient to our surroundings in a relaxed way become a search for possible dangers. The nervous system becomes hyper-vigilant.

Depression as a Symptom of a Traumatized Person

Unresolved trauma can lead to a variety of clinical symptoms. First there can be sensitivity, flashbacks, hesitation, nervousness, mistrust, mood swings or panic attacks. Further symptoms can develop: digestive disturbances, headaches, jaw tension, chronic fatigue, asthma, urinary problems, back pain and depression.

A Different Therapy for Trauma

Peter Levine’s work in Somatic Experiencing gives us a different form of therapy for traumatization. Levine’s observation of the cycles of predator and prey in mammalian life brings an awareness of health, resources, discharging of high arousal (stress) and trauma that is true for all mammalian life. We are the human animal. We are also the human being, but that is another article.

What gets in our way of naturally discharging the effects of stress and trauma is the front brain, the frontal cortex. We “control” the emotional or physical waves of discharge (weeping, shaking, trembling, shouting, etc.) inhibiting the full release. Too often we interfere with the discharge mechanism with our babies, children and others by comforting.

Trauma / Stress Patterns Limit Our Behavior and Health

These impressions into the nervous system can build one on top of the other. We can then find ourselves limited in sense of choice, thought patterns, physical activities, emotional patterns and with numerous health issues.

Traditional talk therapy can also deepen these impression into the nervous system. How that happens is we think about what happened, we give an interpretation to the events of the past. Rarely are we able to be present with ourselves and to feel what we felt then.

Personal Experience

My personal experience in therapy had triumphs and frustrations. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was not recognized until the mid 1980’s as a psychological condition. Luckily, my counselor was one of the early lecturer, trainers, for this condition. From these sessions, I learned self regulation and became fairly good at it. I was told that I could at most, expect an 85% recovery. Something inside told me that there would be other avenues and that complete recovery was possible.

My next two articles will deal with the therapy and breath work that made my recovery complete.

Heroes of the Movies and Real Life

I have found it interesting that movie portrayal of heroes are often men who are hyper-vigilant loners. The ability to connect in single relationship or community is shown to us as tenuous. They are outside the communities they live in or enter. Having little or no emotional ties portrays them as the valiant warrior, facing and terminating the danger presented.

In reality, the heroes of life are connected in many relationships and to their community. They draw from a deep well of spiritual generosity and give enormous amounts of time, energy and expertise to an individual, community or country that is in need or has been catastrophically effected.

They may have been traumatized, but were able to discharge the effects and became a more resilient person. Bellruth Naparstek’s book, “Invisible Heroes - Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal”, may be worth a read.