[pachyderm]

"trauma is not an illness, but a response to an overwhelming event"

Wait, trauma symptoms are adaptive? | After Trauma

[too SHy]

One example I think of is when my mother locked me out of the house ranting and raving, and I was set upon by a group of boys who chased me until they gave up. I was very shaken up but I wasn't ill at that time. Trauma like this takes it's time, at least this was true for me.

[Leah123]

I've believed this to be true for a long time. Dissociation was definitely a helpful mechanism for me, but difficult to disarm once no longer needed. Hypervigilance definitely kept me somewhat safer than I would have otherwise been, likewise with other symptoms. The trouble is, becoming stuck on that stress-response, years later, having it still affect me. The "off" switch for feeling threatened just never got turned off properly, and today and in the past has caused me more grief. But it's a condition I honor: this is how I am as a result of being a nearly defenseless, almost powerless little child who coped to the very best of my abilities. All things are blessing and bane my therapist says, and PTSD symptoms are definitely that in my life. I have gained some advantages from them too, so I am content to be who I am, though the work to heal is hard.

[Oliver07]

Originally Posted by Leah123

I've believed this to be true for a long time. Dissociation was definitely a helpful mechanism for me, but difficult to disarm once no longer needed. Hypervigilance definitely kept me somewhat safer than I would have otherwise been, likewise with other symptoms. The trouble is, becoming stuck on that stress-response, years later, having it still affect me. The "off" switch for feeling threatened just never got turned off properly, and today and in the past has caused me more grief. But it's a condition I honor: this is how I am as a result of being a nearly defenseless, almost powerless little child who coped to the very best of my abilities. All things are blessing and bane my therapist says, and PTSD symptoms are definitely that in my life. I have gained some advantages from them too, so I am content to be who I am, though the work to heal is hard.

'Exactly' I undertand totally.

[Open Eyes]

"The more that we are able as a society to recognize that trauma is not an illness, but a response to an overwhelming event, the more that trauma survivors who have post-traumatic stress will be able to talk about their symptoms and find relief." quote from the article

Yes, I agree with this often people who suffer can get "emotional" and that's why they try to isolate so they don't get embarrassed when it happens. If they could just say they have PTSD without fearing they will be shunned but instead will be met with support if they do happen to get emotional, it could go a long way to people actually healing and even overcoming.

[Rosondo]

But I thought this was common knowledge, that trauma was a combination of our reactions and also our response to an overwhelming thing. Of course it does not necessarily make trauma good or healthy or anything. I mean in our attempt to make things better we sometimes mess up more. And some of it is not even intentional. I mean how are the nighmarish flashbacks of any use to us? But at the same time to say it's a disease is like comparing it to infection, which is a bad comparison. Trauma is not like some random disease and definitely includes our reaction and even our attempts at survival and fixing the problem we were faced with, by becoming overly vigilant to protect ourselves, by becoming numb or dissociating to protect ourselves from too much pain, etc.