Trauma, as described by the American Psychological Association (APA), is an “emotional response to a terrible event.” It can be personal in nature, such as an individual incident of assault or abuse.
In other situations, trauma can be experienced on a broader scale, among a subset of people such as combat soldiers. Yet, in other circumstances, its impacts may be experienced by a larger population who encountered a natural disaster. Everyone who lived through similar circumstances may share parts of an experience, but may not process it the same way.
Effects of past trauma
While many don’t experience lingering effects, there are multiple others whose past trauma retains present impacts. The way that we process such horrific experiences is referred to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
While there is a combination of symptoms that can present in both sleeping and waking moments, PTSD is often characterized by reliving the “trauma in painful recollections, flashbacks, or recurrent dreams or nightmares.” (APA)
PTSD can affect our cognition and memory, causing disrupted concentration, memory blockages, and blackouts. Another expression is that it can produce an exaggerated startle response or sensitivity to other stimuli that trigger or catapults individuals to the time and place where the original trauma occurred.
Looking deeper at trauma
This is the work of the adversary who initiated a subtle assault in a garden long ago. Satan plays on our vulnerabilities in our weakest states. He doesn’t play fair, waiting until we’ve healed our trauma wounds or had a chance to grieve and properly process our losses. He plants suggestions that we tend and cultivate. When those seeds grow viral, they explode into a tangle of vines that tether us to the past.
We don’t often address intrusive thoughts to bring under subjection, but rather they subdue and seek to leverage dominion over us. They wrap themselves around our waking minds in flashbacks and triggers, locking us into a past prison where we often abandon the hope for future freedom and healing.
They envelop and embed our sleeping subconscious with nightmares and recurring dreams. The past’s pain is still present, but we don’t have to suffer with it as we walk forward.
Whether we realize it or not, God created us as self-healing instruments. He designed the body to restore itself with proper care and loving attention. Under normal circumstances, its internal systems will always fight to live. Likewise, the mind will always seek peace and repair. Yet, sometimes the same avenue where we have pain is where we deny its presence, and therefore, the opportunity to be healed.
Because of our traumatic association, we avoid touching what hurts. We refuse the Holy Spirit access to it. Consequently, we tolerate the old, not wanting to disturb the memory of trauma’s familiar sting. The mind envelops itself in darkness, sometimes blanketing memory in obscurity to shield it from the symptoms of PTSD, such as flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive and triggering thoughts. Yet, even in its wrestling, our soul is on the relentless quest for peace.
Next steps
We don’t have to walk alone when navigating our experience of past trauma and the PTSD that remains. While we have the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, we need a set of practical tools and techniques to support us with the practical elements of navigating daily experiences.
A trained and empathetic counselor will help process and resolve the lingering pain of past trauma. Search for a professional on this site and commit to meeting on a regular basis. There is hope and help available to forge new experiences and encounter the freedom that God has provided for you.
“Yellow Flowers”, Courtesy of Habib Dadkhah, Unsplash.com, CC0 License
