Opinion | This Conversation Will Change How You Think About Trauma - The New York Times
We now know about how trauma can have a huge impact on a person’s life, but it is still difficult to identify if who is suffering from trauma because it is not immediately visible. Some people experience trauma as depression, others as chronic anxiety, panic attacks, personality problems, eating disorder, etc.
Regardless of the type of trauma a person has experienced, the common features of trauma are disconnection from interpersonal relationships and self-loathing.
Dr Bessel van der Kolk gave an example to illustrate this. If people have been sexually abused, their body is likely to shut down or they get angry easily when they feel intimacy with someone who they love. These kinds of experiences make them to think about whether they have deep deficits and feel shame.
If they share their experiences and feelings with others who have the same difficulties, it’s really good for coping with trauma. Psychotherapy is also helpful because in the therapy situation you can find words to express physical sensations, feelings and thoughts, otherwise you might become numb to the trauma.
Dr Bessel van der Kolk opens up the possibilities of different types of therapy such as EMDR, yoga, dancing together with other people, even MDMA.
Above all he stresses the importance of synchronicity with other human beings. For example, a traumatized child needs an environment where they can play safely with other children. In terms of trauma therapy, feeling connected to others is the most important thing. If you feel that you are part of a larger whole, your mind and body will reconnect.
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