The Memory of Trauma

The week’s blog is from the book “The Body Keeps the Score” Chapter 12 titled The Unbearable Heaviness of Remembering. Historically PTSD was founded during World War 1, but it was not called PTSD it was known as “NYDN” (Not Yet Diagnosed, Nervous). During that time doctors used electroshock and other painful treatments that did not bring healing to those that were suffering from PTSD or NYDN. Because it was wartime and many veterans were coming home with NYDN so doctors and psychologist named the illness shell shock.

As research started to move forward, analyst began to see that the same trauma that veterans were experiencing was also found with victims of sexual violence. The symptoms were stomach cramps, chest pains and nightmares and rage. Doctors were treating the symptoms and not dealing with the real unknown diagnoses.

Today, therapist and medical professionals are now seeing that when a patient has experienced trauma that it has a significant effect on one’s memory. For instance, some memories can be repressed and to recall information about the trauma is normal because the patient may be in shock, or they could be splitting as a way to function and navigate through life after the trauma.

When the body experiences trauma, splitting is a way that the mind can handle it. Therefore, the person becomes two people so to speak, the person that has experienced the trauma and the person in the here and now; which is the way one can deal with the experienced trauma. When the memories begin to surface, they come as flashbacks which are feelings of overwhelmed images, sounds, emotions and sensations such as visual memories like smells, colors, and feelings.

To tell the story of trauma, most people must deal with the trauma of the memory within the story which some people will dissociate from the story and the because of the different sensation that the body feels the brain does not entirely assemble into the story; therefore, the story becomes fragmented.

So my question, do we ever heal from the trauma? I would say no, we must learn to live with the trauma and not in the trauma.