Where's the distinction point between trauma release and trauma build-up?

[Nightwise]

This is a question I've been pondering about for some time and it's hard for me to wrap my head around this.

What actually constitutes the creation of trauma in someone's body and psyche, and what constitutes the release of it? 

I also wonder why we often hear about if we experience something very triggering as an adult it's in contemporary psychology often associated or understood as certain childhood traumas coming to the surface because that triggering event set it off, but why is it seen as old traumas coming to the surface and being released, instead of new traumas being created? How can we make the distinction that a certain event triggers a certain trauma from the past, instead of it creating a new trauma in the present? What constitutes the difference?

And how is it that the same event can cause such different reactions in different people?

A bit of an affronting example, perhaps, but we might for instance think about a woman getting raped. Different women have different reactions towards such an event. One woman may be shocked and emotionally distraught for days, weeks or even months. Another woman may be displeased with it, but perfectly capable of moving on with her life the next day. Another woman may also be able to move on with her life the next day, but find herself years later reliving the experience and it completely disregulating her life for some period of time. Yet another woman may resist the act itself but secretly enjoy it, and yet another woman may be fully on board with the rape experience as if she had sought it out herself. And I also can imagine that some women would have a divided experience where part of her really desires to be sexually overpowered (as such is the dark feminine core desire), yet be terrorized by it too.

It's interesting that it actually does happen in real life that when a certain woman gets raped, that it can cause so much trauma to come up that she actually becomes a complete psychological mess for months, but it can not possibly be just because of the event itself, because once again, another woman may actually genuinely enjoy such an event.

I'm just really curious: Why is it so that the same exact experience can cause such a diverse reaction in people in relation to either trauma release or the creation thereof? And why is it so that childhood is so much associated with a period in one's life where traumas get created, and adulthood associated with a period where traumas get worked through and released?

And the most essential question: When does a certain trauma get created, and how does it get released? And how do external events play a role in this?

Edited January 10, 2022 by Nightwise

[RedLine]

Very easy question: acceptance vs repression

 

the higher the maturity of the psyche, the more it accepts disturbing events and vice versa

Edited January 10, 2022 by RedLine

[KatiesKarma]

I think it has to do with resilience and vulnerability. One drop (in this case a traumatizing event) would then lead to overflow, the nervous system being unable to integrate the experience, leading to all sorts of symptoms.

The First seven years of your life are crucial for the Formation of your psychological make up, I imagine stumbling upon similiar energetic patterns latter in life simply triggers those dormat energies, they need to be processed. I do not by any means understand the whole thing, it's complex and perplexing as well

[flume]

12 hours ago, Nightwise said:

What actually constitutes the creation of trauma in someone's body and psyche, and what constitutes the release of it? 

You might want to check out this video where I talk about the primitive brain, the fight-flight-freeze response and a simple technique to let go of it again.

Of course, there are many techniques. You can approach trauma from the mind (through memories for example) or the body (through breathwork for example). They'll all lead you to the same place: The body has linked an event with tension in the body. Solving the event or the tension makes it go away.

12 hours ago, Nightwise said:

I also wonder why we often hear about if we experience something very triggering as an adult it's in contemporary psychology often associated or understood as certain childhood traumas coming to the surface because that triggering event set it off, but why is it seen as old traumas coming to the surface and being released, instead of new traumas being created? How can we make the distinction that a certain event triggers a certain trauma from the past, instead of it creating a new trauma in the present? What constitutes the difference?

The difference is that, as children, our defence mechanisms are basically non-existent. We can't put things "into context". When mom is mad, our world goes down, because mom is our world. We "think" on a purely emotional level.

A healthy, adult psyche will very rarely experience trauma, especially in nowadays world. But it will certainly have dramatic responses to everyday situations. When your best friend is telling you he doesn't want to meet up with you because he'd rather spend time alone, it might be totally ok for one person, but for another, it might make them really angry, sad, judgmental, etc. because they felt left alone as a child for example. That's the trigger. So basically look out for exaggerated responses to everyday situations.

12 hours ago, Nightwise said:

A bit of an affronting example, perhaps, but we might for instance think about a woman getting raped. Different women have different reactions towards such an event. One woman may be shocked and emotionally distraught for days, weeks or even months. Another woman may be displeased with it, but perfectly capable of moving on with her life the next day. Another woman may also be able to move on with her life the next day, but find herself years later reliving the experience and it completely disregulating her life for some period of time. Yet another woman may resist the act itself but secretly enjoy it, and yet another woman may be fully on board with the rape experience as if she had sought it out herself. And I also can imagine that some women would have a divided experience where part of her really desires to be sexually overpowered (as such is the dark feminine core desire), yet be terrorized by it too.

It's interesting that it actually does happen in real life that when a certain woman gets raped, that it can cause so much trauma to come up that she actually becomes a complete psychological mess for months, but it can not possibly be just because of the event itself, because once again, another woman may actually genuinely enjoy such an event.

No one enjoys getting raped, but I see what you're trying to say. Of course there are any factors. How old the woman is makes a HUGE difference, how supported they feel afterwards makes a HUGE difference, their psychological maturity, the state of mind they were in when it happened, etc.

But all of this is not so important in the end. The point is that trauma manifests and it decreases the quality of life for that person, in whatever way. Whether your thoughts are circling around fear, unworthiness or doubt, whether you carry tension in your throat or your belly... It's all just a survival-mechanism of your system, reacting to the situation at hand. And no 2 situations are ever the same, that's why it never triggers the same response.

12 hours ago, Nightwise said:

And the most essential question: When does a certain trauma get created, and how does it get released? And how do external events play a role in this?

To quote the best: "Trauma is not what happens to you, it's what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you." - Dr. Gabor Mate

[Nightwise]

Thank you all or your responses. Thank you Flume in particular for taking the time to write such a lengthy response 

[mememe]

On 10.1.2022 at 9:01 AM, Nightwise said:

Yet another woman may resist the act itself but secretly enjoy it, and yet another woman may be fully on board with the rape experience as if she had sought it out herself. And I also can imagine that some women would have a divided experience where part of her really desires to be sexually overpowered (as such is the dark feminine core desire), yet be terrorized by it too.

this

is creating discrimination, within trauma. the reaction you impute into the traumatized female body are part of your inner mechanism justifying fantasies of rape rather than the actual trauma of rape. what makes you different than a perpetrator? you ask that? not anything, nothink makes you not/different from a perpetrator.

you just try to outsource the underlying problematic to the victim.

Edited January 12, 2022 by mememe

[LastThursday]

On 10/01/2022 at 8:38 PM, flume said:

The body has linked an event with tension in the body. Solving the event or the tension makes it go away.

This.

The tension could be strong emotions, fear, anxiety and so on. "Solving" just means unlinking the event from the tension again, so the tension no longer gets triggered by thoughts of the event or when encountering similar situations. There are techniques for doing this and one way is to re-link the event to different more positive emotions (good tension). 

A different tack is to recontextualize or reframe the original event, so it no longer has the same meaning for the body, and it can no longer trigger the same bad tension.

This linking/unlinking process is a completely different way of seeing trauma than the processing or pressure building up or accumulation ideas.