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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to the Psychology of Your Twenties,

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Speaker 1: the podcast where we talk through some of the big

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Speaker 1: life changes and transitions of our twenties and what they

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Speaker 1: mean for our psychology. Hello, everyone, welcome back to the show.

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Speaker 1: A new listeners, old listeners. It is so great to

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Speaker 1: have you here, and I'm so glad that you have

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Speaker 1: tuned into this new episode that we're doing today. We

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Speaker 1: are obviously talking about trauma if you clicked on this episode,

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Speaker 1: we are going to take a specific We're going to

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Speaker 1: make a specific focus on childhood trauma, traumatic events that

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Speaker 1: may have occurred when we were children. This has been

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Speaker 1: a topic that has been requested by a lot of people,

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Speaker 1: and I think for many good reasons. A lot of

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Speaker 1: us will find throughout our lives that we do go

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Speaker 1: through trauma events, and especially when those events occur when

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Speaker 1: we're children, and our minds are really really sensitive to

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Speaker 1: our environment and different forms of distress or emotional events,

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Speaker 1: it can have long lasting impacts on our lives. So

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Speaker 1: I'm really excited for this episode. I've done a lot

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Speaker 1: of research. We will be taking a more clinical perspective

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Speaker 1: than I think some of my usual episodes do tend

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Speaker 1: to take. But before we do jump into the content,

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Speaker 1: I just want to give a little bit of a disclaimer.

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Speaker 1: Given the content of this episode, we will be mentioning

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Speaker 1: instances of physical and sexual abuse, violence, substance abuse, self harm,

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Speaker 1: and suicide. So if those are topics that impact you

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Speaker 1: or that you find particularly triggering, just make sure that

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Speaker 1: you are in a safe space and in a good,

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Speaker 1: good place in your life to be able to listen

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Speaker 1: to some of this content, and if it is triggering,

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Speaker 1: make sure you reach out for support and assistance, either

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Speaker 1: from friends and family or from a local mental health

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Speaker 1: professional or a crisis line. I do also just want

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Speaker 1: to state I'm not clinical professional, and you should seek

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Speaker 1: clinical assistance or help if you require immediate support or assistance.

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Speaker 1: I will leave some numbers in the description of this episode.

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Speaker 1: I know that we have listeners from all over the world,

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Speaker 1: so I'll try and make sure that there's a resource

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Speaker 1: available for you in your country or state, just to

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Speaker 1: make sure that everyone. You know, some of the stuff

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Speaker 1: we'll talk about can be triggering for some people, so

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Speaker 1: making sure that you have the available supports. So today

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Speaker 1: we're talking about trauma. Trauma is a massive topic to cover,

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Speaker 1: which is why I really do want to take a

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Speaker 1: focus on trauma that occurs when we're children. I think

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Speaker 1: it's a really difficult thing to talk about, and most

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Speaker 1: of us will experience some kind of event that creates

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Speaker 1: shock and is emotionally overwhelming in our lives, but especially

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Speaker 1: when we are children and everything around us is so

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Speaker 1: new and we are already in a state of needing

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Speaker 1: extra support and feeling quite insecure. I think, as children

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Speaker 1: often are, we're dependent on others for support. Traumatic events

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Speaker 1: can be particularly impactful. But the perspective that I really

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Speaker 1: want to take in this episode is not a dooming

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Speaker 1: gloom episode of you know, there's no hope for the future.

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Speaker 1: Everyone's going to end up with some form of mental

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Speaker 1: health condition. Now I really don't believe that, and the

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Speaker 1: research doesn't support that either. I really want to reinforce

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Speaker 1: a sense of optimism and resilience in the face of

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Speaker 1: these events, especially if the trauma that you've experienced was

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Speaker 1: in childhood. And I saw this incredible quote that I

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Speaker 1: hope summarizes what this episode will be focusing on today.

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Speaker 1: As we know, trauma is the result of an overwhelming

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Speaker 1: sense of danger, a sense of powerlessness, a sense of fear,

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Speaker 1: but healing is a result of feeling safe and empowered

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Speaker 1: and supported. So that is the direction that we are

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Speaker 1: moving towards today, a sense of empowerment, a sense of safety,

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Speaker 1: and a sense of understanding. If this is something that

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Speaker 1: you have gone through, sometimes one of the best kind

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Speaker 1: of assistance that you can be provided, or the best

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Speaker 1: one of the best things for you is to really

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Speaker 1: understand how that trauma has influenced you and to be

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Speaker 1: able to recognize the impacts that it may have on

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Speaker 1: your life to this date. So, childhood trauma occurs when

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Speaker 1: a child experiences or even observes negative events during childhood

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Speaker 1: and due to the impressions or shock of this event,

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Speaker 1: the individual who witnesses or experiences this develops some type

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Speaker 1: of psychological trauma or a response to the event, and

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Speaker 1: the impacts of that can be long lasting. So today

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Speaker 1: we are going to unpack childhood trauma in all of

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Speaker 1: its forms, even those we often overlook and that psychology

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Speaker 1: as a discipline can often overlook, as well as some

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Speaker 1: of the subtle ways that traumatic experiences in childhood continue

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Speaker 1: to influence our mental health, our physical health, relationships, our

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Speaker 1: values and self esteem in unexpected ways, but I also

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Speaker 1: want to stress before we begin, although we're going to

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Speaker 1: cover quite a few theories and ideas about trauma, we

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Speaker 1: do have less than an hour. We could speak about

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Speaker 1: this topic for days on end. There are hours and

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Speaker 1: hours worth of content on this topic because the research

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Speaker 1: is so expansive and at times conflicting and controversial, which

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Speaker 1: is kind of the psychology of trauma. So we are

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Speaker 1: going to cover quite a bit and I'm hoping that

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Speaker 1: you will learn something new, but there will be more

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Speaker 1: sources in the description, and I would encourage you to

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Speaker 1: do more of your own research if you're listening to

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Speaker 1: this episode from personal experience. I also think trauma is

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Speaker 1: a term that in this day and age is thrown

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Speaker 1: around quite casually, and although it's just a word, I

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Speaker 1: think that it has become a lot more colloquial and

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Speaker 1: part of our general speech, and I kind of want

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Speaker 1: to dispel some of the misconceptions and generalizations that we

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Speaker 1: collectively have about trauma and what it actually is. A

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Speaker 1: lot of events can be perceived as traumatic for that individual,

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Speaker 1: and trauma is absolutely a subjective experience, but sometimes we

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Speaker 1: can use the term trauma and say that something traumatized

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Speaker 1: us without actually knowing what that really means. And I

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Speaker 1: think it's important that we kind of dispel some of

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Speaker 1: the colloquial uses of the term trauma and have an

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Speaker 1: understanding of what a traumatic event might actually do to you.

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Speaker 1: There's also not a single truth when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the different types of trauma and defining trauma. Like many

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Speaker 1: complex psychological experiences, especially those in childhood, where there is

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Speaker 1: it's a lot harder to do research, you know, especially

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Speaker 1: if it's with infants. They can't really talk or communicate.

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Speaker 1: It's harder to get kids to participate in clinical studies.

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Speaker 1: It can be really tricky to put our finger on

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Speaker 1: exactly what the timeline for trauma is and how it

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Speaker 1: might impact us depending on the age that we were

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Speaker 1: when the event experiences where it was experienced. Sorry, but

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Speaker 1: there are quite a few really great guides for this

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Speaker 1: in the field of psychology, and one of them is

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Speaker 1: the DSM, which is essentially the International Bible on Mental

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Speaker 1: Health Conditions and disorders that psychologists and psychiatrists use to

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Speaker 1: understand people's behaviors. And the other one is this guide

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Speaker 1: and this long term study called the Adverse Childhood Experience

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Speaker 1: to study, so those are the two kind of resources

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Speaker 1: that I would send you to wards if you were

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Speaker 1: looking for a more concrete idea of trauma. So the

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Speaker 1: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, so that it's

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Speaker 1: called the DSM. It's basically like a manual a guide

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Speaker 1: book that clinicians use to consider and diagnose different mental

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Speaker 1: health disorders. It offers them some guidance. So the DSM

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Speaker 1: doesn't actually have a specific definition for trauma, and that

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Speaker 1: is a really important thing to kind of point out

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Speaker 1: to people because this is the manual that allows clinicians

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Speaker 1: all across the world to understand what people are experiencing,

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Speaker 1: give them a diagnosis, and allow treatment to occur. So

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Speaker 1: the fact that the DSM doesn't actually have a definition

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Speaker 1: of trauma and an idea of the different types of

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Speaker 1: trauma is a little bit concerning. Instead, it tends to

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Speaker 1: refer to the emotional and mental, physical and social reactions

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Speaker 1: and impacts of trauma as PTSD post traumatic stress disorder.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure that we have all heard this phrase before,

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Speaker 1: and it's kind of an all encompassing definition or diagnosis

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Speaker 1: that covers and incorporates all types of trauma from different sources.

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Speaker 1: Due to different events, and when we think about PTSD,

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Speaker 1: we often think of veterans or people who have experienced war,

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Speaker 1: or traumatic accidents or violence, you know, a car accident,

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Speaker 1: gun violence. And whilst these events and experiences can have

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Speaker 1: a very significant and detrimental impact on us, the idea

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Speaker 1: that trauma can only come from major events is one

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Speaker 1: of the misconceptions that comes along with PTSD, when in reality,

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Speaker 1: I think trauma can also emerge from things like childhood neglect, bullying,

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Speaker 1: and intergenerational trauma, built up events and so forth. In fact,

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Speaker 1: in the DSM, to receive a diagnosis of PTSD, you

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Speaker 1: must have experienced a traumatic event singular. This is called

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Speaker 1: a stressor in the manual, and some of the options

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Speaker 1: or guidelines they give are things like a natural disaster,

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Speaker 1: an incident of violence, a life threatening accident, or a

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Speaker 1: physically life threatening situation. And then from there they understand

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Speaker 1: that your symptoms will fall into four main categories. So

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Speaker 1: these are called intrusion, avoidance, cognition and mood and physical reactivity.

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Speaker 1: And we're going to discuss this later, but one of

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Speaker 1: the caveats they give is that you must be experiencing

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Speaker 1: these symptoms for at least a month, and they also

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Speaker 1: must interfere with multiple areas of your life. You know,

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Speaker 1: your work, you're still at school, your relationships, your home life.

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Speaker 1: And as we learn more about the complex nature of trauma,

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Speaker 1: there have been a lot of discussions about whether that

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Speaker 1: definition of trauma, that definition of PTSD is actually too

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Speaker 1: specific and embodies an outdated kind of notion or idea

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Speaker 1: of trauma, one that is based on physical events and

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Speaker 1: physically traumatic experiences. And as psychologists have begun revising the

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Speaker 1: DSM and their ideas of trauma, there have been some

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Speaker 1: other disagreements or controversies as we kind of look further

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Speaker 1: into it and we get a better understanding of how

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Speaker 1: people might be impacted and as well as that the

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Speaker 1: impact of childhood trauma compared to trauma that's experienced when

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Speaker 1: you're a fully grown adult. You know, As they have

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Speaker 1: started to revise it, one thing that they've noticed is

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Speaker 1: that the DSM doesn't actually have a good description of

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Speaker 1: the different types of trauma. We know now that depending

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Speaker 1: on the environment that you experience an event, the characteristics

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Speaker 1: or origins of an event that will really determine the

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Speaker 1: impacts on you. And in a very similar vein and

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Speaker 1: we've kind of just spoken about this as well, But

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Speaker 1: if you experience trauma in early childhood or even infancy,

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Speaker 1: which we now know is quite common, the impact of

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Speaker 1: that for you is going to be very very different

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Speaker 1: to someone who is sixty seven sixty eight and older

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Speaker 1: who's experienced a car accident. And there's also that kind

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Speaker 1: of line between trauma that is caused by accidents and

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Speaker 1: trauma that is caused by those closest to you. We

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Speaker 1: can kind of divide trauma into those that are external

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Speaker 1: and separate from you, or external and close to you,

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Speaker 1: and then internal. We're going to go into that more

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Speaker 1: a little bit later, but in terms of those discussions

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Speaker 1: around whether PTSD is actually a good definition of trauma,

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Speaker 1: there is hope. And as a new language for describing

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Speaker 1: trauma emergers, there have been better descriptions or definitions that

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Speaker 1: have come about, and also new categories of trauma, which

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Speaker 1: is important for identifying certain symptoms and learned behaviors and reactions.

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Speaker 1: And one of those new ways of describing trauma is

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Speaker 1: the use of the term adverse childhood experiences. And this

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Speaker 1: is where I really want to focus the episode on today,

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Speaker 1: because we are talking about trauma that emerges during childhood,

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Speaker 1: so adverse childhood experiences. These are potentially traumatic events that

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Speaker 1: occur in childhood and there have been numerous studies into

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Speaker 1: the impacts and origins of adverse childhood experiences through the

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Speaker 1: very acutely and smartly named ac study that has been

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Speaker 1: running in the US for a number of years, and

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Speaker 1: it's focused on examining what exactly trauma can do to

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Speaker 1: our lives and our psychology, not just in one period

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Speaker 1: of our life, but from childhood to adulthood. So according

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Speaker 1: to the study, there are ten different types of childhood

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Speaker 1: trauma across two categories, so personal and environmental trauma. Of

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Speaker 1: the personal type includes emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect,

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Speaker 1: sexual abuse, and verbal abuse, often from someone that we

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Speaker 1: know or someone that we have a personal connection with.

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Speaker 1: Environmental trauma relates to other family members or things in

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Speaker 1: the environment in our environment or our external environment. So

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Speaker 1: this might include witnessing your parent really struggling with alcohol

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Speaker 1: or living with a mentally ill family member, witnessing domestic abuse,

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Speaker 1: or the absence of a parent following abandonment, death, or divorce.

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Speaker 1: And children, as we know, can also experience trauma in

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Speaker 1: the form of a singular or major event, a long

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Speaker 1: term illness, the death of a loved one, witnessing a

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Speaker 1: violent incident, a major accident, or a natural disaster. So

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Speaker 1: these types of traumas, those that we just listed are

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Speaker 1: called a major trauma. So I feel like that's kind

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Speaker 1: of self explanatory, major being large, being huge, being one off.

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Speaker 1: And in contrast to major traumas, we can also experience

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Speaker 1: accumulating trauma, including chronic illness, being bullied, facing setbacks and poverty,

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Speaker 1: housing or food insecurity. And importantly, these minor traumas, although

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Speaker 1: they might not be really incredibly distressing in the moment

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Speaker 1: the way that a car accident might be, they're just

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Speaker 1: as important because they can accumulate and actually become major

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Speaker 1: traumas over time. And often those minor traumas, I don't

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Speaker 1: really like that name, but would continue to use it.

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Speaker 1: Those minor traumas are overlooked. So many people experience, you know, bullying,

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Speaker 1: so many people have experienced housing or food and security,

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Speaker 1: and you know, it's not as interesting, I guess, it's

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Speaker 1: not as novel as someone who has witnessed a natural disaster.

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Speaker 1: It's so much more ubiquitous, which is kind of the

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Speaker 1: terrible thing because although it's overlooked because it is so

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Speaker 1: almost normalized and so common, it kind of raises the

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Speaker 1: fact that there are so many people out there who

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Speaker 1: will have experienced these minor traumas that will eventually accumulate

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Speaker 1: and can become more adverse and severe than a major

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Speaker 1: incident might actually be. Trauma, as we know, can also

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Speaker 1: occur across the lifespan, and the type of trauma that

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Speaker 1: we might experience across the lifespan might different, might differ,

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Speaker 1: so it can include things like massive life transitions, vicarious trauma,

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Speaker 1: which is a really significant one if you're a child.

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Speaker 1: So vicarious trauma might, for example, include being repeatedly hold

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Speaker 1: stories or experiences of others who have gone through trauma,

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Speaker 1: witnessing someone else repeatedly go through trauma, for example a

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Speaker 1: parent who might be experiencing abuse, or might be experiencing

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Speaker 1: problems with addiction. And another huge one that has really

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Speaker 1: emerged recently and I think deserves a lot more insight

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Speaker 1: and a lot more researchers intergenerational trauma. So intergenerational trauma

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Speaker 1: refers to trauma that has passed down from a trauma

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Speaker 1: survivor to their descendants, and it can also be referred

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Speaker 1: to as multigenerational trauma. I think a good example of

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Speaker 1: this if you are in Australia. We have an amazing

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Speaker 1: indigenous population, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and for many,

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Speaker 1: many years they suffered at the hands of white British

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Speaker 1: colonizers who came in and separated children from their families

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Speaker 1: in what's known as the Stolen Generation, murdered them, massacred them,

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Speaker 1: and created destruction across their lives. And although the people today,

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Speaker 1: the abridging on Torres Strait Island of people in Australia

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Speaker 1: today might not still be experiencing such extreme forms of

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Speaker 1: racism and such extreme forms of violence, you know, many

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Speaker 1: of their ancestors and their family members did experience that,

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Speaker 1: and that trauma has passed down because it is so

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Speaker 1: significant to you know, their history. People experiencing intergenerational trauma

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Speaker 1: experienced trauma a little bit differently, and their reactions and

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Speaker 1: patterns or emotional and psychological effects from the trauma experienced

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Speaker 1: from previous generations is likely going to be a little

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Speaker 1: bit different too if they experienced that event themselves. But

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Speaker 1: different doesn't mean less doesn't mean less significant, doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: less important, doesn't mean less impactful. And in a very

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Speaker 1: similar vein, a lot of research has now been done

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Speaker 1: into this idea of collective trauma. So we have intergenerational trauma,

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Speaker 1: that's trauma that has passed down, but collective trauma refers

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Speaker 1: to a traumatic event that is shared by a group

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Speaker 1: of people. It may involve a small group like a family,

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Speaker 1: or it might involve an entire society. And traumatic events

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Speaker 1: that can impact groups might include things like a plane

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Speaker 1: crash or a natural disaster, a mass shooting, famine, war,

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Speaker 1: or a pandemic, which we all have been through. There

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Speaker 1: are now discussions that the pandemic in itself could actually

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Speaker 1: be classified as a form of collective trauma. So any situation,

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Speaker 1: even a peaceful event, that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and

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Speaker 1: isolated and unsafe, can stress the mind and body, and

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Speaker 1: if those feelings aren't resolved over time, they can become

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Speaker 1: really debilitating and lead to poor decision making, addiction, depression,

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Speaker 1: low self esteem, and many other things. It's not just

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Speaker 1: that traumatic events result in PTSD, and that's kind of

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Speaker 1: the misconception i'd love to dispel. You know, if you

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Speaker 1: have experienced a traumatic event. It's not just like you

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Speaker 1: get a PTSD diagnosis and that's going to explain everything. Okay,

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Speaker 1: that was a fairly pig whist of different types of trauma.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry if that was very overwhelming, and sadly we

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Speaker 1: don't have time to talk about each of them with

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Speaker 1: the care and attention they need. But I think the

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Speaker 1: main thing to take away from this is that trauma

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Speaker 1: is highly nuanced and can occur as a result of

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Speaker 1: many events, experiences, lifetime stresses, anything that you subjectively experience

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Speaker 1: is deeply distressing or disturbing can result in trauma. And

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Speaker 1: that's something that I really wanted to kind of involve

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Speaker 1: you in is that you are the kind of the best.

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Speaker 1: You are the person who is in the best position

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Speaker 1: to determine whether something that's happened too was traumatic or not.

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Speaker 1: And in psychology, in this kind of field, we are

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Speaker 1: not so great at identifying different types of trauma, and

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Speaker 1: sometimes that can mean that minor traumas can be dismissed,

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Speaker 1: or traumas that don't fit into a very distinct box

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Speaker 1: can be dismissed. But that's something we want to dispel.

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Speaker 1: Anything that causes you distress can be a traumatic event.

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Speaker 1: But what I do want to focus on is childhood trauma,

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Speaker 1: especially trauma that is associated with emotional neglect that occurs

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Speaker 1: within some of our most precious environments, and that is

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Speaker 1: our family units and our relationships with our caregivers. Children

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Speaker 1: need stable, sensitive, loving, stimulating relationships and environments in order

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Speaker 1: to reach their potential. That is why experiences of neglect

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Speaker 1: and abuse at the hands of those who are meant

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Speaker 1: to care for us, who we expect to look after us,

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Speaker 1: can be particularly distressing and harmful for infants, for children,

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Speaker 1: for teenagers. And given that our primary drive and we

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Speaker 1: are babies and when we are children is towards attachment,

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Speaker 1: often what will happen is we will accommodate the environments

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Speaker 1: that we are in, and we will accommodate the things

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Speaker 1: that our parents do to us, because at the end

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Speaker 1: of the day, what we need as children is attachment.

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Speaker 1: We need to feel connected to someone for a sense

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Speaker 1: of safety. And obviously, as a child, you don't really

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Speaker 1: have much choice given our age and vulnerability, and in

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Speaker 1: more chronic and extreme circumstances, because we are driven towards

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Speaker 1: that attachment, especially with our caregivers, and if we are

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Speaker 1: experiencing neglect and abuse in those situations, we can end

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Speaker 1: up forming and showing a really complex trauma response. And eventually,

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Speaker 1: if you are a child who has experienced one of

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Speaker 1: those personal traumas that we were talking about, seeing a

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Speaker 1: parent who's struggling with addiction, seeing divorce, seeing you know,

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Speaker 1: experiencing the death of a parent, we might eventually make

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Speaker 1: meaning of that circumstance by believing that it's our fault

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Speaker 1: and that we are inherently bad and you know, blaming ourselves.

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Speaker 1: You know, as children, our brains are really really malleable,

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Speaker 1: and we are we don't have much experience as to

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Speaker 1: what is normal, so we will adapt to frightening and

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Speaker 1: overwhelming circumstances through the body's survival response, whereby our autonomic

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Speaker 1: nervous system takes control. So this is the part of

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Speaker 1: our nervous system that kind of just switches on immediately.

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Speaker 1: We don't really have a say, and this will become

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Speaker 1: activated and switch on to freeze flight or flight response.

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Speaker 1: We've talked about this before. Basically, when our brains and

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Speaker 1: our bodies are sensing danger, are sensing something traumatic, are

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Speaker 1: sensing something that could put us at risk. Our body

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Speaker 1: is flooded with all of these chemicals, including adrenaline and

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Speaker 1: cortisol that in a normal situation, if the danger is

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Speaker 1: one that is incredibly life threatening, will allow us to

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Speaker 1: fight back or allow us to run faster and run

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Speaker 1: away from that event. But if you're a child and

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Speaker 1: you don't really have that capacity, and you know you

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Speaker 1: reliant on your you know, your parental environment and your

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Speaker 1: home environment for safety and shelter, instead of having the

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Speaker 1: opportunity to flee or to fight back, we end up

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Speaker 1: feeling quite agitated and hyper vigilant and powerless. Infants might

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Speaker 1: also show a really different response if they are experiencing

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Speaker 1: some form of neglect or if they're experiencing a traumatic event,

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Speaker 1: they might show a frozen watchfulness and can almost appear

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Speaker 1: to be zorned out. And children and young people also

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Speaker 1: have that experience of dissociating. You know, if your parents

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Speaker 1: are going through a divorce or you've sadly lost a parent,

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Speaker 1: it's really difficult to be exposed to that situation and

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Speaker 1: not have some kind of safety mechanism to get you through.

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Speaker 1: And sometimes those mechanisms or coping mechanisms that our body

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Speaker 1: uses to get us through those really really hard events

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Speaker 1: are ones that aren't in our control, and that can

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Speaker 1: include completely dissociating and tapping out of an event that's

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Speaker 1: happening as a way of protecting ourselves. And prolonged exposure

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Speaker 1: to events or a situation where trauma is occurring can

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Speaker 1: actually lead to toxic stress and that really changes the

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Speaker 1: development and the brain development of a child. It sensitizes

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Speaker 1: a child to further stress, it leads to heightened activity levels,

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Speaker 1: and affects future learning and concentration. And most importantly, it

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Speaker 1: can really impair a child's ability to trust and relate

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Speaker 1: to others as they grow up. When a child is traumatized,

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Speaker 1: they might find it really hard to regulate their behaviors

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Speaker 1: and like I said, trust people. And as they grow

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Speaker 1: up and they develop into adults, other areas of their

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Speaker 1: lives might be acutely impacted, and in really important areas,

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Speaker 1: things that are really crucial to our well being, like

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Speaker 1: our ability to be vulnerable, our ability to connect, our

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Speaker 1: ability to monitor our emotions and feel the right level

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Speaker 1: of arousal, feel the right level of excitement and happiness

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Speaker 1: versus sadness and distress. So what are some of the

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Speaker 1: lasting impacts on our bodies, on our brains, and of

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Speaker 1: our lives if we do experience a traumatic event in childhood.

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Speaker 1: So there is a lot of research about this, and

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Speaker 1: we are going to talk about some of the kind

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00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,200
Speaker 1: of negative side effects, but take it with a grain

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00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: of salt. We're going to talk a little bit later

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00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 1: about how this won't be the case for everyone. But

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Speaker 1: research has suggested that the type of trauma that occurs

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Speaker 1: during childhood in particular can leave pretty deep marks, giving

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Speaker 1: rise to issues like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. As

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Speaker 1: we know, particularly with substance abuse, it doesn't discriminate. People

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00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,959
Speaker 1: from all walks of life have struggled with addiction. However,

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00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: those who have experienced trauma are far more likely to

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Speaker 1: abuse drugs like alcohol, opioids like pain killers, anything of

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00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,639
Speaker 1: the sort, because they may be using them to self

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00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,199
Speaker 1: medicate and to escape the pain they may be feeling.

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Speaker 1: We talked about this before, but children don't have as

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Speaker 1: much agency in traumatic situations, and so one of the

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00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,919
Speaker 1: ways that they avoid experiencing the full shock of an

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Speaker 1: event is by disassociating, is by compartmentalizing the emotions that

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00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 1: they would like to feel and their brain kind of says,

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Speaker 1: you know, we don't have the capacity to feel this

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Speaker 1: right now. Let's put it in a box and we'll

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00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 1: think about it later. But if that later never comes,

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00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: what ends up happening is those emotions that have been

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Speaker 1: stored away kind of bubble to the surface, and that's

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00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,639
Speaker 1: where things like substance abuse might occur because it's a

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00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,359
Speaker 1: really great kind of soother for our brain. Of course,

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00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,879
Speaker 1: the long term impacts of that might actually end up

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00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:15,480
Speaker 1: making our trauma worse, and alongside a greater likelihood of

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Speaker 1: developing depression and anxiety. There's also a very strong link

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Speaker 1: between trauma and disassociation. Ongoing trauma, especially childhood physical, sexual,

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Speaker 1: or emotional abuse or neglect, is a very significant risk

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Speaker 1: factor for the development of dissociative disorders. And it's actually

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Speaker 1: thought that about ninety percent of people who end up

435
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,200
Speaker 1: being diagnosed with some form of dissociative disorder did have

436
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:45,440
Speaker 1: trauma in their childhood that is related to this diagnosis.

437
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 1: So dissociation, like we've talked about, it's basically a natural

438
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,880
Speaker 1: mechanism your body uses to help you survive trauma. So

439
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:56,840
Speaker 1: it's an escape, it's an involuntary detachment from reality often

440
00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 1: experienced as a disconnect from your sense of self, your thoughts,

441
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:05,560
Speaker 1: and your memory. So when human beings are psychologically overwhelmed,

442
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 1: we seek safety. Sometimes that safety that we crave cannot

443
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,240
Speaker 1: be met at that time by our external world, so

444
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 1: instead we seek safety internally. The outside world isn't within

445
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 1: our control about our inner world is, so we detach

446
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: from our emotions. We push them aside. But sometimes that dissociation,

447
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 1: which is a coping mechanism which allows us to survive.

448
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,320
Speaker 1: It's important our brain does it naturally for a reason.

449
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: It can keep going long after that traumatic event might

450
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: actually be occurring, and the result of that can be

451
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,880
Speaker 1: things like memory loss, an amnesia of certain periods of

452
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,920
Speaker 1: our life, certain personal information. We can have a prolonged

453
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 1: sense of being detached from ourself and detach from our emotions,

454
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:58,120
Speaker 1: a blurred sense of identity, and significant stress or problems

455
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 1: and your relationships and your work life, and an inability

456
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,480
Speaker 1: to cope. And that makes sense. You know, you've had

457
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,920
Speaker 1: something really terrible happened to you, something that is almost

458
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 1: split your brain and caused your brain to undergo significant stress.

459
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,320
Speaker 1: So if that isn't resolved, if that isn't something that

460
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,680
Speaker 1: you get help for, you know, in the immediate aftermath

461
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: of an event, it can cause long term problems. There's

462
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,400
Speaker 1: also problems with self esteem. You know, if you've experienced

463
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 1: trauma in childhood of all types. You know, you've had

464
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 1: a chronic illness, your parents have gotten divorced, you've experienced

465
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:35,320
Speaker 1: a death or traumatic event and accident. Sometimes the only

466
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,560
Speaker 1: way that our young minds can justify that, and the

467
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:42,480
Speaker 1: only explanation we can give is that it had something

468
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 1: to do with you. You know, if you've experienced abuse.

469
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: I think something that therapists often here is like, how

470
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,800
Speaker 1: is it my fault? It's really hard to explain things

471
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,920
Speaker 1: like that. It's really really difficult, especially if you are

472
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: a child or you're an infant, And as a result,

473
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: as we get older, we might see it as a

474
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: consequence of who we are, and our self esteem can

475
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:08,480
Speaker 1: really plummet. It also impacts our relationship, especially traumatic events

476
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,600
Speaker 1: that occur in that beautiful space and that beautiful, precious

477
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 1: environment between a child and a caregiver. If something isn't

478
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:19,480
Speaker 1: quite right there, If you've experienced abuse or neglect, or

479
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,200
Speaker 1: even the feeling of being ignored or abandoned. That's going

480
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,920
Speaker 1: to impact your attachment styles in the future. We did

481
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:30,160
Speaker 1: a whole episode on this, But things like anxious attachment

482
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: style or avoidant attachment styles are really common after people

483
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 1: have gone through a traumatic childhood event, and it's really

484
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,600
Speaker 1: difficult to connect with others, especially in an intimate way,

485
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,360
Speaker 1: if you've been taught by your past experiences that those

486
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 1: who are meant to love you will inevitably harm you

487
00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 1: or abandon you. And another thing that I really want

488
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:55,560
Speaker 1: to discuss that I think isn't talked about often is

489
00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,480
Speaker 1: the impact to our brain structures and our behavior. So

490
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:03,840
Speaker 1: there is heaps of evidence that social and emotional information

491
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 1: is processed really differently among children that have experienced abuse

492
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 1: or some kind of trauma versus those who have not.

493
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:15,440
Speaker 1: So the amygdalat this is an area of our brain

494
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 1: that's responsible for processing fear and emotional information, has been

495
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:24,320
Speaker 1: shown to be really overresponsive to emotional stimuli things like

496
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:31,240
Speaker 1: angry faces loud noises in children who have experienced neglect

497
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 1: or abuse, So traumatized children they're often able to identify

498
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,480
Speaker 1: angry faces a lot more quicker than non traumatized children.

499
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: They're a lot more responsive to loud noises. They're a

500
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:46,320
Speaker 1: lot more responsive to indicators that someone might be abandoning

501
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: them or indicators of something being wrong in their environment

502
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,400
Speaker 1: compared to children who are non traumatized, and that kind

503
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,200
Speaker 1: of suggests that their brain has now primed them to

504
00:32:56,280 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 1: detect a threat. If you're early learning experiences based on

505
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: a sense of fear, you know, you've been taught that

506
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 1: the world is a dangerous place, that you might be harmed.

507
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: Our brains adapt to that. We want to be able

508
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 1: to take that information in and learn from it. And

509
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 1: there's also been studies showing that our memory gets impaired

510
00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 1: in some ways, that our brain can actually develop in

511
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:26,760
Speaker 1: abnormal ways or develop in ways that yeah, that can

512
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,400
Speaker 1: be really detrimental to our memory and to how we

513
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:35,640
Speaker 1: process emotions. So people who have undergone abuse as children,

514
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,920
Speaker 1: you know, it might seem that they have it worse off.

515
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 1: That's something that I want to dispel in this next

516
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,440
Speaker 1: kind of segment of the episode. And look, you know,

517
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:49,480
Speaker 1: I've talked about a lot of the negative side effects,

518
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:51,959
Speaker 1: and I did think maybe we could talk about the benefits,

519
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,920
Speaker 1: the benefits of trauma. I think that is a terrible

520
00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:57,360
Speaker 1: way of putting it and you can do your own

521
00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,800
Speaker 1: research into that, because I really really hate that sense of,

522
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 1: you know, your trauma made you stronger, or you had

523
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 1: to go through that to be the person you are today.

524
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,520
Speaker 1: You know, everything in life is a learning experience and

525
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:12,799
Speaker 1: changes how we interpret our environment. You don't need to

526
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:18,000
Speaker 1: experience trauma to become resilient and an emotionally intelligent human being,

527
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 1: nor should you have to. You know, I don't think

528
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 1: that we should have this discussion around trauma being something

529
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,480
Speaker 1: that's positive or something that's like a blessing, like, oh,

530
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,800
Speaker 1: you know, if you hadn't gone through that, you wouldn't

531
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,000
Speaker 1: be where you are today. You wouldn't be so resilient.

532
00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:35,760
Speaker 1: You know, you could have been just as resilient without

533
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 1: going through that. So I do really kind of resent

534
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,440
Speaker 1: this idea that trauma is in some ways, or you know,

535
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,600
Speaker 1: abuse or neglect is in some ways a good thing.

536
00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:45,759
Speaker 1: So if you do want to look into some of

537
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 1: those benefits, I really don't like saying that, but you know,

538
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,160
Speaker 1: some of the upsides of trauma, If you would like

539
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 1: to look into that, I do ask that you do

540
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,920
Speaker 1: your own research. I just don't think it's a positive

541
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,520
Speaker 1: thing to talk about here. But we do know anecdotally

542
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:02,200
Speaker 1: and clinically that many people can overcome childhood trauma and

543
00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,040
Speaker 1: not experience some of those impacts that we've talked about.

544
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:10,120
Speaker 1: There are so many people who have experienced neglect or abuse,

545
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 1: or divorce or death or an accident, who don't go

546
00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 1: on to experience addiction, who live really amazing lives and

547
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,560
Speaker 1: after experiencing trauma. We do know that some people tend

548
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,600
Speaker 1: to have better outcomes in adulthood compared to others, and

549
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,920
Speaker 1: psychologists have done a lot of work in attempting to

550
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,799
Speaker 1: understand what exactly it is about that individual that might

551
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,560
Speaker 1: make someone more primed or likely to be able to

552
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: overcome an event versus people who might actually experience some

553
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,719
Speaker 1: of those long term impacts that can be associated with

554
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:50,920
Speaker 1: childhood trauma. None of these, as we said, are always

555
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 1: going to occur. You know, if you've experienced, you know,

556
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,480
Speaker 1: your parents getting divorced, if you had a chronic illness

557
00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:00,720
Speaker 1: when you're a child, if you have and to experience

558
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:05,560
Speaker 1: sexual or physical abuse, it's not you know, it's not

559
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:07,719
Speaker 1: determined that you're going to end up, you know, with

560
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:12,680
Speaker 1: severe depression. And understanding what kind of protective factors there

561
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:15,040
Speaker 1: are as really crucial. So what are some of these

562
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,799
Speaker 1: determinants for more positive outcomes in the wake and in

563
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:27,360
Speaker 1: the face of traumatic or complex trauma from childhood? Okay,

564
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 1: trauma is going to impact people differently based on a

565
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 1: number of factors. Children, even at birth are not blank slates.

566
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,759
Speaker 1: They are born with a certain neurological makeup and a temperament,

567
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,560
Speaker 1: and as these children get older, these differences become greater

568
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:49,880
Speaker 1: as they're impacted by the experiences and their environment. But

569
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:53,719
Speaker 1: there are some children and some people who you know,

570
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:57,480
Speaker 1: have greater resilience, have a temperament that is more passive

571
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 1: or more active and might be overcome experiences that they

572
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,239
Speaker 1: witness or that they're privy too. Cultural groups as well,

573
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:10,359
Speaker 1: really impact our development and they impact on our experiences

574
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 1: and our opportunities. Cultural groups are likely to have particular

575
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 1: values and priorities and practices and child rearing that's going

576
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:22,000
Speaker 1: to impact how a child might respond following a traumatic event.

577
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 1: And these factors all interact to make individuals more susceptible

578
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,080
Speaker 1: to the long term impacts of trauma. And this is

579
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: obviously a really complicated interaction, but some researchers put together

580
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:39,480
Speaker 1: a number of factors that they identified might determine whether

581
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,680
Speaker 1: someone who's experienced trauma as a child is going to

582
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:47,359
Speaker 1: have more adverse versus more positive experiences. And there are

583
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:51,400
Speaker 1: also kind of a list of factors that clinical psychologists

584
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,040
Speaker 1: and even the average person can use to measure the

585
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 1: impact of their trauma, although I think subjective experiences and

586
00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:00,839
Speaker 1: your experience of trauma is probably the best indicators. So

587
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:03,799
Speaker 1: number one is how serious was the event? I just

588
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,839
Speaker 1: want to say really quickly, severity is subjective, but it

589
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:11,600
Speaker 1: really matters how serious the event was objectively, you know

590
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,680
Speaker 1: what you seriously physically hurt? Was your life in danger?

591
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,160
Speaker 1: Did you lose a loved one? Depending on your developmental

592
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:21,160
Speaker 1: stage and the traumatic events impact on your daily life,

593
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:25,480
Speaker 1: the effects could really vary. But for some people something

594
00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,840
Speaker 1: that might be minor t others could be really serious.

595
00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:32,040
Speaker 1: So that's important to keep in mind. How close was

596
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:36,080
Speaker 1: that trauma to you? Trauma can impact people who aren't

597
00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:39,920
Speaker 1: even close to us. You know, we might experience the

598
00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 1: death of someone at our school when we were a child.

599
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,160
Speaker 1: You might not have been close to that person. It's

600
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 1: still going to be really traumatic, But often the closer

601
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:51,799
Speaker 1: you are, the more significant. The impact the trauma has,

602
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 1: whether you were a victim or a witness, or it's

603
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:59,280
Speaker 1: something that you learned about, determines how severe and affect

604
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:03,279
Speaker 1: the trauma has on you. You know, trauma with caregivers

605
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:08,560
Speaker 1: is going to be a lot more impactful than a

606
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,600
Speaker 1: trauma and your community. You know that your caregiver, your parent,

607
00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:16,240
Speaker 1: that person is you know, directly responsible for your safety

608
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,600
Speaker 1: and your well being. So if they pass away or

609
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,719
Speaker 1: if you know, unfortunately experience abuse from that person, that's

610
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:28,040
Speaker 1: going to impact you a lot differently. How did your

611
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:32,040
Speaker 1: caregiver or your community react to the trauma. So feeling

612
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:36,440
Speaker 1: understood by your parents or your caregivers provides feelings of

613
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:40,080
Speaker 1: trust and attiunement and achievement can really help you feel

614
00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:44,200
Speaker 1: accepted and loved and better prepared to cope with your trauma.

615
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,919
Speaker 1: You know, if you've got a parent who is there

616
00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:49,319
Speaker 1: for you and who loves you and who gives you

617
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:53,920
Speaker 1: unconditional love and support, and you know a sense of

618
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: trust and that you can feel vulnerable, I think you're

619
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 1: going to be a lot more protected than if you

620
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:01,880
Speaker 1: didn't have that support structure in play. Were their previous

621
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 1: traumas People experience many types of trauma throughout their lives.

622
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:10,040
Speaker 1: You know, we summarized the whole list earlier. Suppose you

623
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,799
Speaker 1: already have a history of traumatic events occurring in your

624
00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:15,359
Speaker 1: home life. All you've had a build up of those

625
00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 1: minor traumas we talked about experiencing food insecurity or housing insecurity,

626
00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 1: or poverty. In that case, it could actually impact or

627
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:29,239
Speaker 1: amplify what you can actually amplify the impact that the

628
00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:32,720
Speaker 1: trauma has on you. So if you're an individual who

629
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 1: grew up in a really loving home and who had

630
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,279
Speaker 1: everything proprided for them and who never had to worry,

631
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 1: and then you've had this one singular event versus someone

632
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:46,800
Speaker 1: who has experienced poverty, experienced abuse, experience neglect, experience bullying,

633
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:50,719
Speaker 1: and then a really traumatic event happens, it's a really

634
00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:55,320
Speaker 1: complex interaction about which of those two individuals the outcomes

635
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,920
Speaker 1: are going to be worse for. And in some situations,

636
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,719
Speaker 1: people might say that the person is experienced a lot

637
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:02,239
Speaker 1: of trauma in the past and a lot of mind

638
00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:05,800
Speaker 1: are built up accumulated traumas might actually be better placed

639
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:09,600
Speaker 1: because they have coping mechanisms, maybe not positive ones, maybe

640
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:13,120
Speaker 1: they experienced association, but they do have something that can

641
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,000
Speaker 1: get them through, whereas someone who has never experienced anything

642
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,880
Speaker 1: like that is going to be completely shocked and unsure

643
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 1: about where to go from there. Another factor is if

644
00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:26,839
Speaker 1: there were support or backlash from your community. Our community

645
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:31,680
Speaker 1: and our social identities impact us in so many ways.

646
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:35,480
Speaker 1: It is the building block of our self concept. So

647
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:40,919
Speaker 1: whether that is your local community or your religious group

648
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,600
Speaker 1: that you might be a part of, or people in

649
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:47,359
Speaker 1: the same school as you, or people who are either

650
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,560
Speaker 1: of the same race or ethnicity of you as you.

651
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:54,000
Speaker 1: Those around you can respond differently to traumatic events, and

652
00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:57,719
Speaker 1: having a supportive community can positively impact a child and

653
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:01,200
Speaker 1: reduce the long term risks of childhood trauma. There's also

654
00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:05,359
Speaker 1: other factors like resilience. People who are more resilient are

655
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:09,440
Speaker 1: able to overcome these experiences by applying a helpful understanding

656
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:12,040
Speaker 1: of the event rather than a negative perspective that can

657
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:15,440
Speaker 1: center on shame and self blame. And resilience really does

658
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,000
Speaker 1: refer to your ability to bounce back, so it makes

659
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:21,600
Speaker 1: sense why people who are high in the characteristic of

660
00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:25,800
Speaker 1: resilience might find it easier and following a traumatic event.

661
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:30,600
Speaker 1: Research has also revealed to other really crucial factors, and

662
00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:33,960
Speaker 1: they kind of tend to separate those who might now

663
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:37,640
Speaker 1: suffer a disorder as a result of their experience, versus

664
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:40,880
Speaker 1: those who never developed things like anxiety or depression or PTSD,

665
00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:44,280
Speaker 1: or those who have recovered from those experiences. These factors

666
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:49,720
Speaker 1: are mastery and social support. Mastery refers to the degree

667
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:55,080
Speaker 1: to which individuals perceive themselves of having control and influence

668
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:59,239
Speaker 1: over their life circumstances. This is not the same as

669
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,480
Speaker 1: optimism optimism being like, oh, I'm everything's going to turn

670
00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:07,120
Speaker 1: out from you outright. For me, I'm optimistic about the future. No. No,

671
00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:10,960
Speaker 1: it's about whether you believe that you actually can change

672
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,080
Speaker 1: things in your life, whether you actually are in control

673
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:18,080
Speaker 1: of what you experience. So, if you are someone who

674
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:21,319
Speaker 1: has experienced childhood trauma, but you are so certain and

675
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,359
Speaker 1: you have that high level of mastery that things are

676
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:27,759
Speaker 1: in my control, I can leave this situation. I can

677
00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:30,440
Speaker 1: pursue a better life. I can make something better for myself.

678
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:33,320
Speaker 1: I can raise my children in a different way to

679
00:43:33,760 --> 00:43:36,719
Speaker 1: how I was raised, Versus someone who thinks, you know,

680
00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:39,360
Speaker 1: everything is determined. For me, I can never escape, I

681
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:42,279
Speaker 1: can never leave. I have no control. We can kind

682
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:44,520
Speaker 1: of see how the impacts and the result of a

683
00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:47,680
Speaker 1: traumatic event might differ. And the second factor, which we

684
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:49,680
Speaker 1: talked about a little bit earlier, but I do want

685
00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:53,160
Speaker 1: to stress again, is social support. It is just one

686
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:58,719
Speaker 1: of the biggest, biggest protective factors. You know, if you

687
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:03,040
Speaker 1: have supportive short ties, if your friends, if you have

688
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:06,440
Speaker 1: friends and family who love you, maybe you have a

689
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:10,520
Speaker 1: mentor or extended family who looks after you, who make

690
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:13,239
Speaker 1: sure you're okay, you are a lot less likely to

691
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:16,320
Speaker 1: develop some of those disorders and more likely to recover

692
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:18,759
Speaker 1: from an event than if you didn't have them. And

693
00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:23,640
Speaker 1: in contrast, unsupportive and unreceptive and critical responses from your family,

694
00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:27,080
Speaker 1: from your community, from your friends, that puts your risk

695
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:30,600
Speaker 1: of PTSD and of things like dissociative disorders or depression

696
00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:34,440
Speaker 1: and anxiety. And I think the research is something they

697
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:37,000
Speaker 1: really stated and they wanted to explain why this might

698
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:40,279
Speaker 1: be the case, and it's because it likely arises from

699
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 1: attempts to discourage open communication and attempts from your community

700
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:48,320
Speaker 1: or to not listen to you, to not be responsive

701
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,799
Speaker 1: to what you're saying, and that increases cognitive avoidance within

702
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:55,640
Speaker 1: you and suppression of trauma related memories and social withdrawal

703
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:59,040
Speaker 1: and self blame if you don't feel like you have

704
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:02,880
Speaker 1: an environment or a place where you can openly and

705
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:07,400
Speaker 1: freely talk about what you've been through in a way

706
00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:09,960
Speaker 1: that you're allowed to process your trauma but also you're

707
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:12,960
Speaker 1: allowed to share. What's going to happen is you're going

708
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:14,759
Speaker 1: to kind of suppress that and you're going to push

709
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,120
Speaker 1: it down, and you know, kind of learn that no

710
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:19,040
Speaker 1: one wants, no one cares, no one wants to know

711
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:22,319
Speaker 1: about this, and that can really create a lot of

712
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:26,040
Speaker 1: adverse experiences and maybe put you more at risk of

713
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:31,480
Speaker 1: substance abuse and depression. Like we've talked about, we've talked

714
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:35,920
Speaker 1: so much in this episode about the origins of trauma.

715
00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:39,239
Speaker 1: We've talked so much about what might protect you, so

716
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:42,279
Speaker 1: much about where trauma can come from and why it

717
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: is so impactful if you are a child, and especially

718
00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:50,279
Speaker 1: if traumakers in close family environment or within your family unit.

719
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:53,440
Speaker 1: But there's hope. There's always so much hope if you

720
00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:56,480
Speaker 1: are someone who has experiences and you're looking to this

721
00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:59,200
Speaker 1: episode for encouragement and healing. Like we talked about at

722
00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:01,759
Speaker 1: the beginning, I really want to talk about some of

723
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,200
Speaker 1: the options for treatment or the options for forgetting help

724
00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:08,480
Speaker 1: and the ones that I think are recommended by professionals.

725
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:11,280
Speaker 1: But as always, if this is something that you are considering,

726
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:14,520
Speaker 1: I do suggest going getting a mental healthcare plan if

727
00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:18,239
Speaker 1: you're in Australia, or going to your doctor or a

728
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:22,600
Speaker 1: psychologist anywhere you are in the world and talking to

729
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,400
Speaker 1: them about it. Some of the things they might recommend

730
00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:29,200
Speaker 1: to things like cognitive behavioral therapy. So this focuses on

731
00:46:29,239 --> 00:46:32,240
Speaker 1: the relationship between your feelings and your thoughts and your behaviors,

732
00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:35,880
Speaker 1: and it kind of targets problems and symptoms and focuses

733
00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,480
Speaker 1: on changing your patterns of behavior that could lead to

734
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:41,840
Speaker 1: difficulties in functioning. So maybe if we think about the

735
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:46,200
Speaker 1: drug addiction or substance use challenge here, if you are

736
00:46:46,239 --> 00:46:50,600
Speaker 1: someone who when you experience a flashback or when you

737
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:54,640
Speaker 1: experience you know you're triggered because of a traumatic event

738
00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:56,719
Speaker 1: you went through in childhood, you might immediately go to

739
00:46:56,760 --> 00:47:01,040
Speaker 1: suppress that using alcohol and cognitive behavioral therapy tries to

740
00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:03,240
Speaker 1: make us understand that we can actually choose a different

741
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:06,600
Speaker 1: behavior and that might lead to better outcomes for us.

742
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:11,719
Speaker 1: There's also prolonged exposure, so this is actually typical as

743
00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:15,040
Speaker 1: kind of a lot of typical that are very specific,

744
00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:19,920
Speaker 1: maybe niche type of cognitive behavioral therapy, and it teaches

745
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:25,520
Speaker 1: us to gradually approach trauma related memories and feelings and situations,

746
00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:31,200
Speaker 1: and whilst we're approaching them, to also apply meditative or

747
00:47:31,680 --> 00:47:35,200
Speaker 1: or mindful practices so we can lower our sense of

748
00:47:35,239 --> 00:47:38,960
Speaker 1: anxiousness and arousal. Often when we are triggered by something,

749
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:43,440
Speaker 1: we're put straight back into that experience, so our bodies

750
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:46,000
Speaker 1: and our brains are flooded with those same kind of

751
00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:49,760
Speaker 1: neurochemicals and feelings and emotions that we originally felt during

752
00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:54,200
Speaker 1: that first event. So what prolonged exposure wants to teach

753
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:56,760
Speaker 1: us to do is to instead of avoid that because

754
00:47:56,800 --> 00:48:00,480
Speaker 1: we're worried that we're going to be overwhelmed, we're going

755
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:04,480
Speaker 1: to panic or be distressed. It teaches us that when

756
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:07,840
Speaker 1: we are exposed to a triggering memory or a triggering thought,

757
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,279
Speaker 1: that those cues are not dangerous and you're not in

758
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 1: any danger anymore. You don't need to avoid those situations.

759
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:18,319
Speaker 1: It teaches us to have a positive experience or a

760
00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:23,000
Speaker 1: positive mental reaction to those triggers. It's been really effective

761
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:26,720
Speaker 1: for a lot of people it's not offered by many places,

762
00:48:26,719 --> 00:48:28,839
Speaker 1: but there is so much evidence suggesting it's a really

763
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:33,240
Speaker 1: great way to move on from trauma. There's also medication.

764
00:48:33,239 --> 00:48:35,040
Speaker 1: I'm not going to talk about that so much, but

765
00:48:36,040 --> 00:48:39,799
Speaker 1: things like SSRIs. It's not so much for treating PTSD,

766
00:48:40,040 --> 00:48:42,320
Speaker 1: but more for treating some of those other conditions that

767
00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:45,320
Speaker 1: might arise from a traumatic event, like depression and anxiety,

768
00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:51,560
Speaker 1: and finally creating a safe environment, creating an environment where

769
00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:55,080
Speaker 1: you feel like you are able to process your trauma

770
00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:57,520
Speaker 1: and you are able to feel safe in a way

771
00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:01,080
Speaker 1: that maybe you didn't get to feel. I think that's

772
00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:04,440
Speaker 1: one of the most amazing things that I see happening,

773
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:09,359
Speaker 1: as people who have understood how their parents and their

774
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,840
Speaker 1: grandparents and their family have been impacted by events in

775
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:14,960
Speaker 1: the past, and this trauma has been passed down, and

776
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:18,600
Speaker 1: these reactions and these responses and these behaviors have been

777
00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:22,080
Speaker 1: passed down, and they're breaking that cycle of intergenerational trauma

778
00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:26,319
Speaker 1: by healing there in a child, by creating spaces where

779
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:29,680
Speaker 1: they feel seen and heard, by having room for creativity

780
00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:36,000
Speaker 1: and exploration and love. Trauma is really, really hard. It's

781
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:38,880
Speaker 1: really difficult, especially when we are children. You know, we

782
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:43,480
Speaker 1: are so receptive to everything in our environment. You know,

783
00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:45,439
Speaker 1: as kids were just trying to learn, and if those

784
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:49,120
Speaker 1: learning experiences were presented with are ones that are really

785
00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:52,120
Speaker 1: difficult and ones that are based in violence or abuse

786
00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:56,319
Speaker 1: or loss or abandonment, it can really impact who we

787
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:59,560
Speaker 1: become as adults. But I want to say that in

788
00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:04,440
Speaker 1: no way, no way means that your destiny is secure,

789
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:07,680
Speaker 1: and that your destiny is kind of solidified. You have

790
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:11,040
Speaker 1: the option to change that path. And so many people

791
00:50:11,560 --> 00:50:15,319
Speaker 1: anecdotally and clinically who have experienced really immense trauma go

792
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:19,600
Speaker 1: on to lead incredible, incredible lives, And most people will

793
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:23,479
Speaker 1: experience a traumatic event in their life. But the brain

794
00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:27,080
Speaker 1: is so flexible and great at bouncing back. And when

795
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:30,239
Speaker 1: you are able to surround yourself with supportive people, when

796
00:50:30,239 --> 00:50:34,520
Speaker 1: you're able to pursue wellness and happiness for yourself, receive

797
00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:37,440
Speaker 1: support from a psychologist or someone who can help you

798
00:50:37,560 --> 00:50:41,480
Speaker 1: process your triggers and process and your thoughts around what

799
00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:44,279
Speaker 1: has happened to you, there is no reason why you

800
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:47,880
Speaker 1: cannot live a life just as wonderful and lovely and

801
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:51,000
Speaker 1: full of love as someone who may not have gone

802
00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:54,799
Speaker 1: through that. So I do really hope that with all

803
00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:58,040
Speaker 1: that we've talked about today, we are able to collectively

804
00:50:58,080 --> 00:51:00,400
Speaker 1: recognize that there is hope for the future. And then,

805
00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:03,240
Speaker 1: if you are someone who has experienced drama as a child,

806
00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:06,200
Speaker 1: first of all, I'm so proud of you for listening

807
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:08,360
Speaker 1: to this episode, and I'm proud of you for getting

808
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:11,640
Speaker 1: through that, and I just can see amazing things in

809
00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:13,960
Speaker 1: your future. You're going to do amazing things. You're on

810
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:16,120
Speaker 1: the right track. You know you're listening to this episode,

811
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:20,000
Speaker 1: So yeah, proud of you, and thank you for listening.

812
00:51:20,040 --> 00:51:24,239
Speaker 1: Thank you for yeah tuning into this new episode. It

813
00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:26,399
Speaker 1: was a long episode, so I appreciate it if you've

814
00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:28,080
Speaker 1: made it this far. But I also think it was

815
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:30,000
Speaker 1: such an important one and one that I've wanted to

816
00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:32,960
Speaker 1: do for a while. Like I said, we could not

817
00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:37,560
Speaker 1: cover everything. It's such a vast, vast topic, but I

818
00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:39,920
Speaker 1: hope that we covered the basics and that you'll learn something.

819
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:42,600
Speaker 1: And if you do like this episode, please feel free

820
00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:45,520
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the show wherever you're listening right now

821
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:50,240
Speaker 1: and leave a five star review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,

822
00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:53,720
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show

823
00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:56,759
Speaker 1: to grow. And you know, it's just me doing this,

824
00:51:56,840 --> 00:51:59,279
Speaker 1: so it really makes my day when I see that

825
00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:02,520
Speaker 1: people really like what I'm doing of send me lovely messages.

826
00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:05,840
Speaker 1: It's just so heartwarming and thank you, as always for listening.

827
00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:09,200
Speaker 1: We will be back next week with a new episode.

828
00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:11,200
Speaker 1: Have a lovely day.