Trauma originates from the Greek language and its literal meaning is ‘wound.’

We associate the word wound with the physical body. Dictionaries define wound as ‘an injury to living tissue caused by a cut, blow, or other impact, typically one in which the skin is cut or broken.’ A fresh wound bleeds, is painful to touch, needs to be protected from contact with anything which could damage it further. We clean a fresh wound, apply medication to it and cover it with a bandage so that we can give our body time to begin the healing process. Wounds which are shallow heal sooner and do not often leave a scar. The deeper the depth of the wound the longer it takes to heal and often it leaves a scar. 

Taking the example of a personal incident, few years back I accidentally cut my left index finger while I was cooking. The cut was very deep, and the doctor used five stitches to put it back together. In a few weeks, my skin had joined back together, and it no longer hurt. But it left a big scar on my finger. Seventeen years hence and the scar has faded but it is still clearly visible. When I look at it, it takes me back to that time when I was scared to see my skin separated from my finger and blood dripping to the floor. It no longer hurts. But what the physical wound left in my brain was fear. A fear which makes me extra careful anytime I take a knife in my hand. A small physical wound ended up creating trauma in my brain. Fear makes me extra careful, but it also makes me expect a negative outcome. It has never happened again. But the caution stays.

The physical human body is very resilient in most cases, it heals itself with proper physical care. But what about the psychological impact of such incidents? The body does not forget it. We unconsciously start to hold the trauma without even realizing that we are doing it. It starts to manifest fear and caution. Being careful and cautious is helpful at times to protect us from external harm. But the larger the trauma the higher the fear and the caution.

Recently a friend shared his story with me. Forty years back he was mugged and shot during the later part of the night. He still has a bullet inside his body which the doctors could not take out. The physical body healed around it but did it let go of the trauma? Four decades later, whenever he is outside of the safety of his home after sunset, he cannot get rid of the anxiety and the fear of something going wrong. 

Emotional trauma happens because of many varied reasons. We already discussed emotional trauma resulting from physical reasons. But there are other factors like loss, assault, abuse, an attack, an illness, childhood factors, relationship problems. The list is endless. Human experience is written with pain and trauma. It ranges from mild to extremely distressing and at times get out of the range of human tolerance. During such times it starts to show more on the body.

Trauma manifests from physical to psychological and from psychological to physiological. The human body has a limitation of the amount of trauma and wounding it can take. However, our souls have divine resilience. Pain is the doorway to growth into the new and the deeper. It becomes counterintuitive.

Intense trauma creates a fight or flight mechanism within the body. Unresolved trauma is the major cause of it showing up in our body as various kinds of illnesses. 

I talked about healing physical incidents of trauma, and how it still stays latent in our body even after many years have passed. But when we go into the zone of trauma, caused by life altering incidents, which cannot be changed forever- the level of trauma goes so deep that the scar which remains forms over a wound which has never been healed. The pain of the incident often causes us to use various coping or denial mechanisms. It halts healing and the wound stays deep within us on a psychological level. It eventually shows up as an illness if left unaddressed. 

Imagine you have a dark room in your house. There is a snake hiding in it. You are terrified of snakes. We  sometimes think that locking the room will solve the problem as we will not have to encounter the snake at all. But now you are living with one less room in your house, you cannot access anything you have there. To be able to use that room, you will need to open the door and address the problem. You might need to catch the snake. The easier method would be to get help from an expert who knows how to handle a snake. The door would still need to be opened.

Trauma is a wound which has been left unaddressed. The body eventually starts to signal to us through physical and psychological symptoms to open that door. Human beings are created for connection. One of the first steps to resolve trauma and move towards healing is to ask for help. Help from an expert, help from your loved ones or anywhere you feel comfortable. Take the case of emotional support dogs. It is a perfect example of how love and connection can help us heal. 

Every being on this earth has been through some trauma. We need to move past the ‘strong’ tag and reach out for help. Tolerance of physical or emotional pain is not strength. Hiding your trauma is also not strength. True strength lies in sharing and in vulnerability. True strength lies in asking for help.

There are so many things which cause trauma but there are also so many things which can help us in healing it. 

Being able to share it with someone is where the healing journey will begin.

Artwork above: Summer Roshni Bhullar