It is endearing to see so many people offering support to those who have lost their homes, material possessions, and animals. We are all directly experience various levels of trauma just by living in Oregon right now, as it has been declared a state of emergency by Kate Brown. However, some of experiencing more extreme levels of trauma, particularly those who have histories of trauma due to sexism, racism, and economic poverty.
We are all feeling the survival urge to respond, which is normal and needed. We all need to rise and offer what we can to help. However, it is important to be humble about your training, particularly when working with traumatized people. While empathy, gentleness, and generosity are welcomed, please don’t attempt to offer trauma therapy to your friends. Emotional support is one thing, but trauma therapy is something that requires training and professional experience in a clinical setting.
There are numerous qualified therapists in the rogue valley who are now offering their services pro-bono, or, at reduced rates. I am currently offering free 30-minute social work consultations, a trauma informed support group at the Elks lodge, crisis support, and therapy via zoom. Please contact me via my website, Victoria Christensen, M.A., MSW: www.guanyinhealingarts.com
As a trauma informed clinical social worker who has been working on the frontlines all over Southern Oregon with a team of integral medical professionals, I wanted to offer some professional advice to our beloved community, as I know there are many stellar humans who have really good intentions.
However, I have had several trauma victims contact me expressing frustrations about friends who are trying to step into the role of therapist when they really shouldn’t be. While friends can be a source of emotional support, assistance with basic caregiving, and material donations, they really can do more damage to a traumatized individual if they aren’t properly trained.
There are books written on these subjects and therapists spend months in intensive training and clinical internships. Not all therapists have trauma training or expertise, but they may have a general understanding of how to looks for trauma symptoms and effective ways to approach traumatized individuals.
The first thing to understand is what is happening in someone’s brain when they have been through a traumatic event. This is called the neuroscience of trauma. The hallmarks of extreme traumatization are often considered to be PTSD, which is categorized as a trauma or stress related disorder.
Some individuals might have histories of trauma (which they are private about), and the new traumatic event (a fire) can trigger the individual’s past traumatic memories, particularly if they have not worked with a trauma informed therapist who helped them to desensitize the traumatic event. However, not everyone has to motivation or financial resources to do so. More often than not they use medication and not therapy, which is typical in our dysfunction health care model.
When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. This area of the brain functions like a command center, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy to fight or flee.
The hypothalamus is a bit like a command center. This area of the brain communicates with the rest of the body through the autonomic nervous system, which controls such involuntary body functions as breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat, and the dilation or constriction of key blood vessels and small airways in the lungs called bronchioles. The autonomic nervous system has two components, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
The sympathetic nervous system functions like a gas pedal in a car. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, providing the body with a burst of energy so that it can respond to perceived dangers. The parasympathetic nervous system acts like a brake. It promotes the "rest and digest" response that calms the body down after the danger has passed.
After the amygdala sends a distress signal, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system by sending signals through the autonomic nerves to the adrenal glands. These glands respond by pumping the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) into the bloodstream. As epinephrine circulates through the body, it brings on a number of physiological changes. The heart beats faster than normal, pushing blood to the muscles, heart, and other vital organs. Pulse rate and blood pressure go up.
The person undergoing these changes also starts to breathe more rapidly. Small airways in the lungs open wide. This way, the lungs can take in as much oxygen as possible with each breath. Extra oxygen is sent to the brain, increasing alertness. Sight, hearing, and other senses become sharper. Meanwhile, epinephrine triggers the release of blood sugar (glucose) and fats from temporary storage sites in the body. These nutrients flood into the bloodstream, supplying energy to all parts of the body.
All of these changes happen so quickly that people aren't aware of them. In fact, the wiring is so efficient that the amygdala and hypothalamus start this cascade even before the brain's visual centers have had a chance to fully process what is happening. That's why people are able to jump out of the path of an oncoming car even before they think about what they are doing.
People are going to be exhibiting and assortment of trauma related responses, which I have outlined here:
Types of Post-traumatic responses:
Complicated or traumatic Grief: Grief is a normal response to loss and often can resolves naturally over time. However, when the loss involves a sudden, traumatic, and violent death or disruption of an individual’s life, however, this response may become more complicated and may be associated with lasting health and mental health problems.
Major Depression: grief associated with a traumatic loss also may lead to major depression. Some symptoms of depression (insomnia, loss of interest in formerly enjoyable events, and a decreased ability to concentrate) overlap with symptoms of PTSD.
Anxiety: because trauma involves the experience of danger and vulnerability, post-traumatic outcomes often involves symptoms of anxiety (generalize anxiety, panic attacks, and post-traumatic phobias.
Stress Disorders: the hallmarks of extreme traumatization are often considered to be PTSD or ASD, watch of which is categorized as a trauma and stress related disorder.
Symptoms of PTSD: Post-traumatic stress disorder is the best-known trauma specific diagnosis in DSM-5.
Symptoms of PTSD are divided into four clusters:
a) Re-experiencing the traumatic event: flashbacks and intrusive thoughts and/or memories of the trauma.
b) Avoidance of trauma relevant stimuli: avoiding or suppressing upsetting thoughts, feelings, or memories. Efforts to avoid external reminders.
c) Numbing, negative cognition and mood: emotional and cognitive numbing, also diminished interest, detachment, and amnesia, persistent negative beliefs and emotional states.
a. Dissociative symptoms: Persistent experiences of feeling detached from one’s mental processes, or, body. Feeling as though one were in a dream: feeling a sense of unreality of self or body or of time moving slowly.
d) Hyperarousal and hyperactivity: Keyed up nervous system, insomnia, “jumpiness”, hypervigilance, hypersensitivity to noise, stimulus, etc. irritability, sleep disturbance, self-destructive behavior, or attention/ concentration difficulties. Reexperiencing symptoms of PTSD are often the first to fade over time, whereas hyperarousal symptoms typically are more enduring.
If you see some of these symptoms in recent victims, please be humble. If you are not a therapist with a master’s degree, step up to plate and help set up apt. for them with a trained therapist, particularly who has training in trauma and professional clinical experience.
Be safe, be kind, and be humble. We have a massive job ahead of us.