2,560,797 views Nov 22, 2023
Acclaimed psychiatrist, Bessel van der Kolk, author of “The Body Keeps The Score,” discusses the widespread existence of trauma and how it manifests in our bodies.
has a history of sexual molestation
[Kathleen: I had a trauma experience at 14 (not the extreme of the Vietnam war) but just like what Bessel says about the vets, I remember getting angry, going from 0 to 10 in a flash at that young age, and later attracting people who did the same; like attracts like.]
Bessel: The nature of trauma is an experience enters into your ears, your skin, your eyes and it goes down into a very primitive part of your brain, the amygdala, that automatically interprets what’s going on.
to stave off the inevitable.
Your body starts automatically going
to the state of fight/flight or collapse . . .
The continuing effect of trauma
is you tend to react to mild stressors
as if your life is in danger . . .
and most people are barely aware . . .
that their reactions are rooted in experiences
they have had before.
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How do we help people live in bodies?
The tradition in mental health
It’s been only in the last few years people are beginning to talk
about the impact of poverty or the impact of racism
or the impact of unemployment . . .
Opening up . . .
How old these feelings are?
How did I develop these feelings?
These questions are actually quite helpful.
“I need to take care of the wounds
that I’m carrying inside of myself.”
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Self-compassion
Just as Bessel says our reactions are understandable
and are rooted in our getting stuck in the past.
Most of us are survivors of one thing or another,
some much worse than others.
Bessel is hoping we can
develop a brain and a mind
that can help us become full-fledged
members of society.
