When children from uncontacted tribes are assimilated into the outside world, they often claim to remember nothing of their previous life. This isn't simple forgetting but a profound, guarded psychological defense mechanism, suggesting a deep trauma associated with their past or the transition itself.
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Trauma isn't simply any negative experience. It is specifically an event or situation that overwhelms a person's coping abilities, leading to lasting changes in brain function that manifest in mood, behavior, and physical health.
Evidence suggests that much of what people claim as post-traumatic growth is an imaginary coping mechanism. It's a way to rationalize suffering and reduce cognitive dissonance, rather than a true, observable transformation in thinking, feeling, or action.
Trauma is not an objective property of an event but a subjective experience created by the relationship between a present situation and past memories. Because experience is a combination of sensory input and remembered past, changing the meaning or narrative of past events can change the experience of trauma itself.
The body stores trauma even from before conscious memories form. Such events can restructure the brain's fear center (the amygdala), locking a person into a perpetual "fight or flight" state. This chronic stress response directly damages the gut barrier, leading to lifelong inflammation and digestive disorders.
Studies of children adopted before age two, who have no conscious memory of the event, reveal they have less diverse and more inflammatory gut bacteria years later. This proves the body "keeps the score" of traumatic events, embedding the stress response into our physiology and impacting long-term health.
A significant trauma often triggers an automatic, reflexive response of guilt and shame. This emotional reflex drives individuals to bury or avoid the trauma, which is the exact opposite of the communication and confrontation needed for healing.
Trying to eliminate trauma is counterproductive. Instead, reframe its role by acknowledging it as a protective mechanism in your left brain. Thank it for its information, then consciously shift focus to other brain regions to self-soothe and move forward.
The physical panic experienced before a difficult conversation isn't irrational. It's often a deeply ingrained survival response from childhood, where expressing a need or boundary led to a caregiver's emotional or physical withdrawal. The body remembers this abandonment as a threat to survival.
Contrary to popular wellness narratives, denial can be a productive short-term response to trauma. It's nature's way of letting in only as much pain as we can handle, providing a sense of control and hope when we need it most to remain resilient.
Early negative experiences, such as parental abuse, cause children to internalize blame. This creates a deeply ingrained subconscious program that they are inherently flawed, which dictates their reactions and self-perception for decades until it is consciously unraveled.
