Today I learned something knew. It is always a good day when that happens. There is something about learning that has always been a natural high for me.
Trauma is derived from the Greek word "wound". Because of my past and my work life, when I hear the word trauma I always think of it in psychological terms. I did some wikipediaing and here is what I got
"Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a dramatic event." That is a pretty broad take on the word.
We have all experienced this type of damage at sometime in our life. A death, particularly an unexepected one, like a suicide or an accident will leave you with a lot of trauma. Any sudden loss, like being terminated from a job you have held for 17 years will certainly do it. Learning that your child or anyone you love is in trouble or in danger will leave you traumatized everytime.
The main difference between phyical and psychological trauma is that when you have been phyically traumatized there is almost always visible evidence of the trauma; there will be bruising, bandages or perhaps a cast. The world can look at you and know you are hurting. That is not the case with psychological trauma, it is unseen, no visible bandages. There is not even a scar, except inside, inside you are really scarred. So often I have looked in a mirror when I was depressed or anxious and thought how much earier this would be if people could look at me and see my pain.
Afternoon thoughts
Monday, December 5th, 2011.......4:09p.m.
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