It happened, yet again.
This time in Baton Rouge. More senseless killings. The immediate, and seemingly new panic, this time suggested that all those, all of us, we Americans on all sides should be braced for what violence would come next. That we should ready ourselves for the reactions of communities and authorities and hate groups, everywhere. This senseless violence, it would seem, would beget more and this time expected, violence.
We have failed to consider the great emotional weight we are carrying, and how our reluctance to process these events, and what they mean about us, may be our greatest flaw and challenge.
|
Three police officers were murdered by another lone gunman in Louisiana. Another military serviceman. African-American. American. In these times. The news didn’t seem to be received with the same gravity as when those same words were uttered in Dallas not even 14 days prior. It felt, to my eyes, that we as a nation family, had started the process of becoming desensitized. As we have with regard to gun violence in general. It seems as though we have started to settle into preparing emotionally for “the next time.”
The part of me, the Psychologist, the analyst/healer part of me refuses to believe that we must simply treat these recent tragedies like we have so many others. That part of me refuses to simply believe that we must simply replay these events like movies a year from now, that we will have in no way changed to prevent these generational curses of violence which appear to plague us, as a nation family, as we grow.
As a father, and man, and American, and African-American, and Psychologist, I have to believe that we must do more. Not simply because of yet another tragedy, but because as a responsible father, citizen, and human, I want to fend off what may be coming for as long as I can help us all to do so.
What we are failing to do, to that end, is to assess the real human price of these events. We have failed to consider the great emotional weight we are carrying, and how our reluctance to process these events, and what they mean about us, may be our greatest flaw and challenge.
In order to make sense of what we must do next to prevent more tragedy, we must truthfully and earnestly study what has happened thus far.
|
What we are living with is trauma. That main fact is inescapable as we are showing, as a nation family, all of the signs. We have become hypervigilant, believing that danger awaits in the actions and intent of those around us. We have become avoidant, refusing to engage one another as a nation family to promote progress. We are reporting flashbacks of these events, depression and hopelessness about our way forward, and agitation and anxiety about what we are as a family that would have led us here. All of it, consistent with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, as we know it.
In order to make sense of what we must do next to prevent more tragedy, we must truthfully and earnestly study what has happened thus far. What has brought about our present circumstances? What we have are the remnants of long standing trauma. A vulnerable community of citizens who have felt unprotected and unheard, traumatized by a history of racial trauma. Children raised within a society that debates what can or should be done when lives are being lost. Police Officers struggling with the trauma of feeling targeted and seeing the violent deaths of men they consider comrades. And in the case of shooters in both Dallas and Baton Rouge, likely retraumatization.
The primary shooters in both instances had military backgrounds, the most recent with service in the Middle East. Considering the climate in our nation, someone already suffering from PTSD related to combat exposure would have a number of symptoms activated by experiences of trauma surrounding the deaths of African-American men when contacted by authorities, and this activation would lead some to a kind of extreme fight or flight response. A desperate fight or flight response.
Our goal should be clear, if we are to have one. Let us use what we know to bring about some manner of solution. We should begin with asking what trauma, its place in our society, and how we have created and maintain it, is doing to our citizenry—especially those who have served and live with it in their thoughts and dreams daily. We are creating untenable circumstances for those men and women, and we are seeing unfortunate results in how we then damage our humanity, physically and emotionally.
Above all else, we acknowledge that trauma is at the core of our existence, and that we are not broken for living with it.
|
Instead of solutions, for a moment, we should consider how we go about rebuilding our humanity, post-trauma. We go about accepting that we cannot change the unfortunate events which have transpired. We process our feelings around those things as we are entitled to our emotions. We bravely engage all of our nation family in conversations in their own personal healing process. We use exposure—to ideas and people with disagree with—to build a communication and action bridge. We go about the process of engaging our vulnerable communities and better teach our authorities how to police them, as we must reasonably assess our circumstances as they have brought us here.
Above all else, we acknowledge that trauma is at the core of our existence, and that we are not broken for living with it. We are not crazy or disturbed. We are witnesses. We are exceedingly human. And we are allowed that. My hope is that other fathers, and men, and African-Americans, and Americans, and my nation family will choose see to our mental health and wellness in these times, and in our future.
—
Photo: Getty Images
Civilians are suffering from PSTD due to wars all over the war. In the last 10 years, civilian casualties from these wars have far exceeded those of the military. In addition, people in cities are suffering from PSTD due to all the drive-by shootings and police brutality.
Couldn’t agree more. My teacher told me if I wanted to change the world, heal trauma. That is what I am doing.
As an AA Expat in SE Asia and South Africa, I would suggest you replace the word America with ‘The world’. I was stunned into silence when I read the travelers guide acknowledge that out that 1 out of 4 South Africans would be HIV Positive. But in Thailand, courageous PSA’s of hope and change come in the form of condom popsicles marketed to girls. And America media typically does it race agitations reporting in the summer months. It’s what we do next that will change the course of history. And the beauty of this time is that we can… Read more »
Phyllis, thank you so much for expanding the scope of this very important article. I spent three years of my life studying and writing about Trauma in South Africa. It is my belief that the country has suffered from over 150 years of unresolved Trauma that is far more complex than just Apartheid. Consequently this unresolved Trauma is now an epigenetic plague and the fuel for the cycle of violence in our country. I did not just want to just identify the problem but to do my best at offering a solution. Hence I published TRISI – the Trauma &… Read more »
Napoleon, Certainly there is an increase in stress going on in the world and all of us are suffering from some degree of PTSD. I’m a psychotherapist and have been treating people from all forms of PTSD for more than 40 years. It’s important, though, that we distinguish from actual experiences of trauma from the mediated experiences that we get from the media. A number of studies show that gun violence has actually gone down in the U.S. (Though its still way higher than most other countries, as are our incarceration rates). There are those who benefit from getting people… Read more »
I share your view. The World is being traumatised with survival as more people squabble over less space and resources. As stress levels rise so will incidences of mindless rage. Having equipment available that assists the carnage is not helpful.
We need a document or address of importance from the United Nations stressing the need for population moderation in line with the Earth’s resources? Do we have any idea what a viable number of humans for peaceful co-existance would be?
An original, convincing and humane view of our national turmoil. Eminently worth reading and pondering.
Certainly, recent events suggest that people with direct connection to these events might be sufferring from PTSD. And many cases of PTSD resolve themselves in 30–60 days. What might be going on is something else. Alexithymia, the inability to identify and express what we are feeling. Men are much more likely to suffer from this than women. Like PTSD, it can be trauma-based, but it can also last a lifetime. Recent studies suggest that alexithymia is acquired very early. In this regard, it can be considered a adverse childhood experience. My study of circumcised men suggests that alexithymia is much… Read more »
Dan, I agree that early trauma, including having our genitals cut, creates a blunting of emotions as well as a blunting of the sensitivity of the penis which is meant to have a foreskin for protection and to keep the glans moist and the nerve endings sensitive for the joys of sex. Circumcising children, whether male or female, really has more to do with attempting to control sexual pleasure than it does to prevent disease.
Jed, as I like to say, “Circumcision cuts men off from their feeling function.” They still have the same range of emotions as before, its just that they can’t access and verbalize them.
Cases of “PTSD” resolved in 30 to 60 days is not PTSD. It’s just reactions from trauma. People naturally heal from trauma within a couple months. But trauma can lead to PTSD, which will last many more months, sometimes years, sometimes the remainder of a person’s life.
MCB, PTSD is a continuum from mild to severe. Many people experience a minor traumatic event in their lives, say, witnessing or experiencing an automobile accident where someone is seriously injured. It was these more common events that I was referring to. And, rarer, more serious events can and do result in PTSD that lasts much longer as you say. For instance, an extended stay in a combat zone can lead to acute, chronic PTSD where the sufferer is haunted for years. They might even have a compulsion to repeat the trauma, which, ironically, they believe will alleviate symptoms. What… Read more »
I’m a psychotherapist, and I completely agree with this. Good analysis.
The numbing from my view is not from external happenings but from a lack of discovery of the true self. Fear and pain either require feelings or numbness.
I absolutely 100% agree with this — absolutely. Thank you for saying it.
Personally speaking, I don’t think we’re numbing at all. I think we’ve reached a point where people are fed one thing and in their hearts know another which is causing people an inner struggle. Many are struggling with what they “thought” to be right because people, in particular the media, have told them that it’s what hey should think and believe. For example BLM represents a movement that addresses bad cops but totally ignores the black on black violence. Most people of color have few issues with law enforcement but are being told they should. Many people in these minority… Read more »
There’s merit in what the author has to say, but I think Tom’s comment comes closer to the truth of the matter. I’ll give you an example. I belong to a motorcycle forum. Last night a thread got shut down because one member didn’t like it, he wasn’t having fun anymore and basically he was a victim by clicking on the thread. It was somewhat political. But not overly so. Because he didn’t like one thread out of literally hundreds, that he could choose to ignore, the moderators shut it down for being divisive. Not withstanding that lots of others… Read more »