Trauma in Tech (Part Two)
Trauma in Tech (Part Two)
I’m sure you’ve all heard of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I call this common problem post-traumatic stress (PTS), leaving off the word “disorder.” To me, people who have been stressed beyond their abilities to cope are best thought of as injured. The most injured are compelled to automatically re-create their traumas and then avoid what they have done. This 1) automatic re-creation of trauma, and the 2) automatic avoidance of what they have done are the two symptom categories I’ve noticed from my experience with a family of origin where every member had severe complex post-traumatic stress. And we see these same dynamics of PTS over and over again with the increasingly totalitarian dynamics within our country. These traumatized people compulsively re-create immoral or even criminal actions like machines and then will not address what they have done.
I hear so many people ask the question, “Why do so many normal, healthy people fall prey to those who are destructive?” In fact, we have a traumatized population here in the States—“normal, healthy people” are becoming increasingly rare! When we participate in traumatic scenes–falling prey to violence, for example–we too are likely re-creating some unresolved trauma from our pasts. For example, a sizable percentage of people have suffered adverse events after their C0VID shots, or maybe this happened to a loved one, and they refused to consider the vaccine as a cause or contributor to the problem. These behaviors show the classic re-creation and avoidance patterns of post-traumatic stress.
OK, so we have a traumatized population that is being increasingly traumatized by traumatized leaders who are compelled to do to others what has been to them and then avoid what they have done. In other words, the most traumatized are leading the less traumatized into more and more trauma! What a nightmare!
What is the solution? The solution is to address these dynamics of unresolved trauma wherever we find them:
1) Don’t participate in trauma re-creations:
A) Don’t give predatory companies your business! Seek to work with honorable companies that care that each party benefits from each exchange. Make a point to support those people who are making a positive contribution to your communities. I know it takes a lot of time and effort to discover what’s going on behind appearances, but making the changes to support only honorable companies and individuals is time and effort well-spent.
B) Discover which past traumas you may unknowingly be re-creating. We’ve all had trauma, it’s just a matter of what kind and to what degree. The more we work through our own trauma, the less likely we will be to re-create it through victimizing others or by being victimized ourselves. Also, the more we work through our own trauma, the more likely we wil be to point out others’ traumatic recreations and help them to work through the unresolved trauma that is still affecting them, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or relationally. Professional help is usually necessary to resolve the deepest and darkest hurts.
(To be continued…)
