In the discussion of building safety in
stabilization in recovery from post traumatic stress, we've recently
considered the role of acceptance and expectation in that process.
We lose perspective because we get more consumed with survival for
far too long which interferes with our ability to embrace joy and
live optimistically.
Understanding mankind's vulnerability in the
grand sense gives a a map of the landscape, and creating a starting
point of moments of safety give us a starting point. Learning how to
safely move forward through the oft convoluted maze of healing also
gives us a safe habits and help in that process.
Trauma and Critical Thinking
Trauma causes changes in how our brain functions as more blood flow and activity takes place in the regions
that are responsible for survival – and they happen to be ones that
govern emotion. If we had to stop and do much reasoning to survive
immediate threats, we wouldn't get every far. Fear and survival that
follows from the sense of threat can be considered the mind's wise
allocation of resources. In that process our critical thought and
introspection become a luxury in the face of threat, but prolonged
trauma that doesn't shut down once the threat abates causes a dulling
of our critical thought. In the long term, this creates a problem
when we need to draw on rational decision making because all of our
brain's effort has taken another focus.
When people exit high demand ideologies
or groups, the trauma that they experience compounds the challenge of
reawakening critical thinking and decision making skills. To merge
with a closed, authoritarian group with rigid demands, critical
thinking takes a back seat to the black and white rules and
perspectives that control the group and the members themselves. The
dogma and the dictates of the leaders subsume the individual's own
decision making. Subtle chipping away at self-confidence eases the
struggle and helps the person transition into their working identity
that the group demands of them. When one walks away from a group, it
takes some work, practice, and encouragement to help reboot these
critical thinking skills.
An Uncertain World
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| Photo credit |
All true living as a responsible adult
requires critical thinking, and critical thinking requires work.
These direct our choices, and all choices involve risk and the
discomfort we feel that comes with all decision making. Healthy
people strive to make healthy decisions that will benefit them, and
perfectionism intensifies this stress even more. Considering that
high demand groups wear away at all of these skills, whether we were
reasonably healthy when we joined up, the fact that our world can be
unpredictable and our strivings imperfect amplify the stress that we
feel as we venture forward.
Our high tech life and the good life
that we see in the media also intensifies the idea that we can live
more wisely and minimize if not eliminate most risks. I have a
friend who is post-quiverful who suffers with chronic health problems
with no hopeful or very treatments often asks me if I can find
something that will help her. I think of the way people have come to
expect and sometimes feel entitled to good health and accessible
treatment to help them achieve it. High demand groups promise that
we can also find these things by following their systems, so the
pains that all human beings feel as a consequence of living become
even more disappointing and challenging.
The next post will discuss how to understand and cope with the stress of risk.
For
further reading until the next post:
- Judith Herman's Trauma and Recovery
- Peter Levine's Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
- Bessel Van der Kolk's The Body Keeps Score
