Addressing Trauma with Your Psychiatrist...

Its easy for clinicians to see through clinical lenses, if they have not been trained in trauma and even if they have.  Treating trauma and validating appropriate social responses is a dance.  If we only speak of our fears to our psychiatrist, we may find appropriate social fears being medicated away.  We have instincts and its important to listen to them.  Its also important not to be afraid all the time.  There is a fine line between being a trauma survivor and acting appropriately based on knowledge learned and the real realities of mental health conditions.  Recently I found myself reminding my psychiatrist that while I was afraid to turn corners of allies downtown alone that this was also an appropriate social response for a woman.  She jogged what I said through her head and had to add that into the equation.  We must dialogue about trauma with our doctors, so that we don't end up medicating away our appropriate social instincts.