What is Trauma?

Some people don't simply understand what trauma is.  In a basic sense, it is when a person is "overwhelmed by events or circumstances and responds with intense fear, horror, and helplessness."  Examples appear in the tree on this infographic:  http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Trauma-infographic.pdf

My trauma started at age 7, when my family moved to Atlanta.  This is where I began to spend Sundays with my grandfather, whom we would come to learn was a pedophile.  As an already shy and introverted child, this experience hit me like a brick wall leaving me more introverted and scared of people.  The trauma didn't stop there, it continued in finding unhealthy relationships with others around me.  I felt like I was marked and trapped in a personal narrative of shock.  There are some events that changed this:

a) I engaged in a therapeutic relationship with a therapist.
b) I began to draw my feelings.
c) I began to journal my feelings.
d) I took medication when a mental health condition struck.
e) I learned how to seek healing relationships to replace the unhealthy ones.
f) I stopped drinking.
g) I found Georgia peer support and acquired new friends and skills (www.gmhcn.org)
h) I sought connection with other survivors to advocate and discuss trauma.
i) I started to create skills resources and share what I have learned.


We do not have to be silent, we can come together to share stories of healing and change the narrative.