20 Signs of Unresolved Trauma
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20 Signs of Unresolved Trauma
Hi everyone. I seen this by chance on another forum and though I'd share. It was a real eye opener for me.
20 Signs of Unresolved Trauma | Discussing Dissociation
How many do members identify with...
For me it was or is all of them with exception of number 9, and most of them in the extreme. I had no clue.
20 Signs of Unresolved Trauma | Discussing Dissociation
How many do members identify with... For me it was or is all of them with exception of number 9, and most of them in the extreme. I had no clue.
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Originally Posted by happybeingme 
Interesting list. Some are also on the laundry list of adult children
I probably should have post this in the Adult Children forum
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Yes, I think a lot of adult children have these symptoms from the trauma of addicted parents. My parents were just dysfunctional to the max, they sure left a legacy of trauma among their children. All of us.
I had lots of therapy and am grateful I had insurance that covered mental health and competent doctors.
Love from Lenina
I had lots of therapy and am grateful I had insurance that covered mental health and competent doctors.
Love from Lenina
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Join Date: Sep 2012
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I have at least 15 of them but I am unaware of any trauma. The more I study this stuff the more I am convinced that something happened in early childhood that makes me the neurotic person I am today. Time after time I see similar lists and it check check check
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I experienced these:
1. Addictive behaviors
2. An inability to tolerate conflicts - in the past
3. An inability to tolerate intense feelings - in the past mostly, sometimes still but probably that is in the normal range
4. An innate belief that they are bad - in the past
6. Chronic and repeated suicidal thoughts and feelings - in the past
7. Disorganized attachment patterns - in the past, mostly in my teens and early 20's
9. Eating disorders - in the past and quite serious - this is the one I know for sure it's the consequence of trauma for me
10. Excessive sense of self-blame - more in the past but still prone to this at times
11. Inappropriate attachments - OMG... don't even get me started on this... all my transference attractions and relationships... much more more in the past but I guess it's just because they were more intense and troublesome in my far past when I was not aware of the mechanism; I am still prone to this
12. Intense anxiety and repeated panic attacks
13. Intrusive thoughts, upsetting visual images, flashbacks, body memories / unexplained body pain, or distressing nightmares - these more recently (during the last ~year) for me than before, sometimes in intense blocks for a while; this for me is definitely the result of all the recent intense therapy/analytical work I've been doing in sobriety
Interesting stuff, thanks Strat for posting. I'm a bit skeptical though whether all these are definitely signs of past trauma... well it depends what we call trauma. We all block out lots of things all the time, the mind pushes them out of clear awareness all the time. This is not necessarily or always a sign of dysfunction or neurosis, but is also part of very healthy mechanisms that serve our survival and well-being. I think that if we never dissociated or repressed anything, we would probably not survive longer than a year... I would say, it's about the extent of it, and what sort of things are repressed this way, and how our conscious mind experiences these in forms of conflicts, how we react and act on them etc.
In any case, I think therapy is definitely a good way to deal with repressed/ unresolved mental conflicts especially when they disturb our everyday life. For me these things sometimes come up in clusters: I start to dig into something and work on it, and then a ton of other stuff comes up with it like domino as they are interconnected. I used to think I knew myself so well and resolved many things by myself, but had so many surprises in this past year! I actually love to dig into all this stuff and always have, but much easier with help, not necessarily because I get clearer insights, more because I learn how to deal with it in a more constructive way than what we automatically tend to do on our own.
1. Addictive behaviors
2. An inability to tolerate conflicts - in the past
3. An inability to tolerate intense feelings - in the past mostly, sometimes still but probably that is in the normal range
4. An innate belief that they are bad - in the past
6. Chronic and repeated suicidal thoughts and feelings - in the past
7. Disorganized attachment patterns - in the past, mostly in my teens and early 20's
9. Eating disorders - in the past and quite serious - this is the one I know for sure it's the consequence of trauma for me
10. Excessive sense of self-blame - more in the past but still prone to this at times
11. Inappropriate attachments - OMG... don't even get me started on this... all my transference attractions and relationships... much more more in the past but I guess it's just because they were more intense and troublesome in my far past when I was not aware of the mechanism; I am still prone to this
12. Intense anxiety and repeated panic attacks
13. Intrusive thoughts, upsetting visual images, flashbacks, body memories / unexplained body pain, or distressing nightmares - these more recently (during the last ~year) for me than before, sometimes in intense blocks for a while; this for me is definitely the result of all the recent intense therapy/analytical work I've been doing in sobriety
Interesting stuff, thanks Strat for posting. I'm a bit skeptical though whether all these are definitely signs of past trauma... well it depends what we call trauma. We all block out lots of things all the time, the mind pushes them out of clear awareness all the time. This is not necessarily or always a sign of dysfunction or neurosis, but is also part of very healthy mechanisms that serve our survival and well-being. I think that if we never dissociated or repressed anything, we would probably not survive longer than a year... I would say, it's about the extent of it, and what sort of things are repressed this way, and how our conscious mind experiences these in forms of conflicts, how we react and act on them etc.
In any case, I think therapy is definitely a good way to deal with repressed/ unresolved mental conflicts especially when they disturb our everyday life. For me these things sometimes come up in clusters: I start to dig into something and work on it, and then a ton of other stuff comes up with it like domino as they are interconnected. I used to think I knew myself so well and resolved many things by myself, but had so many surprises in this past year! I actually love to dig into all this stuff and always have, but much easier with help, not necessarily because I get clearer insights, more because I learn how to deal with it in a more constructive way than what we automatically tend to do on our own.
Its a cold and its a broken hallelujah.
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Originally Posted by Stratman1
alphamega help me out please.
How did you do that? it didn't happen overnight
How did you do that? it didn't happen overnight
I was in therapy for a long time, but still drinking, so that derailed any progress I had made. It was very two steps forward, one step back while still actively drinking. Once I really wanted to get sober, 4 years ago, clarity of mind started happening. I also hated constantly feeling like I was a victim of the world, and the book Breaking Free From the Victim Trap was monumental in helping me do so.
I have poured my story out here many times, and received an immense font of support. I swear, I have grown more in my time at SR then in any recovery or therapy I have ever done.
Then, after much kicking and screaming, I started an antidepressant and low and behold, that fit like lock and key to my battered brain. And I quit drinking (again). So recovery from trauma started happening fast then.
I also slowly built a group of women who I call my Tribe that is like having 15 sisters.
We walk with each other through the best and worst of our lives, holding each others hands and hearts through it all. I was very scared to put myself out there, but found in doing so, I have built a "family" far more supportive and functional that the one I share blood with. And then there are my relationships here. Can't really put that one into words other than I honestly LOVE a lot of souls here even though we have never met in real life. This place is a true oasis of healing and comfort for me.
All small steps in the journey back to myself. But when I add them up and reflect on where I was 4 years ago, I'm quite honestly gobsmacked.
I wish for you the same. Never give up. You are so worth fighting for.
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That was a brilliant post, AO, thank you
Same for me. Lots of self work and I believe it'll always be a work in progress. What I mean by this is that we can for sure arrive to a state of contentment, but there is always stuff that can be investigated and processed more. New things also. I also believe it's good to not overdo all the analysis and searching for answers... guess how I know!
Another thing in the context of traumatic experiences is that I think probably all of us who experienced serious addictions created new traumas for ourselves from our addiction-related behaviors, thought patterns, and experiences. I definitely know that I have, not even just a few. These were not in childhood and not even in very far past, but they certainly affect my mental health now and I need to deal with them otherwise they will probably continue to undermine my experiences for a long time or perhaps forever.
I will mention a simple example. Several years ago I was mugged on the street when I walked alone in a part of town where almost no one walks usually, intoxicated. For a long time, the whole experience (the mugging) was a blur in my mind, and at first I thought it was just because I was in a semi-blackout state. Then I had a series of other sudden and unexpected bad experiences due to the consequences of that mugging (not mental but practical ones related to documents that got stolen), which was actually worse than the original incident but I dealt with it very well in the moment. Then I just kinda "forgot" about the whole thing, never gave it much thought later. Until I was at a certain stage of therapy, and trying to work on some aspects of my anxiety and procrastinating brought back all that stuff sharply. While processing those things, one day all the detailed memories of the mugging bounced back to me like a ton of bricks... not even in a therapy session but afterward, later in the day. I wrote it all down to avoid losing it again, then called my therapist the day after to report that I suddenly remembered all that stuff very clearly. Then we worked with the whole thing in subsequent sessions and in homework I had to do. I often felt quite negative about it... like why on Earth do I need to deal with that stupid drunken episode again... but eventually it turned out very helpful. I still have a little bit of anxiety remaining, which sometimes manifests in my avoiding wanting to deal with certain administrative things, but there are no blurry memories or denial on it anymore. I guess it was sort of like a mini PTSD episode for me, including resolving it. It probably sounds like a very minor and ridiculous things compared with the very serious and chronic traumatic experiences many report and deal with here, I guess that's why it was relatively easy to deal with it, yet a lot of work.
Probably one of the most difficult parts of dealing with past trauma is where and how to start, especially for those that had a lot of it!
Originally Posted by alphaomega
Oh goodness NO. It happened over the last 20 plus years.
Another thing in the context of traumatic experiences is that I think probably all of us who experienced serious addictions created new traumas for ourselves from our addiction-related behaviors, thought patterns, and experiences. I definitely know that I have, not even just a few. These were not in childhood and not even in very far past, but they certainly affect my mental health now and I need to deal with them otherwise they will probably continue to undermine my experiences for a long time or perhaps forever.
I will mention a simple example. Several years ago I was mugged on the street when I walked alone in a part of town where almost no one walks usually, intoxicated. For a long time, the whole experience (the mugging) was a blur in my mind, and at first I thought it was just because I was in a semi-blackout state. Then I had a series of other sudden and unexpected bad experiences due to the consequences of that mugging (not mental but practical ones related to documents that got stolen), which was actually worse than the original incident but I dealt with it very well in the moment. Then I just kinda "forgot" about the whole thing, never gave it much thought later. Until I was at a certain stage of therapy, and trying to work on some aspects of my anxiety and procrastinating brought back all that stuff sharply. While processing those things, one day all the detailed memories of the mugging bounced back to me like a ton of bricks... not even in a therapy session but afterward, later in the day. I wrote it all down to avoid losing it again, then called my therapist the day after to report that I suddenly remembered all that stuff very clearly. Then we worked with the whole thing in subsequent sessions and in homework I had to do. I often felt quite negative about it... like why on Earth do I need to deal with that stupid drunken episode again... but eventually it turned out very helpful. I still have a little bit of anxiety remaining, which sometimes manifests in my avoiding wanting to deal with certain administrative things, but there are no blurry memories or denial on it anymore. I guess it was sort of like a mini PTSD episode for me, including resolving it. It probably sounds like a very minor and ridiculous things compared with the very serious and chronic traumatic experiences many report and deal with here, I guess that's why it was relatively easy to deal with it, yet a lot of work.
Probably one of the most difficult parts of dealing with past trauma is where and how to start, especially for those that had a lot of it!
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Kiss my ass, world...
Originally Posted by SDH73
I have many of these "signs", though I wouldn't say my childhood was traumatic. Pretty normal, really.
My earliest childhood memory (which I can recall vividly) is of what I now understand to be quite a prolonged and traumatic experience for any young child to endure. And certainly there were many, many more to follow. Mostly a combination of being neglected and beaten as a young child, but my teenage years were where all of the deliberate emotional, psychological and mental torment transpired. Because neither of my parents were working then. Plenty of physical abuse, thats the only one I was aware of because it became the only one I could perhaps do something about. Imprisonment. What felt like kidnapping sometimes, in fact it was. Deliberate social and creative sabotage. That's just on me, I witnessed a whole lot of domestic violence and abuse also. None of these were isolated events, it was more of an all day every day normality. Domestic abuse and violence before leaving for school, and then coming home to the exact same scene, with the same narrative even. And then it would begin on me. Eventually my parents were split up by order of the courts. I had a sincere conversation with the police about it, where they informed me that they were certain either me or my mother, or both, were going to be murdered in all of this madness. Or indeed that maybe even I would emerge as the perpetrator in defense of myself or that woman, as that was my role. I have mixed feelings about this claim. I was nearly 20 then but the damage, I presume, had long since been done. Maybe my younger siblings were saved to a degree, that remains to be seen. I heard my father (and my mother) started on my next brother down after I got out, which really surprised me as I was convinced then that I must have been the black sheep of the family (along with the golden child, and also the scapegoat) and that somehow all of this was my fault. Nobody has ever told me I was a victim at least. But I've since learned and am still coming to terms with the fact that both of my parents are effectively subhuman for some reason. And it's likely that I may even be tarred with the same brush, but for no good reason. Certainly I am not some kind of victim or product, right...
That couldn't be possible. I can prove it look: https://youtu.be/HtPhbMJLDi4. See?
Its a cold and its a broken hallelujah.
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((((((((STRAT))))))
I was not a victim of physical abuse as a child. I can not speak to that per se and would not even begin to.
I can't quite imagine what hell you endured under that horrific experience.
I'm so glad you are here sharing your journey. I really do believe we are only as sick as our secrets...
I was not a victim of physical abuse as a child. I can not speak to that per se and would not even begin to.
I can't quite imagine what hell you endured under that horrific experience.
I'm so glad you are here sharing your journey. I really do believe we are only as sick as our secrets...
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Thank's for replying alpha. I'm a bit set aside here since I happened upon this article. I was surprised to learn that I have spent the largest part of my life exactly like this.
All of them. I'm not even exempt from no.9. No matter where I was, who I was with or how I looked- this was my reality. And what you believe, to me it sounds very true.
All of them. I'm not even exempt from no.9. No matter where I was, who I was with or how I looked- this was my reality. And what you believe, to me it sounds very true.
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