When it comes to trauma, avoidance is a tactic a lot of us partake in, and understandably so. Trauma can occur in a variety of ways and forms and can vary in severity, but it always encompasses a negative experience or event; trauma is not typically associated with positivity.
Because trauma is not a pleasant thing to endure, it makes sense that a lot of us try and bury it in the back of our minds, or avoid it altogether. Sometimes, when a traumatic event occurs to someone, it is easier for that person, in that time and space, to act as though the trauma never occurred and avoid it, as opposed to being vulnerable and conscious of it and trying to work past it.
I’ve experienced a decent amount of trauma in my life for someone who isn’t yet 30. I won’t go into detail, but recently, I’ve been struggling tremendously with a specific traumatic event from my past that happened many years ago. I’ve been extremely frustrated trying to determine what exactly has triggered this flare-up, and when I visited Google for some help, I was surprised to read, and furthermore, learn, the following from sabinorecovery.com:
“When you experience a traumatic event, your brain may not process the information properly, leading to the trauma being stored in your brain in an unprocessed form. This can cause the trauma to resurface later in life. Avoidance is a common coping mechanism for individuals who have experienced trauma.”
I was floored upon reading this, because this information allowed me to pinpoint what specifically it was that had triggered this onslaught of past trauma – my brain, when this event occurred, was unable to make sense of what occurred. It was something I recently watched that had direct relevance to, and brought back again, this trauma I endured years ago.
I did not intentionally avoid this trauma when it initially happened, but as I’ve learned, trauma and avoidance can prove to be a deadly combination.
Photo by Paola Chaaya on Unsplash
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