Health

This remains a Holy Time across the oceans of this world and involves a vast number of wisdom traditions. Regardless of the wisdom tradition, children across the continents are wide-eyed with awe-struck hearts filled with hope for love, peace, and compassion entrenched in safety and warm embraces to echo the bells cocooned in valleys, across mountainsides, swimming in rivers, roaming our forests, hung on cows, lakes, alive in hills, stampeding the plains, harvested in fields, bending meadows, moist jungles, whispering winds, and desolate deserts. Yet, there are ever still children enveloped in fear, paralyzed with every pounding at the door,  flinching with every ka-boom, yelping with the pellets sounding of rapid-fire, bombs exploding next door on their neighbors and families, machetes hacking at their little legs as they sleep, mothers and fathers to never be seen again, dying the excruciatingly painful death of starvation and dehydration as resources are stolen as they drop from the air or arrive via ship and war-ravaged mothers, nurse, from empty bosoms the last glimmer of all that once glittered, perhaps not dancing in their lifetime, or noteworthy,  nor reported across our technological devices. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart Ph.D. (2005) introduced the term “historical trauma” to describe this specific trauma that Indigenous folks, including Taino and Latino people, experienced in the United States. She defined it as “cumulative emotional and psychological wounding across generations including one’s lifespan.” While historical trauma is the result of centuries of colonization and abuses, Brave Heart highlighted the effects of the separation of families and forced assimilation of the boarding school experience. This is not about conquering and conquering. I find this time of year ideal for such a reckoning.  Yes, we all stand on the shoulders of giants, and yes, we all stand on the shoulders of masked marauders.  Please review previous editions, outlining generalized trauma and inter-generational if needed. Historical trauma is multigenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural, racial, or ethnic group. It is related to major events that oppressed a particular group of people because of their status as oppressed, such as slavery, the Holocaust, forced migration, and the violent colonization of our Indigenous brothers and sisters. Research indicates that race-based discrimination is detrimental to the mental and physical health of African Americans and all hues involved! Please join us next for coping skills that may help you navigate this life!   Read More From This Columnist / Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics CALL FOR ARTISTS! July 5, 2023/No CommentsRead More UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA June 5, 2023/No Comments In contemporary society, we hear the term PTSD for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder very often. This is the new buzzword or Read More INVESTING IN OURSELVES: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA May 2, 2023/No Comments Depression & anxiety are common problems that can develop after trauma.  Depression ignites feelings of sadness and low mood. These Read More Load More End of Content.

In the last edition of this column, I promised tools and strategies on how to manage and heal from trauma.  Reflecting on how trauma has pervaded across communities and families has prompted me to alter my course of prose to further educate and thus place us all in a better place to deal with trauma in our lives, workplaces, schools, and families. There is indeed individual trauma but also scientists have agreed that generational, intergenerational, and historical trauma exists, and the effects can be devastating to not only those afflicted but our society. Consideration for this serious vein of research has prompted this education on how trauma affects us first with the strategies to manage trauma symptoms to follow. Science reveals that trauma can be passed down from one trauma survivor to another. It can affect descendants more than one generation apart. It can also be referred to as transgenerational or multigenerational trauma. People experiencing intergenerational trauma may experience symptoms, reactions, patterns, and emotional and psychological effects from trauma experienced by previous generations. These previous generations are not limited to just parents and grandparents. They experience trauma symptoms and trauma responses from events that did not occur to them; rather, the response is inherited genetically. Those affected by intergenerational trauma might experience symptoms like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including anxiety, hypervigilance, stress reactions, and mood disorders.  However, because the individual did not directly experience the trauma themselves, they will not experience flashbacks or intrusive memories. Stress responses are linked to more physical complaints, intergenerational trauma can also manifest as medical issues including heart disease, stroke, or early death.  If our parents or grandparents experienced trauma, their DNA coded itself to have a survival response that helped them get through those events, which then passed down through generations.  This “survival mode” remains encoded and passed down for multiple generations in the absence of additional trauma. Some genes are dormant when we are born but activate based on our environment. When we experience trauma, our DNA responds by activating genes to help us survive stressful circumstances.  These genes stay activated to assist us in future dangerous situations. We then pass these genes onto our offspring to prepare them for possible traumatic events. When genes are primed for stressful or traumatic events, they respond with greater resilience to those events, but this constant state of anticipating danger is stressful. The trade-off of being constantly prepared to keep us safe increases our body’s stress levels and impacts our mental and physical health over time. Read More From This Columnist / Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics CALL FOR ARTISTS! July 5, 2023/No CommentsRead More UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA June 5, 2023/No Comments In contemporary society, we hear the term PTSD for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder very often. This is the new buzzword or Read More INVESTING IN OURSELVES: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA May 2, 2023/No Comments Depression & anxiety are common problems that can develop after trauma.  Depression ignites feelings of sadness and low mood. These Read More Load More End of Content.