Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
You answered you own question. Why not just move on from any trauma? Because the trauma has produced issues that are not trivial...
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Now for some, the experience may indeed be trivial. Suppose a college student gets invited to a "Christians on Campus" meeting. Seems... okay... then they do some digging and find out more, & they're like, Uh, no. But no trauma was produced - they simply move on. It was a trivial experience.
A church kid who spent the first 20 or 35 years of their life, essentially 24/7, on the other hand, may need to do some serious unpacking, if they really want to "move on." The amount of stuff that got clogged in their mental/emotional/psychological system in that time is rather daunting to consider.
Suppose three people come back home from a war abroad. One served in the commissary, gets out, gets a job at Wal-Mart and he's off to civilian life. Another was pretty shaken up but goes through 8 months of outpatient counseling and gets an Associate's Degree and becomes a computer repair person at Best Buy and life goes on. The third person has freaky PTSD, saw his 2 best friends dismembered in a HUMVEE by a roadside IED. He's got a bit of a slog ahead, perhaps.
There is 'stress', which is endemic to life and can even be helpful. Think of athletics for example, or chess. Then there is 'traumatic stress' which leaves a distorting imprint and lessens one's ability to deal with their life. That's where dissociative psychological conditions come in, and eating disorders, compulsions, addictions, depression, self-harm, etc. All mark failed attempts to "cope", or compensate, with the trauma and the effects it had on one's person.