Collective Trauma: What It Is and How We Cope
- Dr. Watts
- Mar 1
- 8 min read
I have been a psychologist for three decades, and in the span of those 30 years, we, as a nation, have gone through some really hard times and faced enormous challenges. Just a few to remind you:
...mass shootings that have become so regular that it is hard to remember one from another;
...school shootings, a special kind of terrible tragedy that puts fear in all our hearts, but most of all in the hearts of parents and children;
...9/11, an event that made everyone afraid and suspicious, that brought to the surface deep mistrust and fear -- us vs. them, a way of life that has been haunting us ever since;
...the Recession of 2008, when the global financial crisis caused markets to crash and people to lose their homes and savings and livelihoods;
...and then there was the covid pandemic and the shutdown that made us afraid of each other, of the air we breathed, of anything we touched. We were shut-ins that lived in isolation and fear.
Wave after wave of trauma! That we no longer cry when innocent children die in a shooting rampage or when US citizens are shot in the streets by masked government agents simply for exercising their right to assemble and protest is not a sign that we are coping. It is a sign that we have fallen into a state of emotional and spiritual numbness that shields us from yet more anguish and distress. We have been through it before, we despair that anything will change. We know the drill -- political blame and finger-pointing, name-calling, divisive language, blaming the victim, passivity on the part of our leaders, avoidance of dealing with the issues that really matter. We have all been traumatized, individually and as a nation, by everything that has been going on for the last 30 years.
Trauma is ubiquitous these days. It is an emotional response of shock and fear to an event that is out of the ordinary. Trauma unleashes a cascade of consequences:
Mental & Emotional: Persistent fear, shame, guilt, severe mood swings, hopelessness, anger, dissociation.
Behavioral: Isolation, withdrawal from activities, substance use, self-harm, problems with self-control.
Physical: Chronic pain, physiological reactivity, autoimmune disorders, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, hypervigilance.
Cognitive: Memory loss, poor concentration, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts.
Social: Difficulty forming relationships, distrust, feeling detached, fear of abandonment.
Whether experienced directly or witnessed, trauma is a multi-system response to extreme events that impact a person’s life and feelings of safety. Persistent rumination following the traumatic event makes it difficult for the person to move on and resume normal life activities; for some trauma develops into PTSD, a severe psychological disorder.
Additionally, trauma can be passed down from one generation to the next, a chain reaction of effects transmitted from survivors to descendants through biological and psychogical mechanisms.. Entire communities can experience intergenerational trauma. Research has found, for example, that descendants of Holocaust survivors have higher rates of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. They are more likely to have acute responses to stress primarily because of inherited physiological reactivity and vulnerabilities Their genes know: always be prepared for devastating, traumatic experiences; never let your guard down! The current state of our country is increasing the likelihood that what is happening now, for example in immigrant communities, will create inherited trauma in generations yet to come.
Because trauma activates the 'fight or flight' response, seemingly innocuous situations can trigger intense reactions that are overwhelming and frightening to the individual and to those around them.. Fear, intense anger, and mood swings, or the flip-side, numbness, emotional detachment, and depression are typical reactions that can be triggerred by political rhetoric, propaganda, manipulative partisan news, and inflammatory social media commentary. Critical thinking is impaired when we are in 'fight or flight' because the emotional centers essentially hijack our ability to think logically and distinguish facts from misinformation.
Disturbingly, trauma damages trust, and trust is key for our well-being, for how we view the future, for our sense of safety, for our ability to relate to others, for our capacity to communicate and compromise. Without trust, we cannot do the most basic things that are necessary for individuals or a society to function. We cannot talk to each other, we don’t care to understand other people's perspective, we react, we overreact, we fight, we swear at one another. When trust is broken, we live in a ‘no man’s land’ where old traumas rise to the surface and everyone is in survival mode and reacts as though their life depends on it...because it actually might.
There is a billboard on one of the highway in town that says “Be Kind!” How revealing that in a civilized society we have to be coached by a slogan fit for kindergarteners: “Be kind!” But sadly it is not a surprise -- when those who lead us humiliate others and treat people with insensitive disregard, when abuse and mistreatment are codified in our legislation, how can we, the people of regular life, keep from being swept into the endless sea of powerlessness and anger.
A Tale of Two Cities, a novel by Charles Dickens, starts with these words: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...”. We are now living through “the worst of times,” “the age of foolishness.” Yet, we must go on. In spite of all, we must find ways to be productive, to live with self-respect and respect for others, to find joy, to love and accept love. We must recalibrate and find meaning in chaos.
Collective trauma -- we know now what it is, but how do we cope? How do we make it through "the age of foolisheness"?
Spend time nurturing relationships
Research shows that the best protection against stress, aging, and disease is good relationships with family and friends. It is the most consistent research finding! Positive, supportive interactions release brain chemicals, like serotonin and oxytocin, that increase feelings of well-being and happiness. And if you throw in an exciting activity, such as dancing, playing games, sledding, or making a snowman, you also release dopamine. Serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine -- the trifecta of feel-good brain chemicals that you can increase just by doing something fun with someone in your circle of nurturing relationships. Go for a hike, play a board game, go fishing with your children, bake a cake together, play charades. Just have fun!
Do things that you enjoy and that engage you
Everything we do in the course of the day either uses energy or replenishes it; some things do both to one degree or another. Many of the things we have to do use energy: getting up in the morning, driving to work, doing your work, cleaning, getting groceries, raising children, tending to relationships, and so on -- I could go on and on but that would use up a lot of energy. Some of the demands we face, if we are lucky, also replenish our energy at the same time; for example, having a job that you enjoy or raising children and seeing them grow into well-rounded individuals -- stressful, but also rewarding and fulfilling.
I often find, however, that people have few opportunities to do things that are clearly enjoyable and replenishing of emotional and psychological resources. Hobbies and personal interests have the power to recharge us because they help us let go of daily demands and they protect us from stress. For people with a history of trauma, positive enjoyable activities can provide a place of respite and serenity.
Ask yourself, what do you do that brings you full enjoyment, that you look forward to doing, that you find satisfying and rewarding?. Once you figure that out, start doing it and try to make time for it regularly.
Live your values
Values are the guiding principles of life, but they are not just beliefs. They actually direct our decisions, actions, and day to day behaviors. Love, honesty, generosity, respect, loyalty, compassion are some of the many positive core values. Holding a core value, however, is not the same as living that value. Beliefs and actions are not the same. We talk of love, but if love is only an internal experience it carries little weight. Love is love when it is manifested in actions and behavior.
Of course, there are also negative core values as well: resentment, retribution, revenge, greed, jealousy, manipulation, perfectionism, and many others. Whether your guiding values are positive or negative, the consequences to your life, health, and relationships are dramatic.
The more your hold positive values and the more those values are aligned with your actions the higher your life satisfaction, sense of integrity, health and ability to show resilience in response to stress and trauma.
Take some time to journal about this because the more you understand your values, the more empowered you will feel to make decisions that are good for your health and your relationships.
Realize your agency - what can you change?
Agency is the belief that we have the power to do something to make a difference. Many of my clients have been experiencing distress about the state of the nation and want to do something to make things better. They often feel a sense of urgency to participate somehow, but also feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that their effort will make no difference.
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, human rights activist, author, and Holocaust survivor believed that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference, and that “silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Indifference to the plight of the weak, the powerless, the poor, the disenfranchised allows wrongs to be perpetrated and continue. It fosters a state of inaction and shoulder-shrugging, even blaming the victim. He believed that when we act, at whatever level is feasible for us, we are breaking the chains of silence and inaction.
When clients raise the issue of making a difference, we start with exploring their natural talents and interests, their skill-set so we can understand how they can participate. Community organizing, volunteering in a political campaign for a candidate that aligns with their values, writing letters to congressmen and senators, canvassing with petitions for causes they believe in are ways in which anyone can take part in the political process. But activism is not just about getting involved in the political process. It is just as much about being active in your very own community - helping an elderly neighbor, volunteering at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, helping teach English language and reading to immigrants. Your activism essentially starts at home. When you participate, you are fighting indifference and that makes all the diffference.
Traumatic experiences are encoded in the chemistry of our cells, in the fiber of our muscles, in the circuits of our brain. Trauma is the scar tissue that binds us as a nation. The pain of one is the pain of all. You know from your own experience -- when one thing hurts, all of you is affected. So it is with a whole nation, when the weak, the poor, and the disenfranchised suffer, we all suffer, whether we recognize it or not. As Gandhi said, "a nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." And, in the words of Albus Dumbledore, "we are only as srong as we are united, as weak as we are divided,"
Dr. Dana Watts
Clinical Psychologist
Helping Clients in the Greater Cleveland Area
440-895-1100
Excellent ideas and very timely. Thank you!