A most traumatic evening

A most traumatic evening

By: Michael Downes
Added: 18 January 2012

Above: Over 70% of prisoners in some UK institutions have reported instances of sexual abuse occurring during their childhood

Dealing with trauma might not seem the most typical of subjects for a museum's programme of events. But the guiding principle in the choice of speakers for Fairlynch's Winter Talks is that they should offer something of interest to most people.

And from what emerged at the meeting on Monday 9 January it's clear that almost everybody has had to deal with a traumatic event at some stage in his or her life.

The phenomenon of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become increasingly well known in Britain in recent years with the involvement of our armed forces in conflicts from Northern Ireland to Afghanistan. But there were plenty of less obvious cases, as speakers Will Wilson and Yig Labworth pointed out. Even falling off a bike as a child in the absence of a comforting parent could be a traumatic event which could have emotional consequences later in life.  

Will and Yig are both trauma experts, having trained respectively in biosynthesis and as a craniosacral therapist and polarity therapist. Both in their 60s, much of their expertise derived from their own experience as child victims of trauma: Will was conscious of having been not wanted by his mother, while Yig had been traumatised by the ever-present threat of family violence. She even quoted the nearby explosion of a V2 rocket during World War Two as an event which had impacted on her at the age of two months.

Both speakers are convinced that such traumatic episodes in our lives manifest themselves in unexpected ways. As Will pointed out: "The doctor's surgery is crowded with people with illnesses of the digestive system, nervous system, cardiovascular system, and the endocrine system. These are potentially shock-related."

Trauma is widespread in society and particularly among prisoners. A prison psychologist working at prisons in the East Midlands recently reported that about 71 percent of the prisoners in the institutions she is involved with have reported instances of sexual abuse occurring during their childhood, demonstrating that nurture has a profound effect on criminal thinking patterns.

For Yig, medication as customarily prescribed by doctors is not the answer. "Many people in Europe are turning to antidepressants to fight stress. But stress is held in the body, although its results are produced over and over in the mind."

Many of the problems associated with shock trauma derive from what Yig and Will referred to as the 'Reptilian Brain', a term which was new for most of the audience. The theory is that this primitive part of the brain is constantly on the lookout for danger, and is responsible for the hormonal changes which enable us humans to deal with that danger either by running away or by fighting. Where neither of these options is taken up, an alternative for some people is, as Will put it, "playing dead", where the rage or fear which is unexpressed at this time can become buried in the nervous system. Memories of an unpleasant experience can be activated later in life by restimulatory events which can cause enormous problems for a person with shock trauma.

From what was said during the evening it is clear that shock trauma is a complex subject. Yig and Will found themselves with a receptive audience, and there were plenty of questions. One concerned the difficult issue of how to involve parents when treating traumatised children. Yes, it was difficult, we were told, but actually young people are more easily treated than adults who have more 'layers' to peel off. Perhaps, Will suggested, it is because they haven't had the years to accumulate the physical and emotional baggage most adults have that they respond so quickly to treatment.

For many people, and perhaps particularly for the so-called 'buttoned-up' British, the whole issue of trauma is a sensitive matter and many would prefer to steer clear of the subject. Most of those who attended the talk found that it was a thought-provoking event.

Those who were not able to attend will find a clear exposé of the subject by clicking on http://www.positivehealth.com/article/holistic-psychotherapy/shock-and-trauma


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Fairlynch occupies an imposing position on a bank overlooking the junction of Fore Street and Marine Parade. It is one of the very few thatched museums in the UK. The building......

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