The Unspeakable Mind Quotes

“Take avoidance to an extreme, and you have denial: a deep burial of the trauma.”

“The danger of embracing the notion of paradoxical resiliency too readily is that it overlooks the suffering of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.”

“Only a third of PTSD sufferers receive treatment because it is tough to diagnose and a challenge to treat, a situation further complicated by the fact that sufferers are often hard to reach.”

“For the majority of people, once the immediate posttrauma period has passed, memories of the trauma are not much more intrusive or memorable than any other memories. Time really can heal.”

“Traumatic stress can spread to anyone with whom the sufferers share their lives. Trauma begets trauma.”

“Patients with complex PTSD often come to doctors with vague complaints - intractable insomnia, unrelenting aches and pains, or stubborn depressive symptoms - so the link between their trauma and the present situation is not clearly identifiable.”

“The mental health burden of war that is placed upon civilian survivors is seldom granted the priority and resources it needs.”

“Avoidance occurs on two levels. On the first level, there is an emotional avoidance of all distressing memories, thoughts, and feelings about the trauma. On the second, there is a behavioral avoidance of the people, places, conversations, activities, objects, and situations that cause those distressing trauma-related memories, thoughts, or feelings.”

“What seems to be clear is that we humans are an accumulation of our traumatic experiences, that each trauma contributes to our biology, and that this biology determines, to some extent, how we respond to further traumatic events as they emerge in our lives.”

“Perhaps the most compelling evidence to illustrate the phenomenon of reenactment comes from the childhood sexual abuse literature. Being a victim of child sex abuse is a potent risk factor for future sexual revictimization.”

“Unlike regular stressful events, such as moving to a new house, living with a chronic illness, suffering financial loss, or dealing with marital discord, traumatic events are so tremendous that individuals are rendered helpless by the force of the situation.”

″“Traumatic stress cuts to the heart of life, interfering with one’s capacity to love, create, and work - incapacity brought on not by poor lifestyle choices, moral weakness, or character flaws but by a complex interplay among biology, genes, and environment.”

“Psychological distress triggered by reminders of trauma, marked physiological reactions (such as sweating, breathing difficulties, or heart palpitations), intrusive memories, nightmares, and flashbacks are the five quintessential intrusive features of PTSD.”

“The personality formed in an environment of coercive control is not well adapted to adult life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic trust, autonomy, and initiative.”

“It is hard to break the cycle of victimization and reenactment if the survivor comes from a dysfunctional family not equipped to deal with her plight, if she does not have access to financial or educational resources that could empower her, or if she belongs to a culture that blames her.”

“Humans have long used shaming as a weapon to preserve social order and cohesion; indeed our brains are hardwired to register shame.”

“A more realistic approach would be to accept that a significant trauma often leaves a survivor forever changed, and although there should always be hope, the notion that things will go back to ‘normal’ is misleading.”

“Events such as retirement, a decline in health, and the death of loved ones are all major blows to one’s resilience in dealing with traumatic stress.”

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.”

“Adverse childhood experiences are the main determinant of the health and social well-being of the nation.”