Topic Tuesday // Understanding Trauma and Supporting Loved Ones// Blue Knot Foundation // Tues 23rd February 2021, 7:00-8:00PM AEDT

@MissTreated speaking for myself I was manic and suffering from ptsd and yes it impacted terribly on my marriage (we divorced) and my eldest went as far away as europe to get away from it all. Things are better now but still the scars remain. Again that is my story.

It sounds like empowering survivors to find their strengths, and the coping strategies that work for them is a huge part of coping with trauma @Cathyblueknot. That comes back to what you mentioned in the first question about the impact of trauma being so unique to each individual- similarly the ways that people cope with trauma will be unique too.

This is a great quote @Former-Member: “It’s helpful for me to remember, though, that recovery can take time; it can be non-linear; that the impacts of complex trauma can be profound; that they are still experiencing traumas, etc.”
Both the way each person is impacted, and their recovery and coping, is uniquely personal.

@Malinka we'll be having a question a bit later on about carers looking after themselves, vicarious trauma, and supports available 😊

Several members raised questions about trauma and memory in the lead up to this live event. @Cathyblueknot and @Former-Member, this is a combined question for both of you.

Question 4: How is memory impacted by trauma making it harder at times to remember traumatic memories or events? What causes this memory loss? And why, even years later, can memories resurface?

@MissTreated good counselling for the whole family. Medication where needed and hang in there. Dont give up. It will get better with the right treatments.

Question 4: How is memory impacted by trauma making it harder at times to remember traumatic memories or events? What causes this memory loss? And why, even years later, can memories resurface?

We know that trauma can and often does significantly affect memory. When we talk about memory we often think of the sort of memory which allows us to tell a story or recall facts. This is called explicit memory. But there is more than one sort of memory.

There is also implicit memory – this cannot generally be spoken about and is not conscious.

With trauma a lot of memory is implicit and stored in the body. For this reason it cannot be recalled at will. In fact traumatic memory is often triggered by a ‘sensory cue’ – something in our environment that stimulates one of our senses – a smell, sight etc. Other triggers are experiences or places which remind us in our body of trauma.

These triggers can throw us back into the time of the trauma, in which case we may experience flashbacks – a re-experiencing of past trauma with the fear, sensations, and movements from the time of the trauma.

When traumatic memories return they often return in fragments rather than a smooth narrative. This is why many survivors often cannot tell the story of what happened to them but only pieces.

Some people always remember all of what happened to them. Others only some or none. This is called traumatic amnesia.

Some people recover some of these memories later on, triggered into the past memory. These are called recovered memories and research has shown that recovered memories are as reliable as memories which have never been forgotten. We now know that dissociation is the process behind traumatic amnesia, and the compartmentalisation of memories, and splitting off from consciousness which happens.

https://www.blueknot.org.au/resources/publications/trauma-and-memory

I’ve seen this happen with people I personally support with complex PTSD. Whether it’s a single incident which has been blacked out, or a period of months or years where there was extreme trauma, it’s like a protective coping mechanism to not be able to consciously remember what happened.

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@destructive wrote:

I think about that too @BPDSurvivor as someone who everyone says I have trauma but I don't know exactly what that is. It's confusing and do t know how to get better

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@destructive , totally true! For years I've been told I suffer from cPTSD from my treating team because of the way I was treated as a child. However, when I look back, it was my 'normal'.

@Cathyblueknot made a good point. 'Trauma' is also a label. So yes, I do believe it is about working with the current struggles an individual exhibits.