Trauma Post, A Note on Diet, and A Note on Comments

(Disclaimer: "Present immediate environment" and similar phrases only apply to those who are not being blown up by missiles and being genocided and so forth in their current physical environments.)

This post is not a replacement for therapy for those who need it.  Maybe view this post as only an analysis.  I also didn't make this into a 'thesis.'  The format is more like note taking in places.

Basically, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is non-integrated trauma.  PTSD can result from extreme forms of trauma, such as someone having a gun to their head and being screamed at.  Yet, PTSD can also result from a long chain of traumas, such as often being bullied and mistreated in the past.  PTSD can also arise from repeated metaphysical attacks, much of which are experienced in the dreamstate.  One of my own sources of PTSD is from dozens of hostile 'visitations' from greys when asleep.  (These greys may actually be terrestrial.  Some subspecies of Jinn actually look like greys.)  PTSD has other causes too, such as seeing someone suffer horribly.  And, there's even "humiliation trauma." (The list of causes is quite extensive.)

When someone is shaky or crying after a traumatic experience, this reaction occurs for the purpose of integrating the trauma, or "completing the circuit."  Social pressures and not wanting to be seen as weak can suppress this process, which encourages PTSD.  

Dual awareness is focusing on two areas at the same time.  Someone can have a portion of focus on their present physical environment (this is called "open monitoring") while having traumatic memories come up inside them.  Dual awareness helps to process trauma, because then the trauma can surface at levels that are not overwhelming.  An overwhelming level of recalling past trauma results in "retraumatization." 

A meditation teacher who doesn't have knowledge about how trauma operates can tell a student "That's a good sign of progress, so keep going" when the student has increasing turmoil from surfacing traumatic memories during meditation.  This is not progress though.  Damage is actually being done to the student.  When someone with PTSD 'goes within,' the trauma stored within their body is what's inside, which can easily take on a life of its own.  This trauma can multiply and multiply in intensity with the mind not being able to know the difference between memory and real-life experience.  

A meditation teacher who is "trauma-informed" will not say to keep going or "This is you losing your ego or previous self" (and other 'spiritual rhetoric').  Instead, a trauma-informed meditation teacher will tell the student that it's best to stop for the time being and will try to get the student centered in the immediate environment for grounding.  Also, the meditation teacher could refer the student to a therapist or counselor.  Otherwise, if the student keeps going, the trauma becomes a personal hell that just loops over and over with increasing intensity without resolution.  

Definitely, PTSD cannot be meditated away, and meditation can make matters much worse.  "Going within" for those with PTSD is like turning up the volume of inner turmoil, as their body and mind says there is a threat long after the threat has passed.  The student who meditates can also feel ashamed for becoming so destabilized.  ('Insult to injury.')  In the worst-case scenario, this morphs into victim blaming in the form of self-blame and/or blame assigned from others.

There are two ways the body deals with a strong threat for survival purposes.  The first is fight-or-flight, and the second is to freeze.  The freeze response is also called the "Medusa Effect."  Someone can have this response when meditating when their trauma overwhelms them; they freeze in a panic. 

PTSD causes a person to alternate between hypervigiliance and hypovigilance.  Between these two extremes there is what's called the "window of tolerance," which is the ideal state to be able to learn and 'deal with matters.' 

Animals in the wild have either the fight-or-flight response or freeze response only when in immediate danger.  Humans, however, carry these two responses with them long afterward.  It can be very harsh for animals in the wild, but I sometimes become envious of them because at least they don't have the tendency to carry their trauma over months to years as a personal hell.  

For severe cases of PTSD, even focusing on their breath or abdomen as an anchor can be destabilizing.  However, maybe sight or hearing is stabilizing.  Everyone has different anchors that assist for stability.  Individuals can find the anchor(s) that work best for them.  The more tangible the anchor, the less prone the mind is to wandering and fixating on past traumas.  Something uplifting can be focused on as well.  It's not about escapism though.  This is a balance of dealing with trauma in a way that doesn't cause the trauma to become overwhelming and continue to build upon itself.  

"Interoceptors" are senses inside the body.  "Exteroceptors" are senses outside the body.  Generally, sensing one's physical environment (exteroceptors) helps to manage trauma.  

Disassociation is the feeling of not being in the physical and emotional body, which was designed to escape unbearable experiences as a survival mechanism.  Depersonalization is a type of disassociation where someone is watching themselves.  Extreme forms of abuse can cause this.

When someone has flashbacks of a traumatic past experience, it's best that they try to snap out of it and affirm that nothing bad is happening in the present immediate environment.  Also, when someone with PTSD talks to someone else about their trauma, it's best for this to be labeled with a title instead of being specific.  This helps to discourage flashbacks.  

Internal Family Systems (IFS) can be a very useful approach.  There are different parts of a person that have different wants.  The Self is like the sun, and the other parts that have different wants are like clouds.  The Self can get intertwined with the clouds without realizing it.  Those with deep trauma have these clouds as necessary survival mechanisms to not be overwhelmed.  However, the clouds can be detrimental when staying long after the trauma has passed as a source of torment.  IFS therapy helps to reduce the intensity of the clouds through 'convincing them.'  It's possible to identify with the Self, and (for example) change the statement of "I'm depressed" to "A part of me is depressed."  More on this here: 

https://chatgpt.com/share/6a677bea-a7ec-83e8-89e4-a5e398d511ba

The hardest part to realize for those who are isolationists (some lightworkers and truthers are definitely isolationists, and I myself am in a very isolated environment) is that humans are hard-wired to be "social animals."  Having relationships with others who are supportive helps to heal trauma very powerfully.  It's even said that trauma cannot truly be healed alone.  (I tend to challenge this claim, even though it may be unavoidably true.)  Other people can be perceived as 'sharing the load.'  Probably, the power of the "social activation system" for mental health cannot be overstated.  

I found this video to be useful.  He doesn't go into how even a 20 minute meditation can be retraumatizing for those with PTSD, but he still reveals a great deal:

A Note on Diet

A commenter wanted to see something on diet, so I thought I'd mention this:

There are those who do well on the fruitarian diet, but I've found that it's important to keep fructose and seed oil consumption low.  There are experiments that can be done as well.  For example, someone could eat only plain full fat yogurt with nothing else for a meal and see how they feel.  I've compared yogurt with milk.  Milk hinders my health while yogurt has a healing effect.  Some say that it takes a couple days to see how a certain food makes them feel, but interestingly, my body tells me in less than an hour.  As always, "No one size fits all."

A Note on Comments

In the interest of honesty/transparency and free speech, the comments section will remain uncensored.  

Cobra stated, "All those comments can be seen as viruses leaving the body that fights the infection."  So, maybe I'm accelerating the clearing of the lurker by allowing all comments. 😁