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Inspired by an article I read one weekend, it is time to acknowledge an issue growing with each passing day. In addition to the article I read, many memes depict precisely what this generation of adult children has endured. It’s finally being brought to light about all of it.

Our generation was constantly threatened to stuff our emotions, not acknowledge them, and expect to move on with everything else in life with ease. The crazy part of this is that, of course, this isn’t our parents’ fault… or maybe it is, but it brings a new light to the discussion on intergenerational trauma. Before I go any further, this discussion is, in no way, meant to villainize any particular parent. The purpose is to bring awareness to a type of emotional abuse that parents have consistently gotten away with under the guise of ‘parenting.’ Changes need to happen now so we can avoid the mental and emotional issues our generation is having during future generations.

Reasons for Estrangement

There are many reasons why people may want to distance themselves from their parents. It could be as small as a particular scenario that threw everything out of sync, or a multitude of details that created trauma well into an individual’s adulthood. Let’s break it down into some examples.

When parents get divorced (and remarkably when one or both parents get remarried), this can create tension between the parents, affecting the children. As a child of divorce myself, it doesn’t matter if the intention is pure and one parent wants to create a positive communicative environment; if all parents are not on the same page, there will always be tension. Words are spoken that cannot be taken back, and these things will be remembered. Additionally, when divorces happen, the quality of the connection between the parents (and between the children and parents) ends up breaking down. When we look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we see how important the feeling of safety is to children. When there are relationship breakdowns, this creates insecure attachments where safety was needed the most.

In some cases, individuals already felt estranged before distancing themselves from their parents or family, especially if there were already interpersonal conflict. It can be a minor conflict that seems to never resolve and can fester into a more significant issue for an individual. This rejection becomes internalized, causing trauma. General feelings of loss, grief, and trauma will spur estrangement if not appropriately handled.

When issues come about, and they are constantly happening or unacknowledged, or even denied, it begins an uphill battle for individuals.

But What Does Estrangement Do?

First, familial estrangement, parental estrangement, etc, is a complex process of personal transition and continual adjustment – it takes negotiating intrapersonal, interpersonal, social, and symbol distance. However, estrangement has downsides if an individual is not apt to do the mental health work. Unresolved familial issues can end up affecting future relationships whether they are romantic, platonic, professional, etc. Dating can ease the stress of familial issues, but it can create co-dependence by centering everything on a relationship and setting unrealistic expectations. Estrangement can also cause loss of support such as financial, physical, etc.

Simply Explained

When a sense of disconnection and rejection develops in childhood or adolescence, they show a stable tendency to overvalue relationships/connections or avoid interpersonal relationships altogether. This causes defensive posturing and emotional withdrawal. This is why mental health and therapy are so important. Estrangement doesn’t have to be permanent, but it can be beneficial if an individual finds themselves in a seemingly endless emotional cycle.

Tune in to the Eradication Wellness Instagram page on Thursdays for more in-depth looks at these blogs.

There is a growing concern centered around this generation of children and their mental health. The stats are alarming as they paint us a picture that is no longer avoidable, and as times progress, we see more and more suicidal events from children and teens. The current events in the country are affecting children every day; the banned books, the LBGTQ+ debate, individualized learning structures, CRT… the list goes on. The demand for child therapy is at an all-time high compared to before the pandemic.

• Before COVID, nearly 20% of children had a mental disorder
• Only about 20% of those children actually received help
• A 2020 survey noted that 71% of parents say the pandemic took a major toll on their child
• And 69% said it was the worst thing their child has experienced
• Approximately 1100 high schoolers also said they felt unhappy/depressed
• Emergency Room visits regarding mental health emergencies increased by 24% (for ages 5-11), increased by 31% (for ages 12-17), compared to the stats from 2019

The bottom line: There are not enough resources for children and teens.

Acknowledging Mental Health in the Classroom

Let’s start with the issue of funding.

The American Rescue Plan Act provided short-term funding for individuals, businesses, and schools to cope with the quick changes that the pandemic caused. A portion of these school funds was to go towards providing better mental health resources for schools. However, since that funding was short-lived, some child therapists were hired short-term -OR- the schools focused on providing adequate training for teachers to learn psychological principles which could be utilized in the classroom.

The new skills that teachers learned would be beneficial to help students cope in real-time with subjects and events outside of the pandemic as well. The kids also end up learning these useful mental health skills, proving that psychology is a sustainable science and something that is to be taught and shared.

Incorporating into the Classrooms

In this day and time, it’s acceptable to teach lessons about anxiety and trauma within the curriculum, especially with help from psychological professionals. There are important programs to train teachers on how to properly equip students with emotional intelligence skills. (Check out Mental Health Primers through the APA and the Top 20 Principles for K-12).

Teachers addressing Trauma

With more students being affected by trauma, teachers are feeling unequipped on how to properly deal with it. Only 15% of teachers say they feel comfortable talking about grief and trauma with their students; however, a part of that could be due to some school district’s policies.

This is why I feel as passionate as I do about educating non-psychology professionals because understanding psychology can provide a much better insight into how to tackle some of these difficult situations.

Resilience

There are many programs being worked on, created, implemented, and legislated to help provide better funding to support student mental health and safety guidelines. With the increasing suicide rates, mental illness diagnoses, and more, it’s important to remain optimistic and proactive about supporting mental health legislation, not only for our children but for society as a whole.

Check out the APA article that inspired this blog!

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of those things that many people never really acknowledged as something that anyone could be diagnosed with except those who have served in wars under military contracts. Thinking through history, we can see that the Vietnam War was a huge groundbreaker for even acknowledging that trauma can have long-term effects on people. However, over the years, more and more research has come out that PTSD happens to many people, including civilians. There are different forms of PTSD as well, and it affects every person differently. When I was 13, I was diagnosed with childhood PTSD, then later as an adult, complex trauma was also added to my diagnosis. I know many others who have also been diagnosed as a child, or as an adult attempting to heal from their childhood.

The more research that is published, it is consistently pointed out how trauma has more long-term effects than initially realized, including neurobiological changes in the brain. In bouts of long-term trauma, sometimes it can cause brain damage. Have you ever considered how someone who lives in a toxic environment for twenty years may, sometimes, take on those exact toxic qualities and continue believing that such actions are normal? Research now says that could be due to brain damage from extended exposure to trauma (emotional, physical, etc).

So, I feel like it’s safe to say that PTSD is something to be taken seriously, regardless of how menial it may seem to someone. It can affect your whole life.

I won’t go into major detail on the neurobiology of it, but I will be attaching a PDF copy of my scholarly report on the neurobiological effects of PTSD on the human brain. I will mention that at least four different parts of the brain can be/are affected by trauma and PTSD: the frontal lobe, amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus.

With this in mind, and considering my most recent blog posts, it would be a good idea to bring the concepts of psychology into policymaking within the world, especially in the United States. The amount of political trauma the US can put on a given American is enough that they can develop PTSD, depending on which state they live in and whether there are federal protections in place for that individual. Keep in mind, that there are marginalized groups of individuals who deserve just as much protection as the “average” American. With that being said, I’ll just leave this here!

In the current political climate, there are many things happening. As a late millennial/borderline Gen Z (where are my 1994 babies at?), I can say that I watched the mid-progressive movements make adequate changes to benefit my future – however, politics changed things up since 2016. In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in an effort to give the power of choice back to the states which allowed several trigger bans across the country to take place. Many of those states are the dominantly-conservative states. This created an uproar as 50 years of progressive work has been completely tossed into the trash. On top of reproductive rights being threatened and oppressed, the Supreme Court has even been talking about delegitimizing LBGTQ marriages. In recent news, a university claiming they shouldn’t have to approve an LGBTQ club due to their religious beliefs asked the Supreme Court to side with them. So this begs the question, how is this affecting the mental health of people?

The Many Impacts

First, we must take a look at what started this progressive train in 2022. The discussion of a woman’s right to choose the best way of tackling an unwanted/nonviable pregnancy struck the Supreme Court which prompted them to vote the power back to the states to decide. Of course, on paper, this looks like what it’s supposed to be… but the thing is that some states believe that a woman shouldn’t have that right for a slew of reasons such as religious belief (which shouldn’t be considered, because separation of church and state), basic definitions of life, or implicitly, to control women and those who identify as women. When we take a step back and look at the statistics, we see that the majority of women who even consider abortion are women of poverty, mental health struggles, and substance use. Trigger laws/bans affect these women and more. For example, in Texas, women must face trying to find a way to travel to another state for abortion and pay for it – if they choose to or find out that the pregnancy is not viable. It’s been known that women will go so far as discontinuing care altogether out of fear of what could happen if they show up for a routine appointment, and are suddenly not pregnant anymore. Physicians are terrified to give information on acquiring safe abortions outside of the state because they fear prosecution for aiding and abetting. This is leading some physicians to perform procedures that increase risks of complications like a hysterotomy or worse. As these laws carry on, it seems to affect the physicians and clinicians as well due to them not being able to provide the most adequate care under such restrictive laws.

Now let’s consider the LGBTQIA+ community. Many families, parents, and children will be affected if LGBTQIA+ rights are not protected. Not federally protecting LGBTQIA+ rights can (and has) encouraged hate, and that is not conducive to healthy behavior at all. Policies create trauma for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially those coming from other countries to seek asylum here. The important thing here is to build healthy coping mechanisms, in case things turn out for the worse as they did for women in regards to Roe v. Wade.

For other minority groups, this essentially creates fear just as it has everyone else. It’s terrifying, even considering how some states (especially in the South) still have “sundown towns” which I won’t explain, but it’s 2022 and they shouldn’t exist.

Emotionalization of Politics

The increase of emotion in the civic aspect, or anxiety and distress based on politics, has created what is called the emotionalization of politics. After the 2016 election, there was an uptick in those visiting therapists, and it created a phenomenon where people would sideline their own personal reasons to receive therapy and focus on their political anxiety. This could be attributed to the fact of all the campaign advertisements making scary promises that affect people’s lives when it shouldn’t be something people must fear.

So a little advice to those who may feel overwhelmed, scared, or just all-around terrified.

• Avoid talking politics where it may lead to a fight or blown-up argument
• Take timeouts as needed
  • Utilize some self-care habits
• Take collective action
  • Get involved in groups like Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Women’s March, etc.
  • Use the fear and anxiety as motivation to fight for our rights
  • Taking action is therapeutic!
• Express yourself however you want
  • Again, there’s therapeutic value
• Use therapeutic conversation
  • talk to your therapist about your feelings, join a public discussion such as my Instagram live sessions every Thursday, etc.

These times are scary, and I want to help in any way I can. I live in an area where I constantly feel like a minority in my sexuality, religious belief, and social stance. I’m terrified daily of hate crimes and disrespect, but I don’t stop fighting for what I believe is my right to live.

Attached here is a final I did a few classes back. The only negative points I received were from some slight skews in the APA format. Other than that, it was graded as nearly perfect. 14.88/15 to be accurate.

Recently, I’ve found it necessary to get more involved with adolescent development because I see many issues coming out of adolescents these days. This paper can benefit anyone who might need a little of a perspective shift. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know!

Have you ever wondered why some people keep going back to the same abusive relationship over and over again? That’s likely due to trauma bonds. It could be a myriad of other things, but I’m going to break this down slowly (hopefully!). Trauma bonds are emotional attachments between an abuser and the victim[1]. A great example of this type of concept is the relationship between Harley Quinn and Joker. Her backstory is that she was a psychologist (or psychiatrist), practicing on Joker which sparked a romance between them. She was super smart; however, she was still manipulated into changing her whole persona because she was hooked on the idea that he loved her. As we know, likely from relationships we have experienced or observed from loved ones’ relationships, the relationship usually starts out on a high note. Things usually seem normal, but it doesn’t take long for things to change.

An article[1] discussing trauma bonds dives into the connection between sex trafficking survivors and traffickers and how it shows increasingly negative outcomes. For the sake of explaining, I am going to note, now, that trauma bonds happen even in the most normal-seeming relationships. In these relationships, there is abuse, control, and dependency usually from both ways. The abuser needs the victim in order to feel strong and powerful (masking their ego) while the victim is fed false promises of love, admiration, and gratitude from the abuser. In these situations, the abusers are using dependent emotions to manipulate the victims, knowing that if they keep giving a little happiness here and there then the victim won’t want to leave. When the victim begins to realize how miserable they are and start trying to leave, the abuser will attempt to convince the victim that they won’t survive without them. They will use fear to bully the victim into staying because they’ve developed these emotional bonds with the abuser. Clearly, this type of trauma manipulates others to feel subservient or required to stay with the abuser out of general fear or just the fear of failure.

Trauma bonding is a form of survival for victims. Anyone who has been in a toxic relationship might admit that they stayed far too long due to fear for their life, fear of failure, fear of unsalvagable reputation, or just plain general fear. A victim might hear quotes like “How are you going to survive without me?” or “Who’s going to buy [insert addiction here] for you?” as well as all the fake promises in the world. In the grooming stages, the abuser may introduce the victim to recreational narcotics (usually uncharacteristic of the victim, but even avid addicts are targets), and that is used as leverage in some way.

It’s important to acknowledge that this can apply to normal relationships as well. Toxic parents will also do things like this to manipulate their children into doing their bidding. They might love-bomb you with gifts to “love them more”. Boom, trauma bond. As children, we want to feel loved by our parents, but some parents’ love comes with conditions and that is choosing them over the others (sometimes). Or, likely an unpopular opinion depending on where you live, but employers who use their authority unethically… but then start being a little nicer once they realize people are leaving – only to bring back the same unethical behavior once employees started getting comfortable. Trauma bonded. It’s even worse as an employee because people need to work to survive. Most of the population lives paycheck to paycheck, and when employers dangle someone’s job over their head – for literally no reason other than to have a power trip – that causes a whole new mess of trauma. Or, getting used for your work performance – being purposely passed up for a promotion with the reason being “your stats are too good to move you up, your stats are going to open more doors for the site by keeping you here”. It sounds a little like a backhanded compliment because everything said was for the benefit of the business, not the employee.

So, how can we help?

First, be supportive and understanding. If you see that your friend is stuck in an unhealthy relationship, it’s best to just reach out and show them that they have your support. Be there for them if they need a safe place, and be real with them about what you see.

Help them get help. Show them helpful resources, take them to get help, and get involved with actually helping them get on their feed. You can recommend these resources!

Do not shame them for always going back to the same relationship. Level with them, be honest about how it looks and what you’ve noticed and felt.

Check for emotional support, provide it to them, or connect them to a place that can help them learn healthy emotional support[2].

If you or a loved one find yourself in a toxic relationship, you are not alone and there are people who want to help you. Make sure to check out our resources, our support group, and the life coaching services! Of course, if you or a loved one are in any emergency, call your local emergency number. If you are in a mental health emergency, call or text 988!

[1]Casassa, K., Knight, L., & Mengo, C. (2022). Trauma bonding perspectives from service providers and survivors of sex trafficking: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(3), 969-984. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020985542

[2]Jennings, P. A. (2019). Teaching in a trauma-sensitive classroom: What educators can do to support students. American Educator, 43(2), 12-17. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltextEJ1218755.pdf

I’ve written about childhood trauma before, but this will take a more scientific, empirical approach to acknowledging our childhood traumas and how we can prevent and repair the trauma of the children in our lives.

Several scholarly research articles showcase the effects of childhood trauma and how childhood trauma affects children and adolescents. So let’s get some of the basic definitions out of the way.

The American Psychological Association[1] defines a traumatic event as an event that threatens injury, death, or danger to the self as well as causing fear, terror, and helplessness at the time of occurrence. When these events happen during childhood (and even adolescence), it can lead to a lag in mental processes or disorders such as certain types of mental illness such as PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and even personality disorders. There could be many complications that arise from childhood trauma, even physical issues such as IBS.

It is worth acknowledging that childhood trauma affects each individual differently. Obviously, we know that – biologically – boys and girls are different; we also understand that each developmental stage is different. So trauma that happens to a baby is going to have different effects than the trauma that happens to a child and so on. Keep in mind that I’m talking about the range of effects, not severity since it can be a subjective notion. Considering Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development[3], we can gauge the different outcomes that could come from childhood trauma.

• During infancy, the core psychosocial function is trust vs. mistrust, which is receiving regular care/affection with a heavy reliance on survival needs. This stage is usually from birth to 18 months, so this is when the infant should be able to learn basic survival functions such as eating, drinking, basic motor functions, and sleep regulation. Developmentally, they begin to foster a sense of object permanence – or the understanding that just because something is out of sight, it still exists. It is within this stage that the infant can learn to withdraw from stimuli as they can learn the concept of “this is my caregiver, they meet my needs” and if the caregiver hurts them, then it creates mistrust. Suddenly, things don’t feel affectionate anymore, then the environment feels hostile.
• During early childhood, it is the stage of autonomy vs. shame. Occurring between 18 months and two to three years, children begin to learn self-control. If they do not have an adequate amount of self-sufficient influence, they can develop compulsive behavior. Lack of self-control, feeling the need to behave in a negative fashion towards others or the self, can develop in the face of childhood trauma.
• During the play age or childhood, we see the stage of initiative versus guilt. During this stage, the child develops their basic purposes. This is usually the preschool age (age four to five). The caregiver is supposed to encourage the child’s dreams, regardless of what they are, to instill in the children confidence and support. Without support from their most basic caregiver, they face guilt in the choices of their likes and dreams. They begin to doubt themselves and lose interest.
• Lastly, during childhood, is the school age. This is usually until age eleven and is namely known as the stage of industry vs. inferiority. In this stage, it is necessary to have standards or expectations so that when expectations are met, they are rewarded. This develops competence in the child, they begin to believe in themselves more because they can associate a reward with a positive result. Without set expectations (no matter how big or how small), there is no baseline for the child to meet so there are no motivational skills to keep going. It is a snowball effect from the third stage, losing confidence.

For the sake of the blog topic, I’ll stop here with childhood (but if you want an adolescent version, I will definitely post a blog for it!)

Any trauma that occurs during a child’s lifetime can affect their developing cognitive skills that they need to function as they get older. Depending on what stage a specific traumatic event may have occurred, it could impact them in different ways. With a better understanding of how childhood trauma can be a big deal, we can move on to how to acknowledge our own childhood trauma, as referenced in my previous childhood trauma blog.

• If you’ve already been through therapy before, you should know that the first thing is to acknowledge what happened, happened. There is no changing that. Once you face the ugliness of the situation, it becomes easier to deal with because you can put it past you. It’s done, it’s over. Now let’s repair.
• If you still haven’t been to therapy at this point, get connected to someone who can help you find what’s best for you. As a life coach, I can help you decide if life coaching is a great addition to your life, or to get you connected to a licensed counselor or therapist who can better assist you.
• Allow for your friends and family to help you. Also, make sure to set boundaries if you feel your friends and family are being too pushy.
• Take your time to come to a place of acceptance about the things you may have experienced. It may take years, but that’s okay. The point is that you, personally, come to a place of acceptance – a new perspective, if you will. And that perspective may even change, but that’s the point. It means your cognitive brain is working, processing.
• If you find yourself in a place where you can healthily acknowledge your flaws, then slowly replace the bad habit with good habits.
• Lastly, and most importantly, be patient with yourself.

Now, let’s look at how we can prevent traumatic effects on children in our lives. This won’t be long, because it’s an issue that I have a hard time finding empirical research on, so we must make our own deductions based on parental influence, social cognitive theory, and cognitive development. A study[2] showed that the behaviors of families can have an impact on the next generation, so if there was a lack of basic emotional and physical needs, that can negatively affect the next generation. Even if the direct neglect was not imposed on the child, a child experiencing loud, dramatic arguments can affect the child by creating anxiety. Unstable housing can cause for developmental delays or cognitive delays due to the constant fear of “when we are moving next?” or viewing every house, relationship, or situation as temporary. We can, essentially, prevent childhood trauma by ensuring we are capable of having and caring for children. I understand that no one parent will be perfect, but we can at least create the basic factors of ideal support and environment. It has nothing to do with socioeconomic status, but sadly, socioeconomic status affects the ability to be able to care for children, creating those loopholes of inadvertent trauma.

That’s why it’s so important to be “ready” to have children, to be able to tackle the emotional needs that play into their development. It’s also important to acknowledge that traumatized people can be adequate parents, but the key is if they really commit to their own mental health. There’s so many factors that can play into this, which is why we should just be more mindful and accepting of the experiences that we all may or may not face.

[1]American Psychological Association. (2008). Children and Trauma: Update for Mental Health Professionals. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/update.pdf

[2]Garcia, P. R. J. M., Sharma, P., De Massis, A., Wright, M., & Scholes, L. (2019). Perceived Parental Behaviors and Next-Generation Engagement in Family Firms: A Social Cognitive Perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43(2), 224–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718796087

[3]Orenstein, G. A., Lewis, L. (2022). Eriksons stages of psychosocial development. Statpearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556096/

As I have been progressing through my graduate studies, I have learned that having and following a religion is beneficial to the personal development of each individual. It provides guidance, or at least a path to resolve anguish or negative emotions. It provides a sense of community and belonging for an individual, and so much more. Utilizing religion in an individual’s daily life is a great way to ensure you are leading a more productive lifestyle.

Recent Research

A study that focused on healthcare workers’ mental well-being found that healthcare workers were more likely to experience mental distress, especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The workers monitored reported their religious beliefs and how they felt about their mental well-being initially and after six weeks. Ultimately, they found that Christians and Catholics perceived that they had better psychological well-being if they based it on their religious beliefs while Buddhists and Taoists were less likely to experience mental distress while also experiencing increased happiness. After the 6-week follow-up, Christian/Catholic workers developed lower psychological well-being. This concluded that religious faith does have an impact on mental health and the level of happiness that an individual perceives. Additionally, the study noticed the trend of Christian/Catholic believers reported slower recovery from the decrease in happiness.

While I will not make inferences on the differences between the two categories, I will not that religion is essentially a “meaning-making coping system” that influences subjective well-being and the way we cope with traumatic/stressful events throughout life.

Implications as Supported by NAMI

Religion creates faith, structure, and connection to peers. Religion is to be referred to in this section as the collective belief of a given culture. It provides a community in which we can initiate social connections, and create a sense of belonging as well as a sense of safety. The formation and membership within organized religion fosters the development of coping mechanisms, provides structure, regularity, and predictability, and recommends necessary rest for our physical and mental bodies. Additionally, it provides an area of teaching and learning by giving guidelines to live by, teaches to have compassion, forgiveness, and gratitude, as well as life lessons and challenges to learn from.

On the flip side, spirituality is also beneficial. Spirituality is the sense of connections to bigger things and promotes introspection about one’s meaning of life (as it is different from everyone else). Spirituality motivates one’s aspirations to develop a deeper sense of individuality which enhances the sense of self and self-empowerment. It creates a focused connection to the individual’s personal spiritual belief thus motivating self-growth. Additionally, spiritualism teaches the acceptance of all shapes, sizes, colors, religious beliefs, etc. A spiritual belief promotes meditation and self-reflection, meaningful life philosophical discussions, and self-expression. Finally, it harnesses a focus on unity within the surroundings. It renews a sense of belonging in the world as a whole, regardless of religious group or community. It instills the inspiration of appreciation and awareness of physical interaction within the environment.

It’s important to know the difference between religion and spirituality as religion is taught by their specific beliefs which can lead to some misconceptions about the meaning of acceptance or science, for example.

References

NAMI. (2016, Dec. 21). The mental health benefits of religion and spirituality. NAMI. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/blogs/NAMI-blog/December-2016/The-Mental-Health-Benefits-of-Religion-Spiritual

Chang, M. C., Chen, P. F., Lee, T. H., Lin, C. C., Chiang, K. T., Tsai, M. F., Kuo, H. F. K., & Lung, F. W. (2021, Mar. 11). The effect of religion on psychological resilience in healthcare workers during the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628894

There’s so much to say about cultural trauma that this may end up being added on to in a future blog post.

First, we will take a look at the basic definition of psychological trauma before we dive into the cultural aspects. The DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition) describes trauma as symptoms that follow major events that involve any sort of fear-induced emotion or factor. Usually, these events are sexual abuse, physical abuse, and traumatic events such as shootings, bombings, or other types of violence. When we establish an understanding of the wide range of trauma that can exist, it brings a new perspective to the table when we talk about it because it seems like more and more people have experienced some sort of trauma either growing up or later in life. Now, we can look at how cultural factors can create trauma.

First, cultural influences can include many things. It can mean the family you grew up with, the street you grew up on, the society around you, behaviors, actions, and everything that is focused on a specific way of life. Without considering racial factors, we have socioeconomic influences that are also included in cultural trauma as well. Including racial factors, it brings a whole new discussion to be had as well. In some cultures, the stigma for mental health is still prevalent and causes many people to avoid necessary mental health treatment which eventually spurs into a larger problem down the road. The avoidance of mental health can be traumatic on its own.

So now, let’s bring it into a recent perspective. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on nearly every country on the planet. Due to the nature of the pandemic, it left many countries with uncertainty in future steps and goals – which, in turn, affected the way many individuals looked at the future as well. One of the biggest markers that I know is that when facing anxiety, many of the symptoms come from not knowing what’s going to happen next. If we have no guidance on what to do next, we feel lost, confused, and maybe even overwhelmed.

Alternatively, we can look at it from a literal cultural perspective. In many ethnic cultures, mental health is looked at as something that makes you weak or dependent on emotions so they choose to focus their attention on more “productive” traits such as physical wellness. However, one of the biggest things that I noticed with that is, over time, those individuals with physical strength and responsible traits have no stress management skills. At a certain point, the stress begins to affect the heart or the brain – and heart attacks and strokes become much more common. Stress management can be learned through proper mental health care!

This also brings the idea of institutionalized care as I mentioned in an editorial I wrote here. The editorial touches on the fact that some mothers who were forced into institutionalized care felt that they needed to “get over” the things they endured, and they instilled those behaviors in their children. Those mothers felt that facing the traumas would have caused more emotional pain in their children. They also felt that their mistreatment was just the way it was supposed to be. The mistreatment by institutions forces a negative parenting strategy on mothers which essentially affects the children. The same concept applies to pregnant mothers – if a pregnant woman experiences trauma during pregnancy, it is likely that the mental and physical health of the fetus is also affected due to the hormonal changes that trauma causes (on top of pregnancy hormones) and the epigenetic factors that literally could carry trauma through the generations.

So, there are so many ways that cultural trauma happens. So many examples. The bottom line is that mental health is a priority and it always should be.

If you have recommendations or suggestions, please let me know using the contact form or comments!

One of the most interesting things that I have learned on my scholarly journey was that there is a type of psychology known as Buddhist Psychology. Whenever this topic was covered, it brought me back to 13-14 year old me when I first started developing my passion for psychology. It was also around the time that I endeavored to explore other religious and spiritual practices since I was originally raised as an SBC Christian. I remembered how originally, I wanted to look into Buddhism to understand the practice and evolution behind it and now I can understand why I was originally drawn to Buddhism first before any other lineage of religion.

Before I go into detail about Buddhist Psychology, it is important to understand that in this context, Buddhism is used as a form of psychology or therapy – not religion. The point of this explanation is that there are aspects of Buddhism which are beneficial in the development of healthy personalities. This will not feature any of the religious teachings of Buddhism, but it will cover self-help aspects.

Buddhism is about attaining enlightenment, finding your life’s journey, and eventually achieving nirvana. The belief that not of an authoritative law, but a natural law of how things should work. The four noble truths are the basic tenets that Buddhists live by: “duhkha” or there is suffering, the origin of suffering, the end of suffering, and the eight-fold path.

The first truth of ‘There is suffering’ is essentially the frustration to fulfill basic needs. It is essentially the “unwoken” phase; the people who believe that things are better than they actually are – or – to relate to the masses better, thinking of being stuck in the matrix. Everything is not as it seems. However, in Buddhism, this is not to acknowledge that nothing can be done. Self-pity is not an option because once one becomes aware that things are not as they seem, it can now be used as motivation to follow the path.

Next, the origin of suffering truth is an attachment to desire, a craving to be better. Initially, this leads one to crave the wrong things, forcing an unhealthy attachment to mental or physical (figurative) crutches. In my school’s text (cited at the bottom of the page), it provides a great example of craving tobacco (or nicotine), and when you remove that object of dependence from your life, the craving eventually disappears. Once you achieve independence from that cycle, you can move forward. Additionally, there are people who tend to get stuck in the cycle of suffering, moving from one craving/addiction to another. This is called samsara.

The end of suffering comes, as I’ve said before, once detachment from cravings happens. Now though, it includes material goods, possessiveness, relationships, etc. Not just addictions, but also greediness. It means detaching from people that don’t necessarily share the same wavelength anymore, but it doesn’t mean dropping them out of one’s life altogether. It means setting boundaries with certain people, some more than others. This ALSO means giving up certain mindsets, notions, beliefs, etc. In this stage, it’s about working on being open-minded and open to hearing new facts to redevelop what one thought they already knew.

The Eightfold Path is the aspect of Buddhism that makes it so much closer to western psychology than religion. It starts with having the right view – or the right mindset. Once one can gear their thoughts in the right direction, they can move on to the next path. This is a view that is not prejudiced and perceives accurately. The next path is the right intention which means that there are realistic goals based on acceptance of the world as it is. Next is the right speech, speaking in ways that are direct, assertive, and respectful. Then, we have the right action – implying the way we behave and act matter on the path to growth. Then, there is the right livelihood. This is about doing work that is meaningful and aligns with your ethical/spiritual beliefs. Right effort is the next path, which is about knowing how far to push yourself and if you push yourself enough or too much. Then, we have the right mindfulness. This is where it’s important to remain aware of yourself and your surroundings, making sure that you’re still seeing the bigger picture. And finally – the right concentration – which is understanding that we, individually, are all a part of the bigger picture.

By applying this understanding to any given life of a person, it can explain the common ebb and flow that we see in the ‘average’ person’s life. So, ultimately, Buddhist Psychology can provide an explanation and understanding of every individual path and recognize that everybody eventually takes this journey.

All references were made to one singular chapter from my former class’ textbook cited below in APA format.

Cloninger, S. (2019). Theories of personality: Understanding persons (7th ed.) [Custom]. Pearson.

Photo ref:

Chatham, R. (2013, July 17). What is Buddhist Psychology?. Whole Self Therapy. https://wholeselftherapy.com/2013/07/17/what-is-buddhist-psychology/