If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.’ ~ Albert Einstein
One of the causes of chronic illnesses is attachment trauma. Attachment Trauma is a disruption in the important process of bonding between a baby or child and his or her primary caregiver. That trauma may be openly abuse or neglect, or it may be less obvious—lack of affection or response from the caregiver.
We all need a hug, at least twice a day.
Stress comes and goes but trauma stays. For example, writing this article can be stressful. I have to research, double-check my findings; get a second opinion to make sure of their validity then put into writing (as if to a six years old child). In other words, if I can understand it without a slight confusion I let it go. If not I’ll rewrite for me to understand. I don’t stress over typos anymore. I accept my being a flawed human being. I can rest. No more stress. I change position and listen to the sound of silence (with eyes closed).
Our reactions to traumas keep us from being healed. Talking about your trauma out loud helps tremendously. I’ve been thrown under the bus several times since I came to Palau. Quite traumatic by some unbelievably cruel individuals. It took a while to forgive them and process before I felt no more emotional pain.
I had a surgery where I was left without any painkiller after the anesthesia wore off. My sister could hear me outside the recovery room screaming in extreme pain. They finally gave me something which helped a whole lot. But the traumatic experience triggered an underlying medical problem that’s been sleeping for years since the diagnosis. Yes the Body remembers and keeps the score.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist at Boston University School of Medicine wrote a book, The Body Keeps the Score. He says that the doctors are human beings and not all of them understand traumas. I find it frustrating because they just want to give you drugs. Or tell you to change your diet and lose weight. Traumas can contribute to weight gain that can cause various physical illnesses – such as cancer, diabetes, fibromyagia, autoimmune diseases and all kinds of addictions.
Prayer and meditation can help maintain the body, heart, soul, and mind in check. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, with incredible complexity of the mind that in order to survive we choose to live in denial. It’s easier to deny hard truth than face it. The truth doesn’t set us free. It’s knowing the truth that sets us free.♡⁰