What If We Treated Trauma Like the Medical Crisis It Is?

The importance of community and how it impacts recovery was touched on in the first part of this blog series (Part 1 Here). Today, I share notes from Levine talking also about the effect trauma has ON the community too.

Levine has been doing work with veterans returning and he said, “we’re in a situation where we are having well over a million people returning (from Iraq & Afghanistan) many traumatized by the horrors of war who are highly affected.”

Photo and art: Margaret Bellafiore

He said, “I think if a million people coming back with virulent TB, the CDC would be mobilized, clinicians all over country, massive program initiated to treat people to prevent spread of TB.

He said, “We have something very much like that. Trauma not only infecting them but their children, communities and families. Ultimately all of us.”

He said healing traditions have to be brought back and how how war traumas have similarities but also differences to non-war related traumas.

Levine talked about having taught at a Hopi Reservation and having had some contact with Navajo healers.

He said that when soldiers returned from war, rituals were done because it was realized, if person came back and brought trauma back into community it would affect entire community with the trauma for 7 generations.

Indeed, Levine said, moving to discussion of research done where if a rat is conditioned to a neutral or pleasant smell (like rose) and it’s coupled with a shock, then (not surprisingly) when you present smell of the rose the rat will freeze in fear.

While that was to be expected, he said, what wasn’t was that the offspring were also fearful.

And the offspring of the offspring.

This happened, he said, for FIVE generations of rats.

The rats had exactly the same response. They froze in fear.

FIVE GENERATIONS

Generational trauma, the affects cascade from one generation to another.

(Which gives me so many thoughts about what healing can and might mean, not only for ourselves and our immediately communities but even biologically and generationally)

The Navajo had very specific rituals and would take place in typical lodging, and fire and could be all night long.

Peyote is used as a catalyst and solider goes out at sunrise, throws up as part of purification process. He’s not immediately brought back with his family until after ritual.

Levine noted how different the treatment (or lack of treatment/mistreatment) that veterans get from orginizations supposed to help them recover and reunite with families.