Common misconceptions about psycho traumatic disorders 

1.  Perhaps the most serious misconception follows from the old adage that ‘the time heals all wounds’.  The idea that a psycho traumatic disorder goes away when given enough time has prevented far too many from receiving the care that they needed to resolve and integrate their traumas.  Some have gone for prolonged periods of time before the circumstances of life brought their disorders to life.

     Many develop the intrusive symptoms of a psycho traumatic disorder within the same year they experience the traumatic circumstance.  Regardless of when symptoms first present themselves, a psycho traumatic disorder will remain within the person until either death or integration occurs.  There is simply no research or clinical experience, which suggests that if one simply leaves the traumatized person alone, their problems will eventually go away. 

2.  The person suffering from a psycho traumatic disorder is simply ‘weak’.  There are factors that predispose some to psycho trauma more than others, but no one is determination. 

3.  Psycho traumatized individual is merely faking their responses for the purpose of gaining attention.  This misconception can go so far as to assert the expression that these people are malingers who just want to live off society.  Most severe psycho traumatic disorders interfere with a person’s ability to function in employment activities and prevent them from sustaining a decent job. 

4.  Individuals who have suffered from overwhelming life circumstances are readily able to remember their traumatic experience.  A considerable number of those who are suffering from psycho traumatic disorders have no conscious memory of the actual trauma.  Others have created a false memory of the trauma, and their memory may be distorted and incomplete. 

5.  This misconception was perpetuated by a popular book written by a notable physician who claimed ‘spanking’ children traumatized them.  This author published another book later, which apologized for this statement, but unfortunately it was largely ignored.  The physical abuse of a child can result in a psycho traumatic disorder.  However, a spanking for misbehavior is a long way from the kind of abuse that overwhelms a child’s ability to understand an event. 

6.  Expectation of grieving and hysterical behavior to follow shortly after a traumatic event.  This idea ignores the basic psycho traumatic process, which begins with psycho traumatic shock.  Mental health clinicians have often erroneously concentrated their efforts on those who display the most dramatic emotion following a traumatic event.  We all know that the ‘squeaky wheel gets the grease’, but in this case of treating those who have been traumatized one must look for psycho traumatic shock and not emotional catharsis.  It is the wheel that is not squeaking when it should be that indicates the presence of psycho traumatic shock. 

7.  General counseling will enable the traumatized person to recover fully from a psycho traumatic disorder.   Once we recognize the traumatized person’s tendency to avoid anything that serves as a reminder, and recognize the role repression plays in traumatic disorders, then we realize that therapy must provide techniques, which provide pathways to the repressed memories.  Moreover, the return of repressed memories must be accompanied by assistance designed to enable the person to integrate the trauma and achieve resolution. 

8.  If the traumatized individual relives the trauma, resolution will inevitably follow.  The mere reliving of a traumatic event can be expected to do nothing more than retraumatize the person and can even deepen the effect of the original trauma. 

9.  What is traumatic to one person will necessarily be traumatic to another.  Some individuals are more predisposed to certain types of trauma than others; and specifically the individual’s ascription of meaning to the traumatic circumstance has great influence on whether they are able to integrate the experience or not.  Other individual factors, too numerous to mention at this time, come into play when we consider the severity, vulnerability, and effect of trauma upon the individual. 

Detton, Daniel. (2000) Prisoners of the Past: The Human Response to Psychological Trauma.  Daniel Detton 9-11