The 100 Years Club Installment #149: Trauma

In the spirit of the Halloween season, I recently wrote about fear and anxiety.

Here’s another topic that will either be a trick or a treat as you figure out your own life…TRAUMA.

Like narcissism, it’s a psychological term that is often overused or misinterpreted. But it’s something that people either come to terms with in their own lives or choose to ignore.

But, like many other conditions, if left unattended and untreated, trauma can turn into ugly and haunting stuff.

Nope, I’m not a therapist. I’m merely a woman who has spent close to 70 years on earth and knows a lot of things about life and work.

Traumas come in many sizes

I sometimes use the term “micro-trauma,” which is an incident or series of incidents that is not so extreme as to have huge ramifications, but is disturbing nonetheless, and can haunt you in future interactions. It’s in psychology media, so it must be the real thing!

Many people like to blame their parents or grade school classmates for their traumas.

The reality is that some of our trauma triggers date all the way back to that mean gym teacher, the girl who rejected your prom invitation, the terrifying summer at sleepaway camp, or (more recently) a bully boss or toxic client.

While a certain amount of “rear-view therapy” can help you understand what makes you feel the way you do and how you react in everyday situations, dwelling on the past and assigning responsibility to others will not ultimately help you heal.

It’s about YOUR reaction and not necessarily others’ behaviors.

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More about traumas and triggers

	Five ways to deal with your own triggers
	Why some people always trigger you
	The negative impacts of trauma on your brain and body
	6% of the U.S. population will suffer from PTSD at some point in their lives