scholarly journals Dynamics of the Transmission of Trauma through three Generations of Slovene Families

Family Forum ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 229-251
Author(s):  
Katarina Kompan Erzar

 In this paper, we will present a study into the dynamics of the transmission of emotional traumatic in three families of victims of World War II and post-war communist oppression. This study is taken from a broader research project in which we investigated the experiences of nonclinical families that managed to survive through three generation, and in which post-traumatic growth is present, i. e. the ability to integrate traumatic experiences and provide greater security for future generations. The main focus will be on how emotional content is transmitted and transformed through generations and how to recognise it in various forms of behaviour, thinking and emotions, that appear in each of the generations. As we follow the transformation of traumatic content, we will also follow the the signs that show how traumatic content has integrated and begun to bring new, deeper emotional and mental insights. The emotional depth of the traumatic experience is what burdens the victim the most and slows down the dynamics of trauma processing. It appears in the form of symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, insecurity and mistrust. This is found even in victims who have articulated the trauma sufficiently to rise above intimidation, managed to develop emotionally strong and connecting interpersonal relationships, maintain faith in the future, and form a coherent narrative of their traumatic past. The most interesting result of the research was that all three families, regardless of their diversity, are similar in term of processing the trauma. They were all able to speak openly about their traumatic experiences. In all three families there there was a great deal of discussion and searching for the social framework and personal truth of historical events, and the desire to present and describe the events that left such deep wounds in such a way that they would be clear, reworked and accessible to future generations as a document of the reality of some tragic and difficult times. Another source of trauma processing was religious faith, which allowed all the participants in this study to look at trauma and life more deeply, through relationships and connections between people and through a deeper understanding of human history embedded in a broader and deeper spiritual flow. Faith helped these families to find the courage to make decisions, to face life’s challenges, and to endure even the most severe of life's trials. A third source that facilitates the processing and integration of a traumatic experience is secure interpersonal relationships and compassionate parenting. Despite the fact that the whole question of parenting was demanding and full of challenges for our interviewees, the quality of parenting has been improved from generation to generation, and sincere affection for children and gratitude for children were present everywhere. The ability to follow the new generation and its initiatives while maintaining a connection to its roots is a dynamic that characterises all three families. There is also a lot of thinking and conscious effort in establishing and maintaining good marital relationships in these families. For the recovery from trauma this study shows the importance of talking about it and also talking about it in a safe relationship until it takes a form that is genuine and at the same time clear, coherent and thus suitable for the general public. That’s when the traumatic story ceases to be traumatizing and becomes a story of courage, perseverance, and truth.  

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S720-S720
Author(s):  
Lauren M Bouchard ◽  
Lydia K Manning

Abstract Resilience has been consistently shown across the literature as a protective factor in terms of aging successfully. Resilience is defined as a process of adjustment and adaptation, where painful life experiences can result in accumulative positive outcomes such as greater life meaning, hopefulness, and spiritual transcendence (Ramsey, 2012). These outcomes are also mentioned in the separate but related construct of “post-traumatic growth,” defined as positive outcomes (i.e. self-perception, improved interpersonal relationships, and a changed philosophy on life) which emerge after traumatic experiences (PTG; Tedschi & Calhoun, 1996). This study explored older adults perceptions on adaptation in regards to adverse life situations. Our findings indicate some participants were more likely to espouse resiliency and post-traumatic growth related explanations while others participants articulated difficulty in seeing the benefit related to the challenges they had faced. Similarly, participants faced a range of challenges from everyday stress to major life traumas, which also shaped perceptions of their own growth. Participants also indicated a range of orientations toward growth after adversity including denial, reluctance, acceptance, and optimism. Our results also suggest key differences in these constructs while they also remain similar and complementary in terms of our participants lives and stories. Our study also provides limitations and future directions in operationalizing PTG and resilience in the gerontological literature.


Author(s):  
Vladimir A. Mokhov ◽  
◽  
Svetlana L. Babushkina ◽  

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a real shock, forcing people to question the basic sense of security and face existential givens, such as finiteness of life, loneliness, freedom and meaning. The ongoing epidemic has sparked a wave of research on the mechanisms of effective stress coping in the situation of threat to life and safety. At the same time, more scientists are emphasizing the existential nature of anxiety caused by the pandemic, and the results of recent studies indicate a mediating role of existential anxiety between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. The purpose of this research is to study the aspects of processing existential experience and its connection with coping with anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyzed written interviews of 108 subjects aged 25-45 years, held during the second wave of coronavirus in Moscow, for the presence of existential issues of death, loneliness, freedom and meaning. The types of processing existential experience were distinguished; an empirical analysis of the connection between the aspects of processing the existential experience and trait anxiety was carried out. Results showed that 90% of respondents are confronted with one or more existential given, which may indicate the presence of a situational existential crisis. A connection has been found between an emotional processing of existential experience together with the availability of personal resources and successful stress coping during the pandemic. The necessity of including fundamental existential issues in the process of providing psychological help during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as assistance to people, who have had traumatic experiences, has been argued.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne M Thorburn

Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH), a subset of haemorrhagic stroke, is a potentially fatal condition with a mortality rate of approximately 50%. Of those that survive, some 60% will experience ongoing disability and impairment. Forty per cent of remaining survivors will experience what is deemed as a good neurological recovery. Despite good recovery, people have been found to experience negative psychosocial outcomes such as high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), depression and reduced levels of overall well-being. As a result, aSAH has been viewed as a traumatic life experience with the potential for ongoing psychological sequelae. More recently the literature has identified that traumatic experiences can also elicit an opportunity for growth. Post-traumatic growth (PTG) states that for some people, the experience of trauma may also result in positive psychological gains. PTG has previously been investigated as an outcome after natural disasters and in a range of medical conditions; however, no studies have investigated PTG after an aSAH. A recent study identified that PTG may play a psychologically buffering role after a diagnosis of breast cancer. It is possible that PTG may also play a protective role in recovery after an aSAH; however, this has not been investigated. This study comprised N = 251 adults who had experienced an aSAH, and were recruited from Australia, U.K., U.S.A., New Zealand, and Canada. This study examined whether people who have survived an aSAH experience PTG; if predictors including self-compassion (SC) and social support (SS) influence the development of PTG after an aSAH; and if PTG moderates the relationship between PTSS, and depression and subjective well-being. Regression analyses were utilised to analyse the data. Results showed that people experience PTG after an aSAH; SC predicted PTG; PTG was not found to moderate the relationship between PTSS and either Depression or SWB domains. Supplementary analyses were conducted with SC not a significant moderator between PTSS and either depression or SWB domains. However, SC was found to mediate the relationship between PTSS and Depression and PTSS and SWB domains.


2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-19
Author(s):  
Patricia Lynn Dobkin

The Japanese practice an ancient art called Kintsugi. A craftsperson repairs broken pottery with gold or silver rendering it more beautiful than in its original state. Can clinicians engage in “Kintsugi Mind” and thereby emerge from this pandemic integrated and whole? Yuan et al. (2021) conducted a meta-analysis including 88 studies of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following earlier pandemics and COVID-19. Health care professionals had the highest prevalence (26.9%) compared to infected cases and the public. Another type of trauma is called secondary or vicarious; it occurs when a person bears witness to suffering and death but remains powerless to change it; countless clinicians have experienced this over the past year. It manifests as emotional depletion, anxiety, insomnia, and impaired interpersonal relationships. How can clinicians heal from their exposure to the pandemic? Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is defined as positive psychological changes following trauma. PTG manifests in five areas: appreciation of life, relating to others, personal strength, recognizing new possibilities, and spiritual change. A transformation in the person’s world view and their place in it ensues. For health care professionals who are experiencing emotional distress, insomnia, or manifest PTSD symptoms they may heal by engaging in the six “Rs.” These are: relating, resourcing, repatterning, reprocessing, reflecting, and rituals. Both PTG and these six practices may contribute to Kintsugi Mind. While this appears to place the onus on individuals, it is crucial that leaders in the health care system implement programs enabling HCPs to be restored, rather than broken by this crisis.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 841-844
Author(s):  
Mohammad Asim ◽  
Edwin Van Teijlingen ◽  
Brijesh Sathian

The sudden outbreak of Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) is transforming the psychology and interpersonal relationships of millions across the globe. In Nepal, there is a need for national mental health surveys post COVID-19. This pandemic can cause traumatic experiences to the patients, caregivers, those quarantined and frontline healthcare providers which may lead to PTSD. Special attention should be focused on high-risk individuals, including policies to implement regular screening of PTSD symptoms. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taraschi Gianmarco ◽  
Manin Emily ◽  
Bianchi De Micheli Francesco ◽  
Abdulcadir Jasmine

Abstract Background: Women with FGM/C are known to have psychological sequelae from the cutting and other traumatic experiences. However, very few studies report immediate psychological sequelae of genital reconstructive surgeries for this population. The present case is the first to our knowledge to report PTSD symptoms immediately following defibulation, a procedure common in women with FGM/C type III.Case presentation: We present the case of a 31-year-old nulliparous woman in the second trimester of pregnancy with FGM/C type IIIa who was referred for antepartum defibulation to facilitate a vaginal birth. Immediately after an uncomplicated surgery under local anaesthesia and just before the first micturition, she developed post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and suddenly recalled the traumatic experience of her first micturition after FGM/C when she was a child in Sudan. The woman was offered psychiatric follow-up with psychotherapy for four months and a short course of benzodiazepines. She had fully recovered by the time of delivery, four months after surgery.Conclusions: We discuss the possibility of recall of a past traumatic experience of FGM/C during defibulation or other genital surgeries. We review the benefits and risks of defibulation, the impact of this procedure, and the setting and timing in which it is performed, focusing on women's mental health and psychological support.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heide Glaesmer ◽  
Thomas Gunzelmann ◽  
Elmar Braehler ◽  
Simon Forstmeier ◽  
Andreas Maercker

ABSTRACTBackground:Only a few population-based studies on the epidemiology of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSDs) are available to date. Most of the existing studies are from the U.S.A. Against the background of World War II, the extent and long-term effects of war-related traumatic experiences in the German elderly population are of special interest. Nevertheless, population-based data on this topic are lacking to date.Methods:This study examines the occurrence of traumatic experiences and the prevalence rates of PTSD according to DSM-IV and of partial PTSD in a randomly selected sample of the German general population aged 60 years and over (N = 814) using self-rating instruments.Results:PTSD is apparent in 3.4%; when partial post-traumatic stress syndromes are included, a total of 7.2% of the aged population are involved. The most common individual symptoms resulting from war-induced trauma are avoidance of thoughts and feelings, sleep disturbances, distressing dreams and intrusive thoughts. The most frequently mentioned traumatic experiences of the generation examined in this study were war-related trauma experienced as children or in early adulthood during World War II. As a person's age increases, so does the prevalence of war-related traumatic experiences. There are some gender differences in traumatic experiences, but not in post-traumatic symptoms.Conclusion:The results emphasize the importance of war-related traumatic experiences from World War II in the German elderly population and their impact on the prevalence of PTSD more than 60 years later.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 256-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Reynolds ◽  
Kate Hinchliffe ◽  
Victor Asamoah ◽  
Christos Kouimtsidis

Aims and methodA cross-sectional study aiming to assess the prevalence of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a community substitution treatment sample, and to assess and compare the characteristics of traumatic experience, substance use, and psychological and social factors in those with and without PTSD. All assessments were completed during the interview which took approximately 1.5 h.ResultsThe prevalence for current PTSD was 26.2% and for lifetime PTSD 42.9%. Traumatic experiences were extremely common, with two or more reported by 92.9% of the sample. The two groups differed significantly on the majority of psychological functioning and social variables, with women experiencing higher rates of PTSD and the non-PTSD group having lower rates of psychological impairment.Clinical implicationsThe research supported findings from previous studies. The very high incidence of traumatic experiences has not been reported before. Training and information about trauma and PTSD for substance misuse workers are therefore necessary so that PTSD can be more easily detected and treated.


2017 ◽  
Vol 211 (5) ◽  
pp. 280-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie A. McLaughlin ◽  
Karestan C. Koenen ◽  
Evelyn J. Bromet ◽  
Elie G. Karam ◽  
Howard Liu ◽  
...  

BackgroundAlthough childhood adversities are known to predict increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after traumatic experiences, it is unclear whether this association varies by childhood adversity or traumatic experience types or by age.AimsTo examine variation in associations of childhood adversities with PTSD according to childhood adversity types, traumatic experience types and life-course stage.MethodEpidemiological data were analysed from the World Mental Health Surveys (n = 27017).ResultsFour childhood adversities (physical and sexual abuse, neglect, parent psychopathology) were associated with similarly increased odds of PTSD following traumatic experiences (odds ratio (OR)=1.8), whereas the other eight childhood adversities assessed did not predict PTSD. Childhood adversity–PTSD associations did not vary across traumatic experience types, but were stronger in childhood-adolescence and early-middle adulthood than later adulthood.ConclusionsChildhood adversities are differentially associated with PTSD, with the strongest associations in childhood-adolescence and early-middle adulthood. Consistency of associations across traumatic experience types suggests that childhood adversities are associated with generalised vulnerability to PTSD following traumatic experiences.


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