When the hidden-denied reasons behind your childhood of multifaceted #childsexualabuse becomes known more clearly, what’s holding you back from responding alike “the reason I’ve grown so f-ed up, is due to your f-ing parent-church-school-club you took me through”?! #nrs💣
This form of PTSD results from repeated, prolonged trauma. Experts often use a multipronged approach to treat it. C-PTSD may be familiar to many a surviving-victim of CSA!
BY MATTHEW TULL, PHD
MEDICALLY REVIEWED BY IVY KWONG, LMFT
Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (sometimes called complex PTSD or C-PTSD) is an anxiety condition that involves many of the same symptoms of PTSD, along with other symptoms.
First recognized as a condition that affects war veterans, post-traumatic stress disorder can be caused by any number of traumatic events, such as a car accident, natural disaster, near-death experience, or other isolated acts of violence or abuse.
When the underlying trauma is repeated and ongoing, though, some mental health professionals consider it C-PTSD.
The condition has gained attention in the years since it was first described in the late 1980s. However, it is not recognized as a distinct condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the tool that mental health professionals use to diagnose mental health conditions.
PTSD vs. C-PTSD
PTSD and C-PTSD are a result of something deeply traumatic happening and can cause flashbacks, nightmares, and insomnia. Both conditions can also make you feel intensely afraid and unsafe even though the danger has passed. Despite these similarities, though, there are key differences, according to some experts.
The main difference is the frequency of the trauma. While PTSD is triggered by a single traumatic event, C-PTSD is caused by long-lasting trauma that continues or repeats for months, even years (commonly referred to as “complex trauma”). Another difference: C-PTSD is typically the result of childhood trauma.
The harmful effects of oppression and racism can add layers to the complex trauma—particularly if the justice system is involved.
The psychological and developmental impacts of complex trauma early in life are often more severe than a single traumatic experience—so different, in fact, that many experts believe that the PTSD diagnostic criteria don’t adequately describe the wide-ranging, long-lasting consequences of C-PTSD.
C-PTSD
● Caused by long-term, repeated trauma
● Typically arises from childhood experiences
● Often occurs in those who have endured racism and oppression
● Usually more severe than PTSD
PTSD
● Caused by a single event
● Can result from trauma experienced at any age
● Usually milder than C-PTSD
Symptoms of C-PTSD
In addition to all of the core symptoms of PTSD—reexperiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal—C-PTSD symptoms generally also include:
DIFFICULTY CONTROLLING EMOTIONS. It’s common for someone suffering from C-PTSD to lose control over their emotions, which can manifest as explosive anger, persistent sadness, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
NEGATIVE SELF-VIEW. C-PTSD can cause a person to view themselves in a negative light. They may feel helpless, guilty, or ashamed. They often have a sense of being completely different from others.
TROUBLE WITH RELATIONSHIPS. People with C-PTSD may avoid relationships or develop unhealthy relationships because that is what they knew in the past.
DETACHMENT FROM THE TRAUMA. A person may disconnect from themselves (depersonalization) and the world around them (derealization). Some people might even forget their trauma.
LOSS OF BELIEFS AND FAITH. Another symptom can be losing core beliefs, values, religious faith, or hope in the world and other people.
All of these symptoms can be life-altering and cause significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of life.
Making a Diagnosis
Although C-PTSD comes with its own set of symptoms, some believe the condition is too similar to PTSD (and other trauma-related conditions) to warrant a separate diagnosis. As a result, the DSM-5 lumps symptoms of C-PTSD together with PTSD. Therefore it isn’t officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.
Many mental health professionals recognize C-PTSD as a separate condition, because the traditional symptoms of PTSD do not fully capture some of the unique characteristics shown in people who experienced repeat trauma.
In 2018, the World Health Organization made the decision to include C-PTSD as its own separate diagnosis in the 11th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.
Because the condition is relatively new, doctors may make a diagnosis of PTSD instead of C-PTSD. Since there is not a specific test to determine the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD, you should keep track of the symptoms you have experienced so that you can describe them to your doctor.
Treatment for the two conditions is similar, but you may want to discuss some of your additional symptoms of complex trauma so your doctor or therapist can also address them.
C-PTSD can also share signs and symptoms with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Although BPD doesn’t always have its roots in trauma, this is often the case. In fact, some researchers and psychologists advocate for putting BPD under the umbrella of C-PTSD in future editions of the DSM to acknowledge the link to trauma, foster a better understanding of BPD, and help people with BPD face less stigma.
Identifying the Cause
C-PTSD is believed to be caused by severe, repetitive abuse over a long period of time. The abuse often occurs at vulnerable times in a person’s life—such as early childhood or adolescence—and can create lifelong challenges.
Traumatic stress can have a number of effects on the brain. Research suggests that trauma is associated with lasting changes in key areas of the brain including the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex.
The types of long-term traumatic events that can lead to C-PTSD include the following: child abuse, neglect, or abandonment; domestic violence; genocide; childhood soldiering; torture; and slavery.
In these types of trauma, a victim is under the control of another person and does not have the ability to easily escape.
The Latest Treatment
Because the DSM-5 does not currently provide specific diagnostic criteria for C-PTSD, it’s possible to be diagnosed with PTSD when C-PTSD may be a more accurate assessment of your symptoms. Despite the complexity and severity of the disorder, C-PTSD can be treated with many of the same strategies as PTSD, including:
Medications
Medications may help reduce symptoms of C-PTSD, such as anxiety or depression. They are especially helpful when used in combination with psychotherapy. Antidepressants including Prozac (fluoxetine), Paxil (paroxetine), and Zoloft (sertraline) are often used to treat C-PTSD.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy for C-PTSD focuses on identifying traumatic memories and negative thought patterns, replacing them with more realistic and positive ones, and learning to cope more adaptively to the impact of your trauma.
One type of psychotherapy that may be used to treat both PTSD and complex PTSD is known as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). This approach uses eye movements guided by the therapist to process and reframe traumatic memories. Over time, this process is supposed to reduce the negative feelings associated with the traumatic memory.
Coping With C-PTSD
Treatments for complex PTSD can take time, so it is important to find ways to manage and cope with the symptoms of the condition. Some strategies that may help you manage your recovery:
FIND SUPPORT. Like PTSD, C-PTSD often leads people to withdraw from friends and family. However, having a strong social support network is important for mental well-being. When you are feeling overwhelmed, angry, anxious, or fearful, reach out to a trusted friend or family member.
Research has found that writing in a journal can be helpful in managing PTSD symptoms and decreases symptoms of flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and nightmares.
PRACTICE MINDFULNESS: C-PTSD can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. Mindfulness is a strategy that can help you become more aware of what you are feeling in the moment and combat feelings of distress. This practice involves learning different ways to tune into your body and focus on staying in the present moment.
WRITE DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS: Research has found that writing in a journal can be a useful tool for managing PTSD symptoms; it decreases symptoms including flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and nightmares.
Keeping a journal can be a handy way to track symptoms so that you can later discuss them with your therapist.
Support groups and self-help books can also be helpful when dealing with complex PTSD. Two recommended books that address this topic are The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, and Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker.
It can feel overwhelming if you or someone you care about has been exposed to repeated trauma and is struggling to cope. But remember that it’s important to seek help from a therapist who is experienced treating PTSD.
You might also want to contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 800-662-4357; they can provide information on support and treatment facilities in your area.
In addition, you can do a search online to locate mental health providers in your area who specialize in PTSD. The bottom line? You don’t have to go it alone.
RETRIEVED
Tull, M. (2023). What is Complex PTSD? VeryWell Publishing. Retrieved http://apple.news/ADSJf7fEbSYSaDSpkxkqhaA.
Take Your Power Back: Healing Lessons, Tips, and Tools for Abuse Survivors
This material may be protected by copyright.
If “I’d been looking for ‘this kinda book’, for so long” sounds familiar – this could be the answer! Both suggested + reviewed by others in our league, here are some short examples of what it contains:
“As you discover and come into your own truth, you will gain the following:
• emotional strength as your self-confidence and self-assurance build
• an awareness of what triggers your painful emotions and moods, and an improved ability to cope with them before the pain escalates
• more responsiveness to outside influences as you become less reactive
• a feeling of safety in your own body
• confidence in your ability to consciously choose your response to situations that are in your best interest with due consideration for others, rather than emotionally gambling by unconsciously reacting in unhealthy ways to gain others’ approval and avoid pain
Mentors, coaches, and therapists can be instrumental in guiding you through the process, but the answers to truth-based healing reside in us. We must seek them out and apply them by reaching into the core of our being for the answers. The point is this:
You must uncover and discover to recover.”
Ryan, Evelyn M. (2015). Excerpt from (p.25/188)
This book isn’t an easy read, but that’s not what readers of it are looking for. Answers, methods + solutions are what it contains, which is what this writing aims for! If anything can make surviving-victims of child-sexual-abuse feel better, it’s knowing that there are things like this book.
RETRIEVED
Ran, Evelyn M. (2015). Take your power back. Retrieved via https://books.apple.com/au/book/take-your-power-back/id1068414334.
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Power-Back-Survivors-ebook/dp/B0793P43LP
Apple https://books.apple.com/au/book/take-your-power-back/id1068414334
HalfPriceBooks https://www.hpb.com/products/take-your-power-back-9781491778166
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEMORY
⚫️ Neuroscientific and other research confirm that memory is not a single entity and that different kinds of memory are stored in different parts of the brain.
⚫️In broad terms there are two types of memory. Explicit memory is conscious and can be expressed verbally, while implicit memory is largely unconscious and non-verbal.
⚫️Explicit memory requires focused attention to consolidate while implicit memory is encoded outside of awareness.
⚫️Both explicit and implicit memory also include subcategories. For explicit memory, these include declarative (also called `semantic’) and episodic (also called `autobiographical’ or `narrative’) memory.
⚫️Declarative memory (i.e. explicit memory type 1) is the only subcategory of memory that can be deliberately called up, i.e. consciously remembered. It conveys pieces of information to others and has been described as `cold’ for this reason (Levine, ibid: 15-16).
⚫️By contrast, episodic (i.e. explicit memory type 2, also called `autobiographical’ and `narrative’) memory can be described as `warm’ and textured (Levine, 2015: 16). Episodic memory `emerges somewhat spontaneously’, and can be `infused with feeling tones and vitality’ (Levine, ibid: 16-17). E.g. `I remember when I first saw the lake…’ It is less conscious than the `shopping list’ type of declarative memories but `more conscious…than implicit memories’. It forms `a dynamic interface between the `rational’ (explicit/declarative) and `irrational’ (implicit/emotional) realms’ (Levine, ibid: 16-17).
⚫️The subcategories of implicit memory can be described as `emotional’ and `procedural’. Emotional memory ( i.e. implicit memory type 1) puts us in touch with what we are feeling, helps us signal our feelings and needs to others, and is `experienced in the body as physical sensations’ (Levine, 2015: 22; emphasis added). It may also be elicited by an environmental cue such as a smell, sight or sound.
⚫️Procedural memories (i.e. implicit memory type 2.)`are the impulses, movements, and internal body sensations that guide us through the how to of our various actions, skills, attractions, and repulsions’ (Levine, 2015: 25). They help us carry out tasks automatically. Procedural memories may be further subdivided into three groupings of learned motor actions, hardwired emergency responses, and response tendencies of approach or avoidance and attraction or repulsion.
⚫️Everyday use of the word `memory’ (but also in psychology textbooks; Brand & McEwen, 2014) generally refers only to conscious, explicit memory which ignores the ongoing importance and various forms of implicit memories (Levine, 2015).
MEMORY, BRAIN DEVELOPMENT, AND PROCESSES
⚫️Implicit memory develops before explicit memory, as conscious recall depends on development of the hippocampus in the second year of life.
⚫️Conscious (explicit) memory, conscious thought and verbalisation are privileged both by health professions and by society in general (Levine, 2015).
⚫️Implicit, pre-verbal memories do not `disappear’ when the hippocampus develops but are stored in different neural networks and can manifest across the life cycle.
⚫️Memory is not `a discrete phenomenon, a fixed construction, cemented permanently onto a stone foundation’ (Levine, 2015: 2). Rather it is complex and involves different types and subcategories which function in different ways.
⚫️Memory is impacted by the processes of encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. Encoding (or formation) describes the original neural laying down of memory. Consolidation (or retention) describes the stabilisation and storage of memory (a process involving the hippocampus) after encoding. Retrieval (or recall) describes the remembering, revival or restoration to consciousness of memory first encoded and then consolidated.
⚫️`When memories are retrieved, they are susceptible to change, such that future retrievals call upon the changed information’ (Rydberg, 2017:94). Research substantiates that `[m]emory is a reconstructive process’, and that `no memory is a literal account, nor an exact replica, of an experience or event’ (Goodman-Delahunty et al., 2017: 46).
TRAUMATIC MEMORY
`REMEMBERING BY RELIVING’: TRAUMA, REPETITION & BEHAVIOURAL REENACTMENT
⚫️Current neuroscientific research confirms that trauma is often remembered through behavioural enactment (van der Kolk, ibid). Traumatised people are frequently unable to speak about their experiences and are `compelled to re-enact them, often remaining unaware of what their behaviour is saying’ (Howell, 2005: 56-57).
⚫️Remembering `in the form of physical sensations, automatic responses, and involuntary movements’ (Ogden et al, 2006: 165) is characteristic of trauma: `Traumatic memories may also take the form of unconscious `acting-out’ behaviours’ (Levine, 2015: 8).
⚫️The need to resolve traumatic experience can fuel repetitive and compulsive actions and behaviours (`Unresolved experiences tend to haunt us until they can be finished’; van der Hart et al, 2006: 246).
⚫️The relationship between repetitive, problematic behaviour and unresolved trauma needs to be recognised so that trauma survivors can be better supported towards recovery.
REMEMBERING & `FORGETTING’
⚫️While our brains are wired to remember experiences important to survival, under some circumstances survival may be assisted by `forgetting’ (Levine, 2015; Freyd & Birrell, 2013; Silberg, 2013).
⚫️As children depend on adult caregivers, `forgetting’ traumatic experiences can have survival value in preserving the attachment bond: `[F]orgetting abuse is a way to preserve the attachment relationship when the abuser is someone the victim is dependent on’ (Freyd & Birrell, 2013: 58); `Disruptions in memory may be adaptive… if trauma and caregiving emanate from the same source’ (Silberg, 2013: 12).
⚫️The impacts of stress on the brain, the different neural networks in which memory is stored, the differences between conscious, explicit and unconscious, implicit memory, and the capacity of the mind to compartmentalise and/or detach from experience (`dissociate’) help explain the phenomenon of `recovered’ memory (i.e. delayed onset memory recall).
RECOVERED MEMORY (DELAYED ONSET MEMORY RECALL)
⚫️The term `recovered memory’ describes sudden intrusion of memories which were previously unavailable: `[r]ecovered memories are those memories that have been forgotten for a period and then remembered’ (Barlow et al, 2017: 322).
⚫️Research confirms that trauma can disrupt memory in numerous ways and at any one or more of its various stages (‘If recovered memory experiences appear counter-intuitive, this is in part due to misconceptions about trauma and memory’;Brewin, 2012:149).
⚫️Delayed recall of traumatic, implicit memory usually occurs spontaneously, without warning, triggered by a prompt or cue. In trauma, these recovered memory/ies were previously dissociated (i.e. unassimilated and unintegrated) because they were too overwhelming to process.
⚫️The phenomenon of traumatic amnesia and subsequent delayed conscious recall of traumatic events is well documented in diverse populations (e.g. war veterans, Holocaust survivors, and survivors of natural disasters) as well as adult survivors of childhood trauma (van der Hart et al, 1999; Elliott, 1999).
⚫️Largely because of the founding of the so-called False Memory Syndrome Foundation in 1990 -on the premise that people were wrongly accused of sexual abuse on the basis of recovered memories -the term `false memory’ has come to apply solely to the context of recovered memories of child sexual abuse rather than other contexts as well.
⚫️Research establishes that recovered memories are no less likely to be reliable than explicit consciously recalled memories which were never forgotten (Barlow et al, 2017,ref. Chu et al, 1999; Williams, 1995; Dalenberg, 2006).
⚫️In the current period there Is a contrast between the `fantasy’ or `sociocognitive model’ (which proposes that recovered memories result from cultural/environmental influence and/or therapist suggestion) and `the trauma model’ (which notes the intrusion of memories unable to be assimilated because the experiences were too overwhelming (Vissia, Giesen., et al. 2016). The `trauma model’ contends that traumatic implicit memory/ies were dissociated or `split off’ from conscious memory and are recovered when they intrude.
⚫️Memories recovered in therapy represent a small proportion of the total recovered memory reports (Eliott, 1997; Wilsnack, Wonderlich, Kristjanson, Vogeltanz-Holm, & Wilsnack, 2002 cited in Dalenberg et al, 2012) Recovered memories tend to occur without warning and can certainly occur outside of psychotherapy or in its absence.
⚫️Strong, recurrent, and/or disabling, traumatic memories, including delayed onset recall (recovered) memories, may lead the person to become conscious of what they signify. While this experience can be destabilising at first, it can subsequently enable integration of the previously split off (dissociated) memory and pave the way for trauma recovery.
`BETRAYAL BLINDNESS’
⚫️’Betrayal blindness’, or ‘unawareness and forgetting’ has survival value. It stems from the concept of `betrayal trauma’, which assists understanding of how the `forgetting’ of early life abuse serves to preserve the attachment bond to caregivers on which children depend (Freyd, 1991) It also has wide application to a range of contexts: `Although there are various ways to remain blind to betrayal, perhaps the most effective way is to forget the event entirely’ (Freyd & Birrell, 2013: 58).
⚫️The `survival strategy’ of betrayal blindness applies to relationships in which dependence of some kind fosters the need to preserve the relationship and can `trump the need to take protective action’ (Freyd & Birrell, 2103, p.56)
⚫️’Not seeing’, `not knowing’ and `not remembering’ traumatic experience is not confined to children (`Adults are also prone to a kind of magical thinking …to gain a sense of control over overwhelming events’ (Chu, 2011: 34).
⚫️While `forgetting’ the trauma of betrayal (i.e. conscious explicit absence of recall as distinct from implicit memory of traumatic experience) potentially assists survival it can also threaten health if the trauma is not resolved.
THE DYNAMICS OF DISCLOSURE
⚫️The process of disclosing traumatic memory (i.e. when able to be spoken about, which involves a different area of the brain and depends on a number of contingencies) `is highly dependent on the reactions of others’ (Freyd & Birrell, 2013: 126).
⚫️`{M]ost people who experience childhood sexual abuse do not disclose it until adulthood, and many may never tell at all’ (Freyd & Birrell, 2013, p.123).
⚫️Disclosure is often not a single event, but rather a process affected by social context, issues of safety and the potential for adverse repercussions.
⚫️’Nondisclosure, delayed disclosure, and retraction are particularly likely in cases in which the perpetrator is close to the victim’ (Freyd & Birrell, 2013, p.123).
THE RELIABILITY OF MEMORY AND THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CONTEXT
⚫️Depending on the context and conditions, both remembering and `forgetting’ (i.e. in the explicit, conscious sense because `the body remembers’ [Rothschild, 2000] at an implicit level) can be healing and/or destructive
⚫️Social contexts and power disparities, as well as neurological factors, affect the encoding, retrieval, and reliability of memory: `[s]ocial power not only dictates what is appropriate to say out loud, but even what it is appropriate to remember’ (Barlow et al, 2017: 320).
⚫️’Both internal and external processes operate to keep us unaware’ (Freyd & Birrell, 2013: 95); `To the extent that it is not safe to disclose externally, it is not safe to know, or disclose internally, to oneself’ (ibid: 116).
⚫️’Contrary to the widespread myth that traumatic events are seldom if ever forgotten, much trauma is not remembered until something happens to bring it to mind’ (Brewin, 2012: 165).
⚫️Current research establishes that memory is not fixed and unchanging and that all memory -implicit and explicit -undergoes a degree of reconstruction. This does not mean that either is necessarily unreliable.
⚫️Research has shown that recovered (implicit) memory can be as accurate as continuous i.e. (explicit, conscious) memory (Dalenberg et al. 2012): `Memories that are recovered – those that were forgotten and subsequently recalled-can often be corroborated and are no more likely to be confabulated than are continuous memories’ (Chu, 2011, p.80 citing Dalenberg, 1996; Kluft, 1995; Lewis, Yeager, Swiza, Pincus & Lewis, 1997); also Dalenberg et al, 2012).
⚫️Numerous legal cases in various parts of the world have demonstrated that recovered memories have been verified and corroborated by independent evidence, admissions of guilt by perpetrators, or findings of guilt by courts. https://blogs.brown.edu/recoveredmemory/case-archive/legal-cases/
⚫️’The cognitive processes that underlie everyday memory are the same processes that lead to errors in processing traumatic memories…Like any memory , the availability of memory for traumatic events depends on how it is assessed’ (Barlow, 2017: 323, referencing Sivers, 2002).
⚫️Assessment of the reliability of memory must take account of a range of factors. These include the social context of memory, the possibility of betrayal trauma, the survival value of (explicit, conscious) `forgetting’, the impact of power disparities, and the centrality of emotional and physical safety around recall and disclosure.
To read the full paper The Memory of Truth and the Truth of Memory – Different Types of Memory and the Significance of Trauma; click here
To read our four summary Fact Sheets on Memory – Classification, Understanding Memory, Understanding Traumatic Memory, Recovered memory, click here
RETRIEVED https://www.blueknot.org.au/Portals/2/Fact%20Sheets%20Info/Fact_Sheet_Memory_and_truth.pdf
Further to an earlier post, while working further through the ‘Apologies’ (Reconciliation) part of my NRS Submission I was again contacted by a Parent. Despite being arranged, that all messages are to go through a Support Agency ‘parents always know better’ … At the last calm message, I had had enough. Assertively, I laid out some key points (beyond my control) that have been bases for the other CSA instances in my life. Shortly after, I received this TXT message:
(Name), I don’t understand this very direct message, It seems as though someone or an organisation on your behalf, Eg…..NDIS? Have sent it? Who?
Also I am alarmed with reference to CSA & NRS, who is this?
What’s Goodbye appologies-submissions??
SMS data 28.11.20.
(Name), all I asked on the previous sms to you was, can we have a coffee soon.
❤️ & 😘
SMS data 28.11.20.
These responses prove that despite believing that a victim’s comments to one parent being truthful, only select parts of this info was exchanged with the other parent. This was also an influence of the competitive sibling’s suspected-narcissism (alike the previous marriage’s attacks). Many parts of both these family issues run parallel to the marriage issues.
This misunderstood response was from my asserted response, to my family’s misunderstanding of the Disability resulting from my CSA experiences (under their “loving & protecting, Christian parenting”). As the truth is coming out in numerous other circles, so too is a major part of my own. Following is my assertive message, triggering the above response:
Tony is on the NDIS, for an often misunderstood injury, (Sibling’s) denial of it is both perjury (Court) & adds to my lost hope. From a history of apologies/denials (Sibling), effects of a childhood of CSA, our dysfunctional family became obvious: my complete withdrawal is required (I need to enjoy my life). Repairs are possible, similar to the style of family Tony is breaking away from. Wrongs have happened (CSA & distinction), if unaddressed they often continue.
Goodbye (CSA NRS Apologies-Submission will soon be sent)
SMS data 28.11.20.
Despite having spoken openly (I believed) to each parent in the past, any dependence on their memory of these moments appears alike “in one ear, out the other”; despite my continued reminders (texts, media & conversations); recorded notes of supposed ‘promises’; getting others involved (3rd eye POV); any of these forms of ‘proof’ gets disregarded, now surfacing that a parent admitted to agreeing with another sibling as they were “afraid to lose contact with their grandchildren”. Justice does not exist, when Emotional Blackmail is played. Now, I’ll await what results from the NRS Apology.
These experiences have been posted to this Blog, as numerous other past students and their families are curious or unaware of the instabilities that exist. Screens, or facades are frequently made to give differences between the unstable Private effects of family tensions and the typical social Public reputation. Through the building of a Trauma-Informed Community (Blue Knot 2020), our lifestyles should become stronger than how those of shallower, CSA ‘hunting grounds’ previously were.
• The word ‘trauma’ describes events and experiences which are so stressful that they are overwhelming.
• The word ‘trauma’ also describes the impacts of the experience/s. The impacts depend on a number of factors.
• People can experience trauma at any age. Many people experience trauma across different ages.
• Trauma can happen once, or it can be repeated. Experiences of trauma are common and can have many sources.
• Trauma can affect us at the time it occurs as well as later. If we don’t receive the right support, trauma can affect us right through our life.
• We all know someone who has experienced trauma. It can be a friend, a family member, a colleague, or a client… or it can be us.
• It can be hard to recognise that a person has experienced trauma and that it is still affecting them.
• Trauma is often experienced as emotional and physical harm. It can cause fear, hopelessness and helplessness.
• Trauma interrupts the connections (‘integration’) between different aspects of the way we function.
• Trauma can stop our body systems from working together. This can affect our mental and physical health and wellbeing.
• While people who experience trauma often have similar reactions, each person and their experience is unique.
• Trauma can affect whole communities. It can also occur between and across generations, e.g. the trauma of our First Nations people.
• For our First Nations people, colonisation and policies such as the forced removal of children shattered important bonds between families and kin and damaged people’s connection to land and place.
• Many different groups of people experience high levels of trauma. This includes refugees and asylum seekers, as well as women and children. This is not to deny that many men and boys also experienced trauma.
• Certain life situations and difference can make trauma more common. People with disability of all ages experience and witness trauma more often than people without disability. LGBTQI people also experience high levels of trauma which is often due to discrimination.
Blue Knot Helpline 1300 657 380 | blueknot.org.au | 02 8920 3611 | admin@blueknot.org.au
In response to the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronvirus), Blue Knot have prepared some fact sheets to help members of the community, as well as health professionals take care of themselves and others during this challenging time.
Here at Blue Knot Foundation, we will continue to provide as many of our usual services as we can. As the health and wellbeing of our staff is our absolute priority we are rapidly transitioning our teams to working from home. We will still deliver all of our counselling services – Blue Knot Helpline and redress application support as well as the National Counselling and Referral Service supporting people affected by or engaging with the Disability Royal Commission. Our counselling services will maintain the high degree of professionalism, privacy and confidentiality currently provided. Should there be any disruptions to our services during this transitions, we anticipate that they will be minor and temporary. Our focus is for our trauma specialist counsellors to continue to provide the counselling, support and information currently provided through all the usual numbers and channels (see below for further information).
We will also continue to disseminate our monthly Breaking Free and quarterly Blue Knot Review publications as always. Blue Knot will be additionally releasing new publications and fact sheets in the coming months, including resources related to caring for ourselves during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Ongoing Counselling and Support Services
Call 1300 657 380 Mon-Sun between 9-5 AEDT to reach our Blue Knot Helpline and redress services.
Call 1800 421 468 to reach our National Counselling and Referral Service (supporting the Disability Royal Commission) or go here and to find out the other ways with which you can connect with this service.
The Australian Government has released an official app with the information you need to know about Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Download from Apple App Store
Download from Google Play
or visit www.australia.gov.au
The Australian Government has also created a new WhatsApp feature.
Message +61 400 253 787 or go to aus.gov.au/whatsapp in your web browser to get coronavirus information you can trust from the official Australian Government chatbot.
Whatsapp is available from the Apple Store or Google Play.
Please do what you can to look after yourself, stay connected and reach out when you need to.
Blue Knot Helpline 1300 657 380 Mon-Sun 9am-5pm AEST/ADST
Download PLAIN ENGLISH version
RETRIEVED https://www.blueknot.org.au/Resources/Fact-Sheets/COVID-19
Does the mention of any of the terms of ‘corruption, abuse, deception, obstruction’ cause a creepy feeling, the hairs on the back of your neck stand, or a chill run down your spine? You may have been effected by any of inappropriate issues, that are still becoming prevalent today. Most of us are familiar with the saying of “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely”. (Lord Acton)
Translations of this are often made into areas of vulnerability: Teacher-Students (pedophilia), Church Leader-Youth (child sexual abuser), Sports Coach-Player (privatelessons), Disability Carer-disabled (manipulation), Government-Indigenous (stolen generations), Caretaker-Retiree (aged care abuse) and Banks-Customers (coercion). Thankfully, there’s been many Royal Commissions called, with more to come. Our ‘RoyalCommBBC’ is only a small example of what can be possible, when the Sharing of beneficial Information-News-Experiences-Solutions are made.
A great part of any Institution, is that like members typically stick together. It’s been found that when ‘reality hits home’, many of us acknowledge that they’re not alone AND there is a simple solution available. This is where RCbbc can help, in supporting past Students, Parents and Friends in contacting experts in their fields.
BLUE KNOT FOUNDATION FACT SHEET FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA (INCLUDING ABUSE)
1 Childhood trauma stems from overwhelming negative experiences in early life. It can take many forms (eg. sexual,emotional,physicalabuseandneglect).Itcanalso occur without abuse if early caregivers were unable
to meet your emotional needs (e.g. because they had unresolved trauma histories themselves).
2 Unresolved childhood trauma negatively impacts 8 health and well-being in adulthood. It affects both emotional and physical health (the whole person’)
and the full impacts may not become apparent until
years later.
3 It is possible to heal from childhood trauma. Research shows that with the right support, even severe early life trauma can be resolved. It also shows that when an adult has resolved their childhood trauma, it benefits their children or the children they may later have.
Children develop coping mechanisms to deal with the effects of childhood trauma. It is normal to want to feel better, and if you were traumatised as a child the need to escape’ feelings can be intense.
4 Effects of childhood trauma include anxiety, depression, health problems (emotional and physical), disconnection, isolation, confusion, being ‘spaced out’, and fear of intimacy and new experiences. There 10 is no one size fits all’, but reduced quality of life is a constant.
5 Survivors are often on ‘high alert’. Even minor stress can trigger ‘out of proportion’ responses. Your body continues to react as if you are still in danger, and this can be explained in terms of unresolved prior experience.
6 Survivors often struggle with shame and self-blame. But childhood trauma and its established effects are NOT your fault, even though you may feel otherwise (often because this is what you were encouraged to believe as a child when you were vulnerable and still developing).
7 Self-blame can be especially strong if you experienced any positive physical sensations (which is not an uncommon body response) in relation to abuse you have undergone. Physical reaction to sexual abuse does NOT mean desire for, or agreement to, it. Children cannot consent to, much less ‘cause’, sexual or other forms of abuse.
8 Children develop coping mechanisms to deal with the effects of childhood trauma. It is normal to want to feel better, and if you were traumatised as a child the need to `escape’ feelings can be intense.
9 Coping mechanisms develop for a reason, serve a purpose, and can be highly effective in the short term. But some methods of coping (e.g. excessive alcohol use) can be risky in themselves. Addictions (to food, sex, drugs), avoidance of contact with others (which reinforces isolation) and compulsive behaviours of various kinds (in attempts to run from the underlying problem which, because it is unaddressed, doesn’t go away) are all ways people try to cope.
10 Coping mechanisms develop for a reason, serve a purpose, and can be highly effective in the short term. But some methods of coping (e.g. excessive alcohol use) can be risky in themselves. Addictions (to food, sex, drugs), avoidance of contact with others (which reinforces isolation) and compulsive behaviours of various kinds (in attempts to run from the underlying problem which, because it is unaddressed, doesn’t go away) are all ways people try to cope.
11 Coping mechanisms develop for a reason, serve a purpose, and can be highly effective in the short term. But some methods of coping (e.g. excessive alcohol use) can be risky in themselves. Addictions (to food, sex, drugs), avoidance of contact with others (which reinforces isolation) and compulsive behaviours of various kinds (in attempts to run from the underlying problem which, because it is unaddressed, doesn’t go away) are all ways people try to cope.
RETRIEVED https://www.blueknot.org.au/Portals/2/Fact%20Sheets%20Info/Fact_Sheet_Survivors.pdf