The Trauma Buzz
It seems that every generation has cultural “buzz” words or phrases that are initially popular, become quickly overused and then crash. In the 1970s disco era, you might have heard “Peace, love, and granola” or “What’s crackin?” Skipping to the 1990s dawn of the information age, it was “Talk to the hand” and “Take a chill pill” Today, in the meta decade, you are likely to hear “Rizz” or “Extra”.
Also, in 2025 the word trauma seems to be tossed around quite freely. Many people argue that trauma, particularly childhood trauma, seems to easily excuse poor behavior choices as an adult. For example, a person who becomes a drug addict, loses their job, gets evicted, and ends up incarcerated may cite childhood abuse in the hopes others will extend compassion and the individual will not have to fully face the consequences of their own behavior for long. You have some people who would adamantly state that yes, trauma explains the person’s behavior, and the individual needs grace extended and thus given another chance. Then, you have another group of individuals who would say that it does not matter what has happened to the individual if the person is an adult, it is time to take responsibility for their actions and behaviors and face the music. So, who is correct in the matter? Perhaps rather than seeing the issue (and most issues for that matter) as black and white could there be a happy medium gray? There is a difference in stating a “cause” for something versus a “correlation”. No specific trauma or amount of trauma ultimately causes a person to make poor choices themselves, but certainly, trauma impacts a person’s perception and can be a correlation to poor choices later.
The camp of people who argue that the word trauma is tossed around too much say that the research confirms that the vast majority of humans who suffer even severe hardship will be able to get back on the horse of life and try again. While this may be true, what is the barometer of measurement of success? If the barometer is that the vast majority of individuals are not committing felonies, unemployed, and bankrupt, then okay. But does it mean those same individuals don’t have PTSD symptoms such as increased hyperarousal, nightmares, irritability, etc.? I think not.
So, you think the word trauma is overused? Fine, use overwhelmed, dysregulated, or the like. Statistics show that over 10% of Americans are on medications for anxiety/depression. Obviously, the percentage of unmedicated Americans who still suffer with anxiety/depression is much higher. Clearly, we have concern, and the idea of “suck it up buttercup” is not going to help.
What is the solution? Well, humans are complex, thus, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Medication coupled with traditional talk therapy is a good starting part and may also be sufficient for many. Other people find that specific therapies targeting the trauma experiences more directly are particularly beneficial such as eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR), somatic experiencing, or progressive counting method.
When we have experienced trauma, our body is not usually getting what it needs to reset to safety, which means it stays in danger mode. Too much adrenaline damages our tissues. If our cells look at the adrenaline and say “We can’t go that far” then shutdown occurs. The membranes and proteins of our cells actually fall apart. When the body does not get adequate rest it will force you to take it with such symptoms as back pain and chronic fatigue.
It is important for each of us to ask the question if our current life is serving us well. If not, then perhaps it is time to address instances in which your nervous system feels overwhelmed.
