Posttraumatic Revelations with Afrah Caraballo Afrah Caraballo

In every winter there are the ingredients for spring. No matter how dark, cold, and hard the winter may be, spring always comes. The same is possible for our mental and emotional winters. In every traumatic event, there are the ingredients for love, hope, and healing. All of nature moves toward the light, toward growth, toward its natural expansion. From acorn to the mighty oak tree, and from mustard seed to the magnificent mustard tree, EVERY living thing has the ability to surrender, break open, and stretch into its next best self. Without any effort on our part, we grow from embryo to adult, but we can become emotionally and cognitively frozen in the winters of our traumas, unless we allow ourselves to move toward the light of spring and healing. 

When we appreciate, validate, and manage our emotions we can enjoy a higher quality of life, that provides flexibility, safety, and freedom. Much like our money, our emotions must be managed intentionally, or we can end up emotionally bankrupt. Turn posttraumatic stress disorder into posttraumatic stress order by appreciating, validating, and managing sadness, anger, anxiety, fear, rage, and despair.  Every emotion is valid and needs our time, attention, and permission to feel and heal. Every emotion deserves to be acknowledged and validated.

Our lives are made up of highs and lows, success and failure-- peaks and valleys. And while it's easy to celebrate the peaks, and condemn the valleys, there is so much value in the valleys. There is wisdom, strength, grace, and the seeds for new beginnings in the valley. All of life starts in the darkness. Just as seeds in all of nature do, we must allow ourselves the time and permission to soften and grow into the next best versions of ourselves. We have everything we need to heal from our traumas; but we must give ourselves permission to do it. 

When we experience trauma, our bodies naturally, and automatically, release high levels of chemicals to help us stabilize and survive. These hormonal chemicals, like adrenaline, cortisol, and anandamide are some of the most addictive substances on the planet. Posttraumatic pain, and suffering, can be so overwhelming that our bodies can become chemically dependent on the high levels of stress hormones to feel safe. The experience of trauma rewires our brains, and bodies, causing confusion, and it can distort our perceptions of pain/pleasure, danger/safety, right/wrong, or healthy/risky. Damage caused by some traumatic experiences can cause lasting mental, emotional, and eventually physical, disorders. Prolonged exposure to stress hormones is associated with countless diseases.

When we are in a state of posttraumatic anxiety, depression distress, the sound of laughter, happiness, or pleasure can feel offensive. Trauma can steal our happiness and threaten our joy. When we are grieving loss, the pleasantries of friends and loved ones who want to make us laugh, smile or celebrate can feel irritating, infuriating, and sometimes painful. In an attempt to feel safe, we avoid, repel, and reject people, acts, and events that might bring us happiness for fear of losing them again. 

The concept of peace is a tricky one. Like trauma, peace is subjective, (the absence of war, the presence of justice, the feeling of calm tranquil freedom, the safety of prison), the meaning of peace can vary depending on your trauma history and your place, and space, in the world.  The avoidance of, resistance to, or aversion to peace, quiet, calm, unrestrictive environments maybe indications of peace allergies. If you find yourself feeling irritated, agitated, or otherwise uncomfortable with sitting still in quiet places that most people would describe as peaceful, you may have peace allergies.