Trauma by Analogy

 When someone is afflicted by measles or a minor injury, the expectation, both from the person affected and those around them, is one of remedy and recovery.

When someone loses a leg or has an arm amputated, there is no such expectation. Instead, there is an immediate recognition that the future lies in adaptation and acceptance. The loss brings a permanent change to the body, one that calls not for a cure but for learning to live differently.

Psychological trauma is to the mind what amputation is to the body. It does not merely wound, it transforms. Trauma manifests not as temporary distress but as a lasting alteration to the structure of the self. It changes how a person perceives, reacts, relates, and exists. This change is not always negative or debilitating, but it is enduring.

If we work with this analogy, two important truths emerge:

1. The causes of trauma are often rooted in obviously overwhelming events, such as war, abuse, loss, or violence. However, trauma can also arise from experiences that seem minor or even invisible to others, especially when they occur in early, formative years. The significance lies not in how dramatic an event appears, but in its impact on the individual’s psychological integrity.

2. Many people misunderstand the nature of trauma. They assume it is something to be “gotten over” or “fixed,” offering encouragement or solutions better suited to temporary upset than lasting change. This well-meaning but misguided response can lead to further harm. What is needed is not always recovery but recognition, an understanding that healing may not mean going back to who someone was, but learning how to live as who they have become.