Tuesday, June 5, 2018

the sins of the father

He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He visits the iniqiuity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation
~ Numbers 14:18


June is PTSD awareness month.

We are all probably already familiar with the acronym PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) used frequently in conjunction with the well-known traumatic impact of war.  It used to be called shell shock and is now also associated with men who have witnessed or survived violence in the line of duty; police officers and fire fighters, for example.

But did you know that women are twice as likely as men to experience PTSD?  Sexual violence accounts for some, but not all, of it.  Most is due to the Tragic Trickling Down Effect (TTDE?) of trauma in families; the sins of the father are visited upon their sons, but also (and especially) upon their wives and daughters. This is called intergenerational transmission.  Traumatized people traumatize others.  Most often women and children.

Yes.  There is a connection between PTSD and family violence.

It's not that hard to understand.  When oppressed by violence we want to fight back.  When we can't, all that fight gets bottled up inside.  When triggered by some mundane situation causing frustration, it bubbles up and explodes as anger and aggression... Who gets the brunt of those urges do you think?

It is a fact that the risk of being violated increases proportionately to your social status and power.  If you are a female handicapped minor (or elder) of color, your chances of being abused are much higher than that of a white able-bodied adult male.

It is easier to take your angries out on someone less powerful than you.  Sick but true.

Since we are raising awareness this month, we should talk about C-PTSD, which is the more complex response to long-term trauma not limited to crime or war. C-PTSD results from being exploitated in a relationship where there is a discrepancy in power, between parents and children, or men and women.  When a person is chronically bullied, abused or abandoned by a parent or loved one on whom he or she is emotionally dependent, the victim (or "survivor") displays many of the symptoms that a war vet, police officer or fire fighter would, while also frequently being affected at the level of one's identity and self-esteem, one's core sense of self.  Again, war and crime aside, the weaker members of society are most affected by C-PTSD, and the perpetrators most often men.

This month, while raising awareness of the impact of violence on soldiers and others who have voluntarily stood in the line of fire, let's not forget the less heroic survivors of the same insidious dynamics of human suffering: the less powerful who, daily, without choosing it, are victims of violence everywhere-- women, minorities, children, the handcapped and the elderly.

The test of civilization is the way it cares for its helpless members
 ~Pearl S. Buck