Traumas

What is a Trauma? A trauma is something horrific that has happened to you that has caused you grief, pain, and hurt, resulting in a changed heart toward life. The images and pictures play over and over, and this is what causes the problems today. It seems that when people have traumas, this is when the persons life shuts down and they begin going down hill. The trama has to be dentified so healing can occur so that a person's life can be restored. Post Tramatic Stress Disorder is often labeled on people who had such traumas such as loss of a child, death of a loved one, car accident, war, 9/11 and now Hurricane Katrina.

If the trauma was something in the past, we need to do stop a moment to identify it more clearly. When did it take place, who was involved, etc. And traumas as recent as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrine, we need to do the same thing. Who was involved, how did it affect me, who do I need to forgive? Ask God to help you because some traumas are so awful such as child abuse, death, etc., that we shun away. But in order to get free at the "root" these things need to be exposed. God will be there, He will guide and help you. Ask for His wisdom and discernment and strength, and He will give it. So the first thing to do is recognize you have had a trauma in your life. See the PTSD below and decide for yourself.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The following are some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. A person who is experiencing it does not necessarily have to have all of these symptoms:

Depression: Feeling rejected, worthless, and helpless; seeing no hope for the future.

Nightmares: Experiencing in dreams the traumatic events experienced in that trauma.

Flashbacks: Suddenly experiencing, with deep emotion, a vivid memory from the war. This is usually triggered by something that occurs in his normal, daily life such as a certain sound or smell.

Anger: Outbursts of unreasonable and uncontrollable anger.

Emotional Numbing: Not permitting himself to be emotionally close to anyone. There is no desire to have personal relationships with others.

Survivor Guilt: With wartime veterans, they constantly wonder why others, considered to be better than himself, died and he did not.

Suicidal Thoughts: Thinking about ways to commit suicide because it seems that there is no way out.

Self-Punishment: Inflicting pain upon self to try to atone for the past.

Substance Abuse: Using alcohol and drugs to numb his memories, emotional pain, and feelings of guilt.

Blackouts: Periods of time in a person's life that there is no recollection.

Addressing Veterans

Many veterans suffer because they do not recognize that they are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, or because they believe they will be considered weak and not a man if they admit they have a problem. It takes real courage to recognize and to admit you have a problem and to seek out psychological and spiritual help. The American veterans of the Vietnam War experienced many difficulties after they returned home. Most people did not begin to understand their problems. The opinion of most people was that the veteran should just forget about the war, find a job, and resume a normal life. They thought he could turn off the war in his mind the same way you switch off a television. Most Americans had no idea of the horrific things the Vietnam veteran had experienced. Worst of all, most did not want to know. They were too busy enjoying the materialistic pleasures of life.

There were no welcome home parades for the young soldier returning from Vietnam. Instead, it was not uncommon for him to be spit upon and called a baby killer. It wasn't unusual for him to be ridiculed and rejected by the veterans who fought in World War II. They had been victorious. He had been defeated. The World War II veterans were ashamed of him.

What people did not realize was that thousands of American soldiers had been traumatized by the war in Vietnam. Upon his return to civilian life the American soldier himself did not know that he would experience a post-traumatic stress disorder. The post-traumatic stress disorder was the result of the extreme distress the American soldier experienced in Vietnam and after his arrival home. Post-traumatic stress is the usual response to being emotionally overwhelmed. It is a delayed reaction to emotional pain. It is not a mental illness. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder can surface one, two, or even fifteen to twenty years after the war.

Any veteran, whether he was in Vietnam or Afghanistan, or any person who has experienced a trauma can recover from post-traumatic stress disorder. There is a way out. Help is readily available. The first step to recovery is recognizing and admitting that you are experiencing post-traumatic stress and that you need help. It is just as reasonable to admit that you are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder as it is to admit that you slipped on the ice and broke your arm. No matter how strong your arm is, enough pressure put upon it will cause it to break. Denial of the truth prevents healing. "We shall know the truth and the truth will make us free" John 8:32.

Addressing 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina Survivors:

The same holds true with current traumas. People who were involved in these events first hand have these pictures playing over and over in their minds. In their dreams, in their daily thoughts, interrupting their mind which causes problems both physically and emotionally. If we don't deal with these "pictures" and thoughts now, they will become a permanent fixture and only lead to more destruction. As with veterans of wars, we are seeing that long-term the thoughts of the things they witnessed in war has produced a society of homeless, unable to take care of themselves. We cannot let that happen again. We can't afford to allow our lives to be robbed from us because we didn't deal with the memory keeping it alive with pain. See, it's not that we'll ever "forget" what happened, what God wants to do is heal the pain associated with that memory/experience.

So how do we get free from this?

Identify the stressor (the trauma)

q Identify the surrounding circumstances.

o Was there others involved and who were they? (Make a list)

o Write down what they did. Did they hurt you? Did they make you angry?

o Then from that list, take one person at a time and write down what you became because of that person. For example, if you were abused you may feel fear, angry, frustration, unworthiness, self-pity, confused, jealous, distrusting, hateful, ashamed, embarrassed, etc.

o Once you have identified them all, you have just identified your sins! All these so called feelings are your sins that you retained from this experience.. They are not emotions as some would suspect, and that's why people are still in bondage. They are sins. And it's these sins that are keeping the trauma alive. Keeping nightmares, guilt, and the pain alive! Did you know even a victim has retained sins from that situation? Let's take a look. If a person was raped, what did they "become" because of that rape? They became angry, confused, hateful, distrusting, fearful, ashamed, worthless, rejected, etc. Looks like the same kind of things that were in someone who was abused, right? The Bible says that if we don't forgive others for their sins against us, we take on their sins! Yep! Every single one of them. (John 20:23). But if we forgive them, their sins don't come onto us but stay on the perpetrator.

q Now pray and receive forgiveness. Take the list of your sins that you retained, and confess them before the Father in the name of Jesus and receive forgiveness. See it's these sins, these retained sins that prevent you from being free! I John 1:9 say that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Once you have received forgiveness, now you can forgive the person who caused your grief. You are now FREE to forgive, truly forgive from your heart because your heart is clean toward them! (If it's a situation like a war, you do the same thing toward the person who was in charge, starting at the top! - Yep, the president, commanding officers, the enemy, etc.)

Life Application Ministries commission is to help people find peace, healing, and restoration through the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. We minister to those with broken hearts, wounded spirits, emotional, physical and spiritual problems. By accessing the LAM home page, you will be provided with many teachings dealing with these very topics: How to know God really loves me? How to forgive? Why am I not blessed? Why am I not healed? Why did this happen to me? And much more. We offer personal ministry, as well by contacting us at truthfrees@mindsync.com.