In doing the research for my book and writing about my personal experiences, I have come to many important insights. First and foremost that one must understand is that trauma is in the eye of the one being victimized. If you feel helpless, fearful, scared, traumatized; you are! It does not matter what other people may feel during that experience; it does not matter how other people may recover from that specific incident, it matters through the eyes of the victim.
Recently, I found an extremely helpful link on Babel: The Voices of a Medical Trauma, that explains trauma through the eyes of the patient, the medical notes of the chart, and the hospital’s response. http://www.pulsemagazine.org/Archive_Index.cfm?content_id=119 This was a critical piece for me to read and understand. I really related to the idea that the eyes of the victim, and the experiences of the victim, were not all reflected in the medical notes and hospital response letter. The fact that they do not match does not indicate in any way that this woman was not traumatized by her experiences.
In looking through my own medical records, I have found significant discrepancies between what happened and how I perceived it to be. Whether this is shoddy record keeping, or the way I viewed the trauma through my eyes does not matter. If the patient feels traumatized, the patient needs treatment consistent with one who has been traumatized, regardless of the notes on the chart.
Thanks for Reading,
Lauren
peaceoutofpieces 