Healing In a Constant State of Trauma

Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash

In the interest of full disclosure and for credibility purposes I want to inform the reader about me having a 10-year stint in the addictions and mental health field. My last position in said field is that of a clinical social worker. Part of that job description included assessing and diagnosing clients with mild to severe mental health disorders. It is in this spirit that I am writing this piece, with Black America being the “client” seeking treatment, or, healing. I’m going to make the case that it is impossible for Black America to heal while remaining in the confines of America where all of the trauma began and continues, even today.

Case study #1

Imagine, if you will, a man or a woman walks into your office week after week for therapy. The core issue is that they live in a home where their partner abuses them, rapes them, and consistently uses physical and psychosocial scare tactics to control them. Their partner controls all of the finances and the couples’ social circle as well. The client admits to being scared for their very life and not being able to function effectively in their day-to-day activities because of the ongoing abuse. Yet they remain in the situation solely on the fact that it’s all they know and they don’t believe that they deserve or can do better. They reminisce on the “good times” and make excuses for their abuser. They claim to love them. And they pray for change.

As a therapist, you would be within your scope of practice to alert authorities as the client is clearly in imminent danger and high risk of harm. There would more than likely be a plan to assist them to get whatever help available in terms of safety if this was the wish of the client. What no decent therapist would do is suggest that the client attempt to work on themselves and work on healing from their trauma while remaining in direct contact with their abuser. That would be close to malpractice. Now, this isn’t to say that said client would not desire to be healed and remain in their relationship simultaneously due to emotional connection or other circumstances. But any person with common sense would understand the folly in such an approach.

Case study #2

Now, let’s bring our minds to Black America. Let’s be our own therapists. Before we continue, to better grasp our “diagnoses” as a people, I want to explain the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or, DSM. In the United States, the DSM serves as the principal authority for psychiatric diagnoses. In order to diagnose a person, they must meet certain criteria as outlined in the DSM. As we are currently discussing PTSD (trauma diagnosis), I have listed the criterion associated with it from the DSM 5 (5th Edition). Note that there are several other trauma disorders that could have been used. PTSD is a more commonly recognized disorder and one that we can possibly understand better as we will later give real-world examples of how Black America is affected by the symptoms listed in the following criteria.

All of the criteria are required for the diagnosis of PTSD. The following text summarizes the diagnostic criteria:

Criterion A: stressor (one required)

The person was exposed to:

death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, in the following way(s):

• Direct exposure
• Witnessing the trauma
• Learning that a relative or close friend was exposed to a trauma
• Indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma, usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, medics)

Criterion B: intrusion symptoms (one required)

The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in the following way(s):

• Unwanted upsetting memories
• Nightmares
• Flashbacks
• Emotional distress after exposure to traumatic reminders
• Physical reactivity after exposure to traumatic reminders

Criterion C: avoidance (one required)

Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli after the trauma, in the following way(s):

• Trauma-related thoughts or feelings
• Trauma-related external reminders

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood (two required)

Negative thoughts or feelings that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

• Inability to recall key features of the trauma
• Overly negative thoughts and assumptions about oneself or the world
• Exaggerated blame of self or others for causing the trauma
• Negative affect
• Decreased interest in activities
• Feeling isolated
• Difficulty experiencing positive affect

Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity

Trauma-related arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

• Irritability or aggression
• Risky or destructive behavior
• Hypervigilance
• Heightened startle reaction
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty sleeping

Criterion F: duration (required)

• Symptoms last for more than 1 month.

Criterion G: functional significance (required)

• Symptoms create distress or functional impairment (e.g., social, occupational).

Criterion H: exclusion (required)

Symptoms are not due to medication, substance use, or other illness.

We will be brief as possible here as we go through each criterion and provide evidence of how Black Americans suffer from some (MOST) of the very symptoms used to diagnose PTSD in individuals. Keep in mind that the trauma that Black America endures can be coupled with severe cases of anxiety as well. I can say that this is the most important part of this writing. Please read it carefully.

Criterion A: Stressor symptoms

We can undoubtedly say that Black America has been exposed to and has witnessed violence in every way. Whether directly, vicariously, through the teaching of our elders, or by way of spiritual inheritance. We know that our lives are in danger in America. Every time we see Black bodies being murdered by police and white vigilantes, this is the stressor that we are discussing in this particular criteria. Some of us grow up in neighborhoods where gun violence has taken away friends and family. Sometimes in our youth. There are several examples of trauma stressors that we have normalized.

Criterion B: Intrusion symptoms

Some of us can admit to the feeling of our stomachs dropping when sirens light up behind us in our vehicles, even when we are driving legally and appropriately. We can recall unwanted and random memories of racist acts, comments, or microaggressions. Even more, after seeing pictures of lynching's or a movie that depicts enslaved Africans, we feel a deep sadness and literally feel the pain. These are intrusion symptoms. These symptoms may have even occurred while you read those last few sentences.

Criterion C: Avoidance symptoms

Let me get personal just a bit. Years ago I committed to not looking at the onslaught of videos of Black men and women being murdered by law enforcement. I do not see the point of volunteering to feel hopeless, sad, or angry. I also discontinued entertaining “slave movies” or any other form of entertainment that sent the message of how weak Black America has been. Movies showing Black people struggle only to lose in the end. We know the types. That was just a small and less complicated example of an avoidance symptom. It can get far deeper. Hell, some of us avoid conversations about the reality of the Black experience in America altogether. Reality can be extremely painful and trauma-inducing.

Criterion D: Negative alterations in cognitions and mood

This criterion is very important. Here we can point to the way some Black America perceive our people. We can have extremely negative thoughts about ourselves. Think of the times you have heard a Black man or woman proclaim to not want to deal with Black people because a specific service didn’t meet their expectations once or twice. But the same person will go to McDonald's 789 times and get punished with cold french fries half the time. In several instances we, if we are being honest, look down on our people and have very little room for grace in terms of forgiving even the smallest transgression of a Black person towards us. All while loving and trusting the very people who have made fortunes on the very backs of us.

Then we look at the symptoms in this criterion that include having little interest in activities and feeling isolated. Many of us put on our best acts to try to fit into a society that devalues Blackness only to be reminded that we don’t belong. Then when confronted with opportunities to build and organize with one another, doubt and anxiety override logic and we become “disinterested in such activities.”

Criterion E: Alterations in arousal and reactivity

We can visit any “ghetto” or “hood” in America and witness the symptoms of aggression, irritability, destructive behavior, and hypervigilance. These symptoms are expressed in our popular music, in our creative films, and in other entertainment mediums. In some subcultures of Black America, these symptoms are even attributes of one’s masculinity or lack thereof. Much of our behavior that has become normalized is nothing more but trauma responses that have been relegated to being the status quo.

The healing

The fascinating thing about trauma and any other mental health disorder is that it can appear to be nonexistent in a person who has learned to cope with it. The Black man and woman have mastered this skill. You may have heard the saying, “I don’t look like what I’ve been through.” This is forever true with the Black American. Centuries of abuse that has been grossly internalized in a land that we call home. We have been traumatized to the point that we dissociate from reality and “see the therapist” by working hard to look good, abusing drugs and alcohol, seeking material gain, marching, protesting, jumping on any new wave of “woke-ness”, and a myriad of other behaviors that do little to nothing to effectively change our conditions as a people in America.

So how do we heal from this trauma and anxiety-ridden existence in America? We speak of not being toxic and having the desire for Black men and women to heal from trauma. We have discussed the many ways how Black America has been traumatized in this country. I am here to tell you that as long as we remain under the direct rule of the same people that were once our slave masters, we will never heal. We are in a constant state of trauma. It is impossible to heal while remaining in trauma. And make no mistake, we are in a constant state of trauma.

When we look at the reality we will then understand that America is not the place for the Black man or Black woman to maximize our potential as a race of people. How can a child experience healthy self-esteem when most of their experiences are imitations of white culture or exaggerated and toxic Black American culture? How can a Black man or woman experience adulthood in a way that they can create and innovate when they are always worried about performance on a job, not getting a promotion that they worked hard for or the possibility of losing their life during a routine traffic stop? My people, we are in a constant state of trauma here. The fact that we have accepted this does not make it disappear. We can applaud ourselves for being resilient people all day long. I’m here to say that a cockroach is resilient. But it is still a cockroach.

Unless and until we decide to make ourselves our number one priority, we will indeed remain a resilient people yet perpetually abused race. A conquered people.

I want to close with a series of very serious questions that I want the reader to answer. Before reading each question, preface it with “Do you even care about…”

1. What does Black America look like in 20, 50, 100 years?
2. What did Black America look like 20, 50,100 years ago?
3. What is the Black Agenda in America?
4. What is the goal or end game of whatever Black organization that you may be involved in?
5. What will be left here for our children’s children's children?

Your Brother in Blackness,

Umoja N. Black

An Injustice!