Why, then, do we exclude, fear, judge, alienate individuals who are known to be on it?  One of the most obvious reasons is that, because of the stigma, many of those who are ‘doing well’ and functioning are not ‘coming out’ about their disorder.  Therefore, we only hear, or know, about the individuals who are not able to keep the big white flag of (seeming) normalcy flying above their heads. However, the dissociative spectrum is alive and well all over the world, ranging in manifestations such as DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, formally known as multiple personality disorder) to PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). On the lesser end of the spectrum is ‘everybody else’, and I mean everybody. We all dissociate, as this is an element of having a human brain. Think of driving hypnosis, where you get home but do not exactly remember the drive. Think of when you get so absorbed in a movie that you block out what is going on around you.  
 
People who dissociate ‘clinically’, do so because of a habituation of this typical brain response. These individuals learned to use this tool, at an early age, to manage trauma and adversity. In many dangerous situations, it is safer to dissociate than to react in fight/flight. Children find this an especially true fact, because they are vulnerable and do not hold the power necessary to enact a successful fight/flight in these types of situations.  Also, dissociation looks like compliance, settling down, calming (though it is actually shutting down), and is seen as an appropriate response to an adult who may value these qualities in a child. It can be the most adaptive, available response to the child at the time.  Over time these survival tactics become the primary response to all manner of stressors, unique to each individual, and a habitual state of coping.
 
The media has done great damage to the fairly large group of people higher in this dissociative spectrum. The inadequate, and sometimes dangerous representations of movie and series characters has created additional layers of misunderstanding above an already mysterious phenomenon.  Additionally, the field of psychotherapy does not include adequate training on dissociation when training new providers, often stating historically, that dissociative disorders are ‘rare’ or 'controversial'. It is stated statistically that 2.4 % of people in the industrialized populations in the world meet the diagnostic criteria for complex dissociative disorders. For perspective, 5.9 % of people in the United States are diagnosed with depression in 2021 so far (world population review). 
 
Nevertheless, it is because of this general misunderstanding that the individuals who seek help for their ‘puzzling’ experiences often have a difficult time landing with a clinician who understands dissociation.  The field must improve in its ability to properly train providers in recognizing the signs, at least, and to refer individuals to therapists who can properly pace and treat the unique representations of any particular client. We must get better at realizing that the client is the expert of their unique experience, and the clinician is, but a guide. And us, as the “civilian public” must get better at recognizing the stigmas and at informing ourselves with the truths currently available. These truths will primarily come from the adaptive survivors, whom have been previously misunderstood. 
 
There are a plethora of great resources for those, curious at heart, and a couple are posted below to further explore this subject.  It is an exciting time to be both clinician and client, when our understandings of neuroscience and effective therapies are continuing to merge.  The pandemic may be serving to further break the stigma around receiving therapeutic help as well, as many people are realizing how helpful therapy can be with or without a ‘serious’ mental health disorder. Many on the higher ends of complex dissociating do not frame their experience as a disorder, but an adaptation to a disordered world. Part of being trauma informed, is that we are changing the language that proliferates these stigmas we have held for generations because of our own dissociative tendencies. But, more on that topic later on.  Until then, be well and have a trauma informed day. 
 
https://aninfinitemind.com/resources.html#dissoc
https://www.isst-d.org

What is trauma informed care and who needs to care about it?  We all do! We are all facing life together, at various and unique angles. And, as if we haven’t noticed yet, life can be raw, traumatizing, and sometimes stressful at the least. Every person has a responsibility as we move forward in a more trauma informed society. The mailman, the neighbor, the EMT, the school teacher, the surfer, the homeless; everyone has a role to play.  Many of the issues that get under our skin, are related to trauma in some direct or indirect way.  It is not personal, though we react and respond in a personal way often causing the triggered person to miss another chance at a corrective experience.
 
And why should we care if they have a corrective experience or not? 

1. We are prosocial beings who care about one another.
2. We are all in this boat together.
3. It feels good to treat other people kindly.
4. We learn something from every human interaction we have.
5. We actually form and strengthen positive neural connections through our positive social interactions with others.
6. As we all collectively get better at this, you may have a better experience down the road when you are in need of such a corrective experience.
7. Insert your own amazing reason here.

 
So, what does it mean to be “trauma informed”?  We hear it a great deal in medical settings, or in residential, therapeutic settings.  “Trauma informed care” has been one of the buzz phrases for over ten years now, though has not been very quick to ‘take off’ in the broader sense.  Implementing changes in residential care in order to move towards a trauma informed paradigm, for example, may involve systemic changes in how staff talk to (and about) residents, how resident behaviors are treated (sent to room versus patiently talked through it), and having a focus on coping skills and tools available, versus punishment for ‘behavioral outbursts’.  
 
It is easy to see, why talking about forming a more trauma informed WORLD can be somewhat overwhelming.  What systemic changes will need to take place in our societal expectations and social interactions, and on what scale of the population in order to create lasting effects? This is why I am just writing to you, personally.  See, if you and I can begin a change within, then we have something to focus upon that is not so overwhelming.  We start with learning to understand trauma and how it affects the nervous system, and brain/body connection. As we gain in understanding, we can begin to notice and frame the behaviors and actions of others differently. 
 
The hostile woman in the ER is actually in a legitimate fight response, (a normal limbic system response to danger and threat), which means that finding ways to help her feel safe and heard are the only means of helping her nervous system to calm down.  Spanking the screaming child at Walmart will only serve to further escalate.  Through that may appear to be calming down in one sense (dissociation/freeze response), it is not actually regulation. The chronically depressed woman is not just ‘being negative’, or ‘not trying’, but is actually in a stuck freeze response. The way out of the freeze response is terrifying (fight/flight) and not one of the woman’s doctors or medical team has adopted this theory, nor do they know how to treat it.  
 
These are only a few examples of how trauma is often misunderstood by most of the world’s people.  This blog is dedicated to an exploration of knowledge and examples, with the mission of promoting a deeper understanding of trauma and how we can all begin to take deliberate, small steps to being a stronger and more integrated people; people who care about other people enough to be informed.  Stay tuned for more information weekly, and feel free to comment below.