Critical Thinking: Has The American Election Result Unlocked Some Peoples Unresolved Trauma?

Now that it is clear who the next president of America will be, some people are pleased with what has happened and some are not. This can be seen as a natural outcome as only one candidate can win and not everyone will have voted for the same candidate.

When it comes to the people who are happy with what has happened, some of them can believe that this will allow America to be ‘Great Again’. After going in the wrong direction for many years, then, it will start to go in the right direction.

Another Position

However, when it comes to the people who are not happy with what has happened, some of them can believe that America will go in the wrong direction. After going in the right direction for many years, all this progress will be lost.

Based on this, although these people will be living in the same country, it can be as though they are living in different countries. So, those who are happy will be experiencing a lot of ‘positive’ feelings, while those who aren’t will be experiencing a lot of ‘negative’ feelings.

A Lot to Deal With

When it comes to the former, not only can they be happy and full of hope but they can simply carry on as normal. But, when it comes to the latter, not only can they be unhappy and feel hopeless, but they might not be able to carry on as normal.

The reason for this is that they can be all at sea emotionally and unable to keep it together and function. When it comes to what is going on for them at an emotional level, along with feeling hopeless, can feel angry and enraged, helpless, and full of fear and anxiety.

The Reason

One way of looking at this would be to say that, when someone is in this position, it’s purely because of what is going on externally. What has happened and what will happen as time passes will have caused them to experience these feelings.

Their feelings are then not going to be ‘irrational’; they will reflect reality. Consequently, it will be a good idea for them to reach out to friends and family and even seek professional help to help them handle what is going on for them.

Another part

Furthermore, there can be things that they can do, such as writing articles, creating videos, taking part in demonstrations, volunteering and donating to different causes. This can give them a momentary break from how they feel and allow them to make a difference.

What they can keep in mind is that even if they feel insignificant and unable to do anything, they can make a difference. Not only this, but if they align themselves with others, they can have an even greater impact.

Another Angle

To take a step back, although it might seem as though how they feel is solely due to what is going on externally, what if there is more to it? What if what is going on externally, has also unlooked feelings that were already inside them?

If this is the case, feelings that were repressed will have entered their conscious awareness. What this illustrates is that they don’t begin and end with their conscious mind or conscious sense of themselves and another part of them holds feelings that their conscious mind has lost touch with.

A Big Impact

So, thanks to the inner material that has been unlocked, it will be harder for them to handle what is going on. If they were to become aware of this, they could wonder where these feelings have come from.

These feelings can be a consequence of what they have experienced as an adult and during their formative years. They will then have had experiences where they felt overwhelmed and, as they were unable to face and process how they felt, their brain would have repressed how they felt.

One Stage

If, for example, their early years were a time when they had a parent or parents who were emotionally unavailable and out of reach, they would have been greatly deprived and deeply wounded. Thus, regardless of whether they were also often physically harmed and verbally put down, they would have often felt overwhelmed.

As they were powerless and dependent, they were unable to change what was going on or to find another family. Their only option was for their brain to repress how they felt and for them to gradually leave their body.

The Past Is Present

The years would have passed and their conscious mind would have forgotten about what happened but the pain and arousal that they had to repress, to handle this stage of their life, will have continued to be held in other parts of their brain and body. Moreover, what took place will have left them in a disconnected and fractured state.

To get back into their body and be an integrated human being who is no longer anchored to their past, they will need to heal their inner wounds. This is also likely to allow them to be more resilient, resourceful and less reactive.

Final Thoughts

What this shows is how someone’s emotional history has an impact on how they feel in the present moment - even if they are not consciously aware of this emotional history - and on how they perceive reality. The trouble is that, as someone can be deceived by their brain into believing that how they feel is purely caused by what is going on externally, their unresolved emotional history can remain unresolved.

They will then be caught up in what is going on externally and stay in a disconnected and fractured state. The outcome of this is that they are likely to continually be re-traumatised. 

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk