Powerless: Can Someone Feel Deeply Powerless If They Have Experienced Childhood Trauma?

If someone was able to take a step back and to reflect on how they generally feel, they may find that they often feel powerless. This might not just be something that they feel, though, as it could be an experience that consumes them.

There is then going to how they see life and themselves, the thoughts that run through their head, their feelings and how their body responds. Therefore, to say that this will be just a feeling will be wide of the mark.

A Massive Difference

One way of looking at this would be to say that it will be the difference between getting splashed by water and being fully in water. To go even further, when one is in this state, it can be as if they are in very cold water and are unable to move.

Their body will be frozen and they will have no control over it, causing them to feel deeply helpless. Here, as in the real world, they may hope that they are able to get out of this state and to do something before long.

In A Deep Hole

If they are able to get out of this inner state, it might not be long until they end up back in it. What can make this even harder is if they had been able to rise up and to feel really strong and powerful.

To go from this inner state to totally helpless inner state will be incredibly difficult for them to handle. They will have gone from feeling emotionally strong to feeling emotionally weak, and they might wonder if they will ever rise up again.

A Boost

When it comes to why they were able to rise up, it could be due to a number of things. Perhaps they had met someone who they liked or maybe they were able to move forward in their career.

Something out there will have lifted them up and, as this changed; they soon fell back down again. This person might have pulled away or ended the relationship, or one might have experienced a setback in their career.

A Long Way to Go

What is clear is that a setback doesn’t just knock them down to the ground; it knocks them down to the centre of the earth. Through falling so far down, it is simply not possible for them to dust themselves off and to get back up again.

Once they have emotionally collapsed and hit rock bottom, it could take them months, if not years, before they can fully get back on their feet. Moreover, each time they fall right down, the harder it can be for them to get back up, thanks to how much pain has accumulated inside them and the impact that these experiences have had on their psyche.

Two Layers

So, in addition to the emotional pain that is inside them, another part of them could have well and truly had enough. This part of them could be happy to call it a day and not have to live another day on this earth.

They will have carried a lot of weight, perhaps for as long as they can remember, and they might struggle to see why they should carry on. This weight that they carry won’t be visible to the average person but this won’t change the fact that they are heavily weighed down.

One Outlook

One way of looking at what they are going through would be to say that it’s all ‘in their head’ and that they just need to change their thoughts and behaviour. Through the mental and behavioural approach, their life will gradually change.

It could also be said that they are not powerless; it is just that they believe that they are powerless. If one was to try this approach, they might find that it works; then again, it might not.

A Different Outlook

Another way looking at this would be to say that they are in a deeply traumatised state and solely changing what is going on up top and their behaviour is not going to cut it. Their whole system, not just their mind, is in a bad way, and this is means that each part of their being needs to be taken into consideration.

How they feel is not purely the result of the thoughts that they have, and this is why only focusing on their mind is not the answer. Going down this path will just prevent them from doing what needs to be done and cause them even more pain.

The Main Area

When it comes to why they often fall into a deep hole and feel deeply powerless and helpless, it is likely to be due to what took place during their early years. This may have been a time when they were abused and/or neglected on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

At this point in time, they would have been powerless and helpless; they wouldn’t have been able to do anything about what was going on. The only option was for them to disconnect from their body and to dissociate from their experience, which would have stopped them from being aware of what was going on but it wouldn’t have stopped it from happening.

The Fall Out

Many, many years will have passed since this time in their life, but the emotional pain that they experienced all those years ago will still be inside them. There will also be the impact that it had on their brain and nervous system.

Working through the emotional pain that is held in their muscles, organs and fascia and letting go of charge that is held in their nervous system will be essential. This, of course, is not going to happen overnight; in fact, it could take months, if not years, until they are able to truly put the past behind them.

Awareness
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If one can relate to this, and they are ready to change their life, they may need to reach out for external support. This is something that can be provided by the assistance of a therapist or healer. 

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Oliver JR Cooper