Societal traumas and influences on contemporary choices (part 1)

'Never again.' After the world found out how many people died in World War II, nations all decided, 'Never again.' Never will there be this kind of war, never will there be so much pain, and never will people discriminate against and humiliate other people like this.

But, we're here now eighty years later, voting again for extreme right men who are saying that 'other people' are not welcome. Yet again, there is a war going on destroying people's lives and hopes, just because 'they're not one of us'. The world doesn't know how to react. In the same time, the old people share their wounds, and the younger ones share their stories about the pain they grew up in and how it influenced their lives. Actually, living in that pain and fear is all they know, and they choose to stay in that position. It's one of the reactions to a national trauma, whereby the trauma is not yet healed enough to make different choices.

Everybody carries a small piece of pain from a great pain in the collective memory of society. It blocks and holds people back, sometimes literally makes people ill, and negatively impacts contemporary choices and social debates. Yet, little can be found about it in the literature; societal trauma falls somewhere between the work of sociologists and psychologists and therefore is not to be found.

What are societal traumas? 

Societal traumas are emotional wounds caused by traumatic events. These unresolved events have left their mark on both individuals and society as a whole. Examples of societal traumas experienced include World War II, the oppression of women, sexual abuse, and slavery. These events, experienced by millions of people, both deceased and still alive, still shape contemporary discussions and actions. 

Generational inheritance In the case of personal trauma, a long period can elapse between the onset of the trauma and the manifestation of physical and emotional problems. Often, one or more generations pass between the onset of the societal trauma and the longer-term societal 'complaints'. When the trauma remains unprocessed, it still persists in stories, emotions, feelings, and bodies. The pain is an energy that lingers in the memory of society and is passed on from generation to generation until the pain is healed. 

The presence of societal traumas can explain the sudden rise of protests against well meant government developments or decisions. Just as with individual traumas, pain sometimes flares up in an illogical place, time, and way. People with personal traumas block themselves sometimes from healthy decisions, as does a society with a societal trauma.

Some traumas, such as World War II, have been the subject of entire books because they are so visibly present in society. It's also easy to write down the facts about them, but the personal stories and pain are harder to articulate. Sons and daughters often share the stories they heard from their parents. In this way, not only their parents' pain becomes visible, but also their own. The pain of powerlessness, seeing a loved one hurt, grieving, or having grief blocked by fear.

Yet, we're not able to talk about the fear of 'being taken over' again. The fear of other cultures is still dominant in most societies because the remembering of losing control is still fresh and the fear of being suppressed again still exists. But instead of talking about our real pain and fear, societies decided to weaponise themselves in order 'to protect' themselves. But there is nothing to protect, because if we choose to discuss our pain and fear, we will learn that every single country has this fear and this pain. By knowing this, we should be able to choose cooperation and inclusion as a way of peaceful living.

Other, unseen traumas

Other traumas live on silently in society. The individuals are too hurt to talk about them, and often it's simply not done. Sexual abuse, discrimination and oppression are examples of this. Because these traumatic events are not treated as socially undesirable, and because both perpetrators and victims live in the same society, this trauma is perpetuated. The resulting behaviour increasingly becomes a "code of conduct", because the behaviour is not condemned but rather condoned by the silence and passed on as an example to the next generation.  Only when the victims have enough freedom to connect and to speak up, and when potential perpetrators refuse their 'role', can this kind of trauma be healed. Most of the time, it takes at least three generations. The first who endures the trauma, the second who has to deal with it (and also endures the trauma) and the third who speaks up and resists in very different forms of behaviour.

Trauma shapes societal identity. Just as with individual trauma, societal trauma also becomes a (strong) component of identity in societal issues. This manifests itself in various ways. Often, physical places are used to commemorate the pain, and rituals and commemorative days are developed. Consider, for example, the many museums and films about World War II and Liberation Day. In this way, a visible form is created to channel the pain. The pain thus becomes part of culture. 

But for the unseen and unmentioned traumas, there is nowhere to go. So society releases their pain and fear in their softened culture: in their language and their habits. The jokes about mothers-in-law or women in common are a way to express the pain that is carried by women due to suppression and sexual abuse. The jokes and discrimination remarks are the deepener fear of being suppressed themselves. Languages and habits can carry trauma a long way while making the real pain and fear invisible and non-discussable.

But trauma also shapes the identity of society in other ways. Having an individual trauma, for example, people can often still function well after a trauma. Yet, their identity and behaviour are different. People may be quieter, more aggressive, and/or more anxious. It's not right after the trauma that their behaviour changes. Only after a longer period of time do physical and psychological complaints arise from an individual trauma. These complaints often arise when the body has a chance to rest, is triggered, or when it is so exhausted that it can no longer bear the pain.

The same thing happens with society. After the trauma, society is geared towards rebuilding, moving on, and surviving. Only when society has found an era of certain peace or is triggered do the "complaints" associated with bearing the trauma surface. If these complaints are denied, not seen as a result of the societal trauma or not healed, they will come to shape the identity of society.  

In this time, it's also the technology environment that helps us to release traumas. People can easily connect to each other and notice they are not alone in this. Their individual trauma turns out to be a societal trauma, and together they can heal and set new boundaries and new rules in their environment.

But sometimes technology just increases the pain. The information that is spread by the technology then only triggers the fear and pain. No healing is done, but the fear and pain are growing. The society is overwhelmed by fear and fails to function as a healthy society.

Societal choices based on trauma.

The effects of the unrecognised trauma are different for every society. In the long term, a society can become negative, withdrawn, distrustful, or even start fighting. Fighting can manifest as racism, starting wars, or intolerance towards "other" people. The rise of right-wing nationalism and the discussions about gender are examples of this.

Now that society is changing again and people have less control over contemporary societal choices, feelings of insecurity and fear are triggered. The choices society makes today are influenced by the trauma of 75 to 80 years ago. If this is not recognised, nationalism becomes the "culture" of society.  And also, now that women succeed in their lives, men feel insecure and are afraid of being treated the same as they have threatened women for centuries.

Healing Traumas

These societal and behavioural choices also reflect the legacy passed on to the younger generation. What initially works well from a societal perspective to numb the pain or protect society can, in the long run, have negative consequences. The only way to undo the inheritance is to heal the traumas. A personal trauma on an individual level requires individual healing, both of body and mind. A societal trauma consists of a trauma experienced by thousands, if not millions, of individuals, each carrying a small piece of that trauma. How can a society heal itself when so many individuals carry so much pain? Everyone will process their piece of trauma in a different way. 

On an individual level, healing and letting go of trauma is one of the most difficult things in life. Trauma takes a great deal of energy and forms a significant part of one's identity. Although it has a negative impact in terms of energy investment, trauma is equivalent to achieving a major victory. Holding on to the pain takes a great deal of energy. If you compare energy to money, then tonnes of money is invested in holding on to a trauma. When do you decide to let it go? That's a very difficult choice. Identity will change, and the energy "investment" will be for nothing. This is true for individuals, let alone for an entire society where millions of people carry some part of this trauma. A society invests billions annually in holding on to trauma.

If we want to move beyond unnecessarily heated debates and the rise of nationalism, it's crucial to heal our traumas. The first step is acknowledging the trauma and engaging in a societal conversation about healing it. If the pain of the war is acknowledged, society will also deal with contemporary triggers differently. This also applies to acknowledging sexual abuse, the oppression of women, and certainly all other painful societal experiences.

Engaging in a debate about how these issues can be healed is a first step.