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According to psychologist David Trickey, trauma is about “meaning-making” and what happens when an event throws into question "the way you see yourself, the way you see the world, and the way you see other people."
But, in fact, trauma is a much more subtle concept than many of us think. It is about the way in which we experience events and how they impact our minds.
Such events can cause stress to turn into trauma, and they needn’t be extraordinary in order to do so. Even everyday tragic events, such as being fired, can be traumatic.
For most people, the word “trauma” conjures up images of dramatic events, such as witnessing the murder of a loved one or falling victim to a terrorist attack.
It is not a word that comes up often in discussions, whether they be about history or mental health (except perhaps in the context of PTSD).
If nothing fills the gap, nothing redefines our self-worth and sense of purpose. Only a reframing of our beliefs and another go at “meaning-making” will alleviate the trauma.
A lot of self-worth and sense of purpose is attached to having a job, and when that is pulled from under us we experience stress and our nervous system goes into overdrive.
If trauma, then, is about events and the impact they have on individuals, how can “mass trauma” exist? And even if it does exist, how can it be defined?
According to one BBC journalist, “a mass trauma takes place when the same event, or series of events, traumatizes a large number of people within some shared time span.”
You don’t have to look far to see how the COVID-19 pandemic may have put large numbers of people at risk of trauma.
Firstly, the pandemic has caused bereavement on a massive scale. Death is always traumatizing and social-distancing rules have meant that many people haven’t been able to properly mourn.
Hospital staff in particular are at risk of experiencing trauma, not least because they spend much of their time in isolation working with critically ill patients.
Then there’s the potential for trauma that is associated with being unable to breathe. According to the BBC, an estimated 20% of COVID-19 patients have required hospitalization.
Some doctors and nurses are also at risk of trauma by “moral injury,” when their ethical beliefs are thrown in question by having to decide who receives treatment and who doesn’t.
It is so traumatizing "simply because there's nothing you can do about it. Once you are out of breath, it is a prime example of helplessness."
It is this fear that can traumatize the world’s entire population; it doesn’t distinguish between those people who catch the virus and those who don’t.
But above all, the COVID-19 pandemic is traumatic because of the fear people experience at the thought of catching a highly contagious, potentially life-threatening disease.
According to Metin Basoglu, a founder of the trauma studies faculty at King's College London, "Being unable to breathe is the most traumatic event you can imagine.”
It is very important that communities deal properly with mass trauma, because if it goes untreated, the consequences can be devastating.
If children experience COVID-19 trauma, in the long-term it could become an intergenerational trauma that they pass on to their own children.
This is particularly true for children, who are more impressionable than adults. According to Trickey, children “could develop a view of the world which is pretty terrifying."
When it comes to COVID-19, we may be at increased risk of letting the trauma slip under the radar, as happened with the 1918 flu, which has been referred to as the “Forgotten Flu.”
If a trauma is not processed and goes undiscussed, the very fabric of society and the “basic tissues of social life” that pull us together will never heal.
The question as to how communities can best deal with mass trauma is very difficult to answer. What seems clear is that simply forgetting is not an option.
It may be that pandemics are relatively easy to ignore in the historical narrative because they have no perpetrator. As social psychologist Gilad Hirschberger said: "nobody's trying to infect everybody with COVID-19."
A group of individuals at the London School of Economics have also recommended a national remembrance day as a "key area for government policy."
Sources: (BBC)
See also: Is a Third World War coming? The accurate predictions of Our Lady of Fatima explained
In the UK, for example, commemoration of the COVID-19 pandemic is a hot topic and there is talk of, amongst other things, a monument in central London to honor emergency frontline workers.
It is therefore all the more important that we commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic, to encourage meaning-making and provide a channel for grief.
National commemoration may be combined with a grassroots approach, where people share their personal experiences, perhaps via art or social media.
When we hear the word "trauma," we think of dramatic events such as a bad car accident or a terrorist attack. It is not a word that enters our vocabulary very often, and it tends to be reserved for singular, upsetting events.
And yet trauma is something that we as humans can experience all too easily, sometimes on a mass scale. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, could be classed as a traumatic event for much of the world's population.
Check out this gallery to explore the topic of mass trauma, and how it can best be managed.
The climate crisis is intensifying, leading to a surge in extreme weather events. Communities around the world are facing devastating consequences, including loss of life, livelihoods, and homes. The constant fear and uncertainty caused by these events can have a profound impact on mental health, leading to long-term trauma.
Examples of key historical events that involved mass trauma would be the World Wars or the flu outbreak of 1918. The COVID-19 pandemic, too, falls within the definition.
How can communities recover from mass trauma?
The complex phenomenon that cannot be ignored
LIFESTYLE Society
When we hear the word "trauma," we think of dramatic events such as a bad car accident or a terrorist attack. It is not a word that enters our vocabulary very often, and it tends to be reserved for singular, upsetting events.
And yet trauma is something that we as humans can experience all too easily, sometimes on a mass scale. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, could be classed as a traumatic event for much of the world's population.
Check out this gallery to explore the topic of mass trauma, and how it can best be managed.