What does trauma mean in psychiatry? The conventional concept of trauma that usually comes to mind is, for example, a brutal beating suffered by the victim. However, trauma may come in subtle yet no less
traumatic forms.
Trauma is a much-misunderstood word and often-overlooked phenomenon. The acronym PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and highlights the term trauma. But the term itself was coined as late as 1980. Before this and for many years since then, psychiatry has been downplaying the role of trauma in the etiology of mental disorders. In the last few decades, the term trauma has re-emerged in psychiatry.
Vancouver, British Columbia, which for many years been rated as one of the most desirable cities to live in the world, ignores the trauma of the individuals that inhabit our local Skid Row.
Dr. Gabor Mate, who is not a psychiatrist, is a medical doctor who has spent more than a decade in the Skid Row of downtown Vancouver working with the traumatized people living there; alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes and others with severe mental health issues. Such on-the-ground experience gives credence to his insights into trauma and make them so valuable.
Dr. Mate has received the order of Canada in recognition of his work. He is the author of several best sellers, is in numerous YouTube videos, and is a much sought-after speaker who focuses his work on psychological trauma, illness, and drug addiction.
In a recent online conversation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7zWT3l3DV0&t=1450s, Dr. Mate simply and directly describes what happened to both Prince Charles and Prince Harry at particular critical moments in their respective childhood (minute 15:00 to 18:30). He then points out that this has had a profound effect on them later in life. The video is long, but contains great and accessible insights.
Psychological trauma is one of the most misunderstood topics we have in psychiatry. This almost 2 hour long conversation covers and crystallizes much of what Dr. Mate has to say about trauma. In my view, he has been one of the most important and relevant guides to identifying this critical issue in psychiatry and life.
In addition to the many key points he makes in the video regarding the critical importance of being touched with love, warmth and affection, I would point out that both the skin and the central nervous system develop from the same embryonic ectoderm tissue. This points to the strong link between the lack of genuine warm touch in etiology of trauma, and the power of genuine warm touch in the healing of trauma. The power of this linkage should be spotlighted when considering the impact of negative touch, brutal in both physical and sexual abuse, as well as the impact of the complete absence of touch as part of the etiology of dissociative disorders.
Whether you are in agreement with every one of Dr. Mate’s points or not, we should be appreciative of his extraordinary efforts to bring both individual and societal awareness to the impact of trauma on individuals, families and society. Such awareness is critical to healing individually, as a local community, and as a society.
