The United States of Trauma
Chances Are It's Influencing Your Life
Although trauma awareness has taken a big leap forward in American consciousness in the last 5-10 years, we are still ignorant to the extent of the problem for the most part.
Although the topic already carries a political charge, we have to cultivate, promote and teach trauma awareness at every available opportunity. Whether it’s a classroom, conference room, webinar, kitchen table or community center, Americans must realize the impact of trauma on our society. Without more education, the soul-snatching epidemic will continue its invisible rampage across our country until we succumb to The United States of Trauma.
Ever Hear Someone Say “I’m Traumatized”?
The first problem is that all too often people say “I’m traumatized,” responding to an event that is anything but traumatizing. I’ve heard it countless times. Most of the time, the flippant way in which people use the line indicates a lack of understanding regarding what trauma is. Although I was never one of these people, I didn’t wrap my mind around a true understanding of trauma until I was deep into my 40s.
We’re not taught what trauma is or how to identify it in our culture, despite how prevalent trauma is in our country. Is trauma taught at schools? Do you ever hear a conversation about trauma among your family or in social circles? How much do you see about trauma on television? Not much, if at all.
In future pieces, I’ll explain what trauma is, how to recognize it, and the damage it causes to a person’s life.
Right now, I want to increase awareness and show how it directly or indirectly touches every American. I’m going to highlight just how omnipresent trauma is in our country so we can come to terms with the problem’s profundity. Part of the issue is that we have a hard time grasping the depth and breadth of a problem that is invisible and intangible.
Trauma Acts Like a Ghost of the Soul
Thanks to the crutch of scientific materialism the United States and Americans often put up strong opposition to anything that can’t be seen, felt, heard, smelled, tasted, measured, or weighed. Thus trauma becomes insidious because it is all of those things.
Trauma acts like a ghost that squats in the soul and haunts the psyche. The ghost of trauma takes up residence whether under the cover of darkness or in broad daylight and antagonizes the spirit thereon. Why does trauma have this stealth ability?
Because trauma is not the event or experience that harms you, but your psychospiritual reaction to it afterward, which means some people suffer trauma effects and some don’t.
The Ghosts of Trauma Haunting the Country
Even though we’re benefiting from an explosion of trauma research in the past couple of decades, still many unanswered questions and mysteries remain. One is why two people can experience the same traumatic event, and only one of them becomes traumatized.
Some individuals seem to have an “inner healing intelligence” that mitigates or eliminates the traumatic effects. Other people aren’t so fortunate. The following statistics only account for Americans who have developed trauma and traumatic symptoms. Once you read the data, the widespread severity of trauma across the United States boggles the mind.
General Trauma Statistics
70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. That’s 223.4 million people. This means that you probably have someone in your family or circle of loved ones and friends who is traumatized. The traumatized person may not be aware of their trauma. The unawareness of the person’s trauma may also include family members, loved ones and close friends.
It is thought that between 3 and 5 people out of every 100 will experience PTSD every year.
6.1% to 9.2% of Americans will develop PTSD in their lifetime.
Women (8%) are twice as likely as men (4%) to develop PTSD in their lifetime.
Sexual Assault and Trauma
At least 1 in 6 men have been sexually abused or assaulted. (Keep in mind, “at least” is used, as self-reporting of sexual abuse/assault carries a ton of shame and stigma, so many people do not report it, thus making the real figure higher.)
Every 68 seconds, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted.
Trauma and the Overlap with Deaths of Despair
Trauma has a direct link to deaths of despair. I’ve discussed deaths of despair and the crippling impacts of them on our country and society. Deaths of despair emanate from various causes, one of them being trauma. Often people suffering from trauma have no idea and can slip into alcohol use disorder and substance abuse disorder with ease. In turn, this may culminate in suicide.
Military Veterans are a High-Risk Group
I have seen the effects of trauma firsthand in a military veteran. In the mid 1990s into the 2010s I had a good friend Mike who was a Marine Corps veteran. He served in Desert Storm in Iraq. He told me he performed anti-tank missions. He had to dig shallow trenches in the sand, and deploy satchel charges. Although I didn’t know him prior to his service, I knew he was never the same afterward.
Mike suffered from alcohol use disorder and substance abuse disorder. He had a vicious penchant for alcohol and substances. Once, as he was drinking a Heineken and smoking a joint, he connected with his spirit in a rare, tender moment. He said that the military “trained me to kill” through a quavering voice and a tear welling up in his eye.
I didn’t know what to say or do. His admission made me feel how his military service mangled his soul. So I stayed silent, listened and beared witness to his unimaginable, existential pain and suffering.
Over the years of knowing him, I saw Mike commit terrible acts of violence. As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people. Our friendship died off, but some people I know still saw him from time to time.
They told me that Mike was withering away, and not looking well. The alcohol and drugs were killing him with gradual certainty. Mike died in 2020. He was 49 years old. I don’t know Mike’s cause of death. I’m certain Mike had undiagnosed trauma, with good odds of it being PTSD. The following figures show trauma’s tragic toll on military veterans.
Our armed forces have experienced an estimated 25% increase in military sexual assaults since 2018. Soldiers are sexually assaulting fellow soldiers, and the breakdown among assailants and victims by sex may surprise you.
If any lingering doubts remain about trauma’s brutal affliction on the military and veterans, watch this documentary. The title alone- Beer is Cheaper than Therapy- stings with uncomfortable truth and the movie provides a lot more.
PTSD Susceptibility Across Demographics
Trauma is blind so it doesn’t discriminate. Trauma can and will happen to anyone regardless of sex, ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, class, and age. Trauma is also a testament to the painful truth of “bad things happen to good people.”
Rates of PTSD Among Different Sociodemographic Groups
Emergency responders: 9% to 16%
US military combat veteran: 7.7% to 17%
Refugees: 32%
LGBTQ+ community: up to 48%
Hispanic: 7.0%
White: 7.4%
Black: 8% to 8.7%
Native American: 22.9%
There are other demographic groups to keep in mind not included in this list. Additional groups at high-risk for trauma include homeless people, incarcerated people, nurses, police officers, and people who are the victims of religious trauma. I imagine there are more I’m missing. Sometimes psychedelics can find missed trauma and help discover it where you least expect.
Trauma Hits Close to Home
As I mentioned earlier, trauma often hits close to home. A close family member may be traumatized, maybe even you, without even realizing it. I know from experience.
For a long time, I thought my family was pretty “normal” whatever that means. I even thought we were healthy. We’d have dustups and meltdowns from time to time, and I thought these frictions were “normal.” We were only “normal” in relation to a dysfunctional society riddled with trauma.
Not until the mid 2010s while my mom was dying did I realize that my family wasn’t healthy or “normal.” I began a gradual journey of awakening to deep currents of psychospiritual disturbances running through my family.
Later in 2020, I had a revelation about trauma existing in my family while integrating after an ayahuasca retreat. Then, in 2023, during a psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy session, I identified my family’s trauma and it became real to me. This uncovered truth altered me and changed my life.
One by one, each person’s trauma awakening in their own life or their family’s life, redirects our country’s path onto a healthier and more loving course. These micro-healing or even nano-healing events plant the seeds of future psychospiritual wellness for society at large.
Stay tuned as I’ll document this story of healing and revelation in a future post. Thanks for reading and stay awesome.