How Meaning Changes Trauma

Why were there so many veterans that came back from Vietnam with post-traumatic stress disorder as opposed to WWII? History leaves a wake of trauma victims but why are some experiences considered less traumatic? Although WWII was a painful situation for some, it is still romanticized in movies and literature. On the other side Vietnam is totally the opposite. Hollywood depicts veterans from these wars totally different, and what we see as the public also parallels Hollywood. Why is that?

The answer is “meaning”. This may be confusing to most so let me break it down. Meaning in life is not really anything we can grasp. It’s the interactions between life and ourselves that create this background. Meaning is created through culture, social networks, faith, beliefs, perspectives, and the physiology (emotions) interaction of our bodies with the world around us.  The analogy I like to use is the game of chess. In chess each of the pieces has a part of the game. Those pieces work together to achieve a goal. They all have a purpose and direction. However these pieces only have these things in relation to the checkered board (background of meaning). If you remove the checkered board these pieces are useless and are scattered on the floor, much like the individual without a sense of purpose or meaning. The final analogy I want to make to hammer this home is this. Think of two rooms, a torture chamber, and the labor ward at the local hospital. They both are traumatic experiences, they both have blood and guts, and they both have excruciating pain involved. The victim of torture will carry that pain and agony of the traumatic experience for the rest of their life, while the new mother will quickly forget the experience only hours later. The expectant mother goes through the trauma and pain with a meaning of giving life, creating, and expecting the new joy that is sitting in her lap, while the tortured person experiences the meaning of life taken away through aggression, stealing of freedom, and helplessness. The difference between the two people is the meaning. The expectant mother has incorporated the experience into the meaning of her life, while the tortured victim had their meaning destroyed.

WWII veterans were praised as heroes and warriors when they returned home. Parties and parades were put on for these soldiers. They were thanked for their services and appreciated by their background of meaning. However the Vietnam veterans were spit on and called criminals when they arrived home. Their sense of meaning or background was destroyed during their traumatic experience.

The therapy for these types of patients is to re-build their sense of background of meaning. It’s like re-introducing the checkered board to the game of chess. All the sudden the pieces line up and have a meaning, purpose, and goal. WWII veterans had this when they arrived home, Vietnam veterans had the opposite.

The first step to any change is understanding. Meaning changes trauma. Meaning is simply mental life :) see you guys next time!