Judith Herman Trauma

In many cultures, trauma has inherently been an untouchable and controversial topic. Traumatic experiences have always been heard of, but rarely has been accepted as a topic to openly talk about. Topics such as child abuse and neglect are stigmatized. Thus, children and victims of such abuse have been left in the shadows and labeled as victims of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). The study of psychiatric trauma is to be open to the understanding of human vulnerability and the possibility of evil in human nature. In Trauma and Recovery, Judith Herman goes beyond narrating and analyzing the psychiatric effects of trauma, but discovers the varying array of differences within trauma. Herman’s research in trauma explores the direct symptoms

Many people who have not experienced or have little understanding of chronic trauma or captivity easily identify the loop-holes and the “escape routes” that the victim should have measured. Fingers are point in the direction to the victim and stigma is created. Victims of chronic trauma are at loss in the bystander battle to the perpetrator. Herman disturbingly writes that it is easier for the bystander to side with the perpetrator because “the perpetrator asks for the bystander to do nothing,” to forget and to move on (Herman 7). The victim asks for the bystander for help, to not only sympathize but to empathize, to share the pain and to resolve it. The unexperienced and the failures to understand society condemn those that have been abused. The abused, especially for those that have been repeatedly abused, may lose their closest friends and family because they may shame or guilt the victim. Society at large have stigmatized the topics of trauma through media and day-to-day conversations. The languages, the vocabulary that are associated with the abuse should be altered in order to protect the victim and to allow the difficult conversation to