Why does a personne who experiences a psychologically traumatic event sometimes become, ultimately, an outcast?

        Life is not a long, quiet river. It can seem that life unfolds according to a natural order: we have daily tasks to accomplish, the repetition of common activities, the routine of events. We think our existence is built as a succession of stages (slices) of life, where the events are a chain, and follow a logical sequence.

        Every person builds a psychological system that prepares him/her for what is coming in the future. These thoughts are constructed in the register of anticipation, this capacity to predict the chain of life's events so that we may adapt. There was yesterday, there is today, and there will be tomorrow. Uncertainties exist, but whether they happen or not, they remain in the field of those in which we are prepared to face.

        But are we capable of always seeing what will occur? A survivor of the Holocaust writes: « Normal people do not think everything is possible. » 1

        Some events can occur suddenly, out of the ordinary. The person then experiences a single transformation. Afterwards, we would say he went through a psychologically traumatic event. His course of life has been radically disturbed. The marked route he had planned for his life, both family and profession, takes on a much different orientation. The family thinks he has changed. "He is not like before...he is not the same." Yet the paradox of this situation is : it is the same person... but others see him differently because to him, his perception of the world has changed. In addition to a certain number of specific troubles, like nightmares, there is a great shock in the person and his/her representation of the world. The traumatized persons have not changed. They are haunted by their memories and have to move forward in a world that is not the same, that is now unsafe: they know everything is possible...

        Some are pushed into rejection and social isolation, while others feel obligated to commemorate the event or give testimony. The difficulty is, for many of them, the time after the trauma, when they must find their place in the community once again, and regain their momentum in the course of their lives.

        This book (published in 2006) describes these transformations, accompanied by some reflections that highlight those who went through these experiences, as well as those people who are near them, at home or in the workplace.

syndrome de Lazare


        The individual victim of psychological trauma is a person socially in danger. It is a dimension that does not appear immediately, but that has a precise, progressive course in the weeks and months that follow. The social, family, and professional consequences culminate and place him on a downward slope that can possibly lead him to exclusion.

        Harassment by the repetitive manifestations of the syndrome (PTSD), the first reaction is marked by the tendency to retreat into isolation. He avoids the street; he avoids the crowds, and even at home he does not feel safe. Inhibited, he tends to abandon his usual activities, and he depends closely on his family. The extension of his phobias and the installation of depressive symptoms greatly hinders his return to a normal life. These difficulties are accentuated by cases of associated physical wounds: the sensory deficits (for example, if there was a blast caused by an explosion), post-trauma intellectual inhibition may become a post-concussional disorder, which accumulates and decreases the psychological resources necessary for the difficult work of readaptation.

        If the traumatic event receives media attention, he becomes prey to a category of unscrupulous journalists who do not respect his privacy. Those journalists harrass him for interviews and photos, or request it from his family and ask for their comments. In the future, he often regrets what he said in those tumultuous moments following the traumatic event.

        From the family aspect, his relationships with other family members have changed. Previously, he was a reassuring and protecting spouse or parent, but he has become a person with fear and inhibition. The response of his family is changing and variable, swinging between the attitudes of overprotection and rejection, and that is why it is important that the family is able to be prepared for those difficulties that can last for a long time.

        From the professional aspect, it is not uncommon to observe attitudes of rejection and exclusion. Absent for a period of more or less a long time, like a medical leave, he was temporarily replaced. At his return, he does not always return to his position and his prerogatives. He is tired from the work and does not have the same performance. If the trauma was linked to some risks inherent to his professional activities, attitudes of suspicion and reproach from coworkers and employers can add to his problems. The victim responds with very sensitive reactions and is very touchy; the slightest comment could set him off. Others criticize his behavior, his friends put distance between him and them. It occurs often during these difficult, repetitious months, exhausted by the quarrels and claims, he quits his job seeking relief from this, but he usually does not find it.

        If he divorces, gets fired, and/or asks for compensation, he enters a period of administrative and judiciary appeals. Between the insurance companies, employers, credit companies, state services, the steps to get out of the mess can seem endless. So many procedures can be repeated and exacerbated, he may feel like he is in a game of Chutes and Ladders. One moment he thinks he has found a shortcut or a way out; the next moment he finds himself sliding down a chute, back to square one. Who will pay? Where should he make a request? How many experts should he see? The administration is persnickety, and they hit him around like a pinball, sending him here and there to finish what he needs to make his life better. Each company interprets the law in its most favourable sense, to the detriment of someone in urgent need of aid... and the average duration of the request for pension is between five and ten years. During that time, by and accumulation of repeating influences, the victim may lose everything: his family, his job, and his social life.

        There is here a series of actions to lead and begin early, doctors, social workers, companies that aid victims. What helps the most, in the early times and the following weeks, months, or years, is the promotion of solidarity and gratitude for this person's service.

P.C.


1) David Rousset. L’univers concentrationnaire. Editions de Minuit. Paris 1965.