When time doesn't heal all wounds | Dr. Robert K. Ross | TEDxIronwoodSta...

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

When time doesn't heal all wounds was the topic of Dr. Robert Gross when he spoke at Ironwood state prison.  His topic was on the effects of repeated childhood trauma and how it effects young people and the people they eventually become. Like the previous Ted talk Dr. Gross spoke about the flight or fight response that becomes predominant in a traumatized person when repeated adverse trauma is introduced in their life.

There are many young people who are severely effected by childhood trauma who go to school with  acting out behaviors that result in repeated suspensions from that school.  Dr. Gross said that many of those kids have been traumatized and their repeated acting out is their attempt to get Adults around them to noticed them. They are literally screaming for help.  He urges school officials to stop suspending these kids and make an effort to look past their behaviors at the trauma that lies underneath their skin. You might remember the previous speaker saying that far too many people who see her at her medical clinic actually do not have ADHD when she asked all the right questions and did a thorough history of the person. Instead of ADHD she determined it was a serverely traumatized young person who needed someone to listen to them, not suspend them.

Instead of labeling these kid we ought to take a new approach of understanding young people inflicted with trauma experiences by helping them to learn the art of telling their story as often as it takes to remove the impact of the fight/flight response that has been present in their lives since the onset of the original trauma event.

Dr. Gross discusses the Courage and resiliency concepts in the trauma equation and goes on and describes a group of extremely traumatized mother's who's kids were killed by drunk drivers and going on and become a powerful lobbying group fighting for a change in DUI laws.   I believe that the courage and resiliency Dr. Gross is describing is something God gives us to help us make all things new again. We may not exit our trauma experiences as the same person we were before the trauma experience, but the person we are becomes our new normal.  To effectively impact the world around us we sometimes have to be broken.

God truly wants us to heal from these experiences. If we can all learn to tell our stories instead of burying them deep beneath the surface healing stands a greater chance of occurring. If you have having problems telling your story there are many Christian basesd mental health providers in your area and all you need to do is talk confidentially with your Church's care ministry and they can help you find those resources. You do not have to let your trauma control your life and your life's outcome. With help you can gain control over what the brain tells you is your flight/fight response and with proper help you can gain control over your health and live many years beyond the life expectancy of a traumatized person.