I will not hide that watching this documentary made me cry. The work of Gabor Mate connected to trauma is of paramount importance. I feel that trauma & depression aren't a popular subject to talk about as our society promotes happiness on every social platform and being traumatized and admitting it is not cool. Too many people deal with sadness and unresolved issues silently, dying little by little on the inside while everybody is watching a happy facade. This is why people get addicted to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, sex, pornography, food, work. Some commit acts of violence. Some kill themselves. We are living an epidemic as more and more people are severely depressed.
https://wisdomoftrauma.com/movie/
These series about trauma are available once you sign up with your e-mail. A donation is recommended but what I have found admirable is that they will allow you to watch it for free if you can't afford to donate! I received a link to watch the day 5 and the movie has impressed me a lot.
The way in which the story is being told is unique. The movie is a mix of visual storytelling through drawing, music and cinematic perspective. You can't get bored as the story changes every 15 minutes.
It moved me. It deeply moved me. I see trauma differently now and something in you will change after watching this completely undisturbed for almost 2 hours.
Illness and trauma can and are connected. A disease can be a warning signal, a sign that your emotional world is not alright. Have you ever wondered what your disease is trying to tell you? Gabor Mate has done research in this matter and you would not believe the link between cancer and other illnesses and trauma. Sometimes we can live for 30, 40, 50 years without realizing our own suffering, without awakening. Some die without healing and only lived to have caused pain to others.
Trauma is generational. The harm your parents did to you was done to them. The same harm you will perpetuate, unconsciously, unless you begin to do the inner work to heal yourself. In this movie you will see how punishing a child with spanking and beating can cause severe trauma, how abuse can be mistaken for love, how early neglect of a baby impairs him/her for life. We can't change our childhood, but we can begin to heal and shift the family dynamics towards different patterns. Narcissistic mothers bring a lot of suffering towards their kids and absent or violent fathers cripple the self esteem of the baby. Adults who are traumatized are repeating the same patterns and don't even realize it and this is why the trauma work is so important: healed people build a better world. Damaged people suffer and do no know how to heal unless someone shows them.
We should never judge people harshly when we see them on the streets, being alcoholic or drug addicts. They try to numb the pain, to forget the trauma because sitting with those emotions is too painful.
I thought of trauma long after I watched this. In my forest walks I thought that trauma is like mist, like a powerful foggy curtain : once you get out and look back you will stand in awe, telling to yourself Oh, wow, so that wasn't normal! That wasn't love! This is why I suffered and why I made others suffer too. Healing trauma helps you see reality in a different way. Reality is not what happens to us, it's how we react and interpret it. When we suffer in the present moment it usually happens because we got triggered. Because of our past. So the now never actually brings pain, our past does.
Speaking up is vital. Many people have no one to talk to. They feel anger towards parents and they lack the courage to speak. They feel humiliated at work and fail to make the change. They feel misplaced and out of tune with their friends and lack the power to choose a different kind of people to become friends with. They suffer and fail to see a way out. And this is how more than half the population of the Planet lives: out of tune with themselves, utterly alone in their pain. We can all change that by starting to do the work on ourselves. Watching this documentary will be the beginning of this type of work for many people. I can only say thank you Gabor Mate and all mental health specialists out there.
Have a blessed day and toodle loo!