Traumatized: We Don’t Stop

Trauma is “stress without resolve.” So says Teal Swan, and I agree. Swan also says that unresolved trauma manifests as problems with one’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Again, I agree. Furthermore she says that trauma “lies at the root of the vast majority of physical illnesses.” I concur.

That has been the case in my life – always. However, this post isn’t about that. Instead it’s about our collective health today [poor]. Moreover, I submit that that can be traced to shared traumas stretching back over the last seventy some years.

Stress is pressure. Real or imagined. Thus, if stress isn’t resolved/relieved – bad/negative/unhealthy outcomes are likely.

Let’s get into it.

The Spark

that got me thinking in some depth about this is the upcoming election. Because I was shocked to hear that there is a voting cohort, 18 to 25 year olds, that were just ten years old in 2016! Oh my god, I thought, all they’ve ever known is crazy! Because for that cohort their formative years have been shaped by the insane uncivil discourse and disruptive events of the last eight years. In other words, their lives have known nothing but stress.

My Methodology

then was to break down the last seventy some years into eight-year (+ or -) segments, or cohorts, and look at the major shared events of those. Then link the events to the age of the people. In other words, What happened in the world when each cohort, or generation, was 10 to 18 years old?

The Data.

1945 to 1953

These folks are now 71 to 79 years old. Boomers. This is my cohort. (35 million + or -)

1. World War Two ends with the US dropping atomic bombs on Japan.
2. Jackie Robinson, a Black man, integrates Major League Baseball.
3. The Korean War begins.
4. The US interstate highway systems begins.
5. PLAYBOY magazine begins.

1954 to 1962

These folks are now 62 to 70. Boomers. (35 million + or -)

1. Korean War ends. (No winner.)
2. US manufacturing boom.
3. Elvis Presley becomes a Rock n Roll sensation and idol.

   

4. The automobile becomes commonplace.
5. Disneyland opens.
6. On the Road is published.
7. Alaska and Hawaii become states.
8. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris chase Babe Ruth’s MLB home run record.
9. Marilyn Monroe dies from an overdose of sleeping pills.

1963 to 1971

These folks are now  53 to 61, late Boomers and Gen Xers. (31 million + or -)

1. Television becomes common.
2. President Kennedy (35th POTUS) assassinated.
3. McDonalds restaurants begin.
4. The Sexual Revolution begins.
5. The Civil Rights movement emerges.
6. The Vietnam War begins.
7. Secularism begins to dominate US culture.
8. The Drugs, Sex, Rock n Roll Counter Culture explodes.
9. Woodstock concert happens.
10. The USA lands a spaceship and astronauts on the moon.

1972 to 1980

These folks are now 44 to 52. Gen Xers. (31 million + or -)

1. President Nixon resigns.
2. The Vietnam War ends. (No winner.)
3. The voting age is lowered,  from 21 to 18.
4. Super inflation ensues.
5. Crime in the city explodes.
6. Mount St. Helens volcano erupts.

1981 to 1989

These folks are now 35 to 43. Millennials. (35 million + or -)

1. The Berlin Wall falls – the end of The Cold War.
2. The US spaceship Challenger explodes in flight killing seven astronauts.

1990 to 1998

These folks are now 26 to 34. Late Millennials. (35 million + or -)

1. Inner Child Therapy emerges.
2. Multiculturalism infuses higher education.
3. Prozac becomes a popular prescribed drug for emotional and psychological problems.
4. The Gulf War begins and ends. (The USA wins.)
5. NAFTA becomes trade policy for the USA.
6. Princess Diana dies in a strange car accident.
7. The AIDS epidemic hits the USA.
8. The OJ Simpson murder trail is televised wherein he is found not guilty.
9. Email and the Internet become commonplace.
10. PED (steroids) use becomes common in professional baseball.

1999 to 2007

These folks (voters) are now 17 to 25. (29 million + or -) Gen Z. Zoomers, or the new voters which sparked this inquiry.

1. Columbine school mass killing in Colorado, USA.

   

2. 9/11 Terrorist attack on the USA.
3. Dot-Com bubble crash.
4. Iraq War (US ‘wins’) begins.

2008 to 2016

These folks are now 8 to 16 and not yet eligible to vote.

1. The Great Recession and housing-bubble crash.
2. Barack Obama becomes the first Black, African-American to become president of the USA.
3. The Iraq War comes to an end.
4. Social Media becomes commonplace.
5. The Smart Phone becomes the dominant means of communication and information access.
6. Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the USA.

2017 t0 2024

These are children and babies from 1 to 7 years old.

1. Trump Derangement Syndrome becomes a thing.

   

2. Joe Biden becomes the oldest US president ever.
3. Aaron Judge, of the New York Yankees, breaks Roger Maris’s home run record.
4. The COVID-19 epidemic shutdown is imposed on the US population.
5. Vaccine mandates are imposed on the US population.
6. Donald Trump is almost assassinated.
7. The vice president, Kamala Harris, a ‘Black’, bi-racial women, is chosen to replace Joe Biden as the Democrat candidate for president to oppose Donald Trump, the Republican’s candidate.

My Analysis

is that we are largely an unhealthy and unhealed population. Based on my studying of the above data.

[Italics indicate a positive effect. Bold indicated a negative effect. Of the 60 events, only fifteen are strictly positive. (25%) Twenty-two are strictly negative. (37%) Seventeen could be said to begin as positive, but as time passes, drift into negative. (28%) This comes under the saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Nevertheless, the overall effect is a negative 65%. (10% are neutral. Of course, one can quibble with my assessments.)]

It seems to me, however, that the baseline narrative is that things have been good, or moving in a positive/healthy direction. “Progress”, in all domains, has benefitted the American population. In other words, our leaders and experts have been doing good for most folks–of all ages and generations.

I don’t think that is true.

Stressed out and overwhelmed

Because the data shows otherwise. We have always been under pressure and it has not been resolved. At best, problems have been “kicked down the road.” Unresolved trauma experienced throughout our lives accumulates, or layers, making us a population of stressed out individuals seeking relief. And the experts provide it via distractions.

These distractions take the form of make-believe and fantasy, wars, sports and entertainment, eating, drugs, and pornography.

Politicians, the media, and other ‘experts’ lie for their own self-interest. Because that’s human nature–to look out for one’s own self, family, and tribe.

Changes

There are many events that appear, on the surface, to be ‘good’ things. However, looking back, maybe not so much. Such as the Internet. Or, the benefits fade over time, except for a few. Maybe one in five?

The Rich and the Rest

But, that’s a lot of people doing well. Around 46 million. Said another way, 20% of each cohort. Moreover, they all vote! And like the way things are–stressful for most folks. Those doing well can afford to weather most storms. Be it war, pandemics, assassinations, market crashes, inflation, crime, etc.

It’s as if they live in another world.

These folks doing well …? Well, I’m not saying they intentionally cause misery and suffering for the rest. So as they can profit. Nevertheless, it looks that way.

To be clear, I’m not talking about personal/individual stressful events. No one is immune to those. Such as death of a loved one. Divorce. Loss of a job. Moving, etc. However, those with wealth can better survive, or resolve, those stressful events.

But for the vast majority, the accumulation of stress leads to poor health–sickness and disease.

We can’t stop

And yes, the distractions ease the pain. Especially music concerts, even as the artists explain the causes. We just don’t seem to be able to stop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUpGgGq5cXQ

In Conclusion:

In all my years, I’ve never seen such crazy making behavior by so many people all at the same time.

What can be done? Are we doomed to suffer? Does it even matter who we vote for? Who wins? The old, wealthy, cranky, (‘weird’) white, narcissist man? Or the younger, bi-racial, joyful, woman?

Perhaps.

I wrote a whole book about it. It being voting/elections, death, suffering, health and well being. Just who, in fact, we are. Frequently I re-read chapters and am stunned. I could have wrote it yesterday

I’m actually feeling pretty good right now. Because of therapy, and about the upcoming election of 2024. But then, I’m optimistic by nature.

How are you doing?

PS

1. Teal Swan is a self-help guru. One of thousands. Seems like they’re everywhere now. She professes to have solutions, for a fee, of course. That said, I find myself often in agreement with her analysis.
2. Yesterday (Tuesday, 7 August, 2024) I watched the rollout of Harris’s campaign with her VP choice, Tim Walz. Then I watched “experts” give their analysis. There is a brand new show (free, for now) http://www.2way.tv hosted by Mark Halperin. It is fascinating in that it is live, and open to everyone. Halperin is a “MEtoo’d”, respected (Is that possible? Yes, it is.) long time journalist. Halperin is going for unbiased opinion as to the day-by-day, even moment-by-moment, happenings of Election 2024. Just as he did in Election 2016 with his TV show, The Circus. The Circus and Halperin are referenced in my book Election 2016.

Here’s what’s relevant to this post. About midway through the one-hour conversation someone appeared in the live feed, taking up three frames, of 25.

This person was a large, black man w/a 12inch penis. Completely naked. Dancing and then masturbating while the other contributors sat shocked. This went on for maybe 2/3 minutes before someone was able to switch-out the feed.

I, too, was stunned. Was it funny? A joke? or something else? For me, I think it was a joke. Improvisational–an unusual turn of events. However, for the liberal and progressive, female participants? It could be traumatizing.

Halperin apologized and they moved on – as if it didn’t happen. Today, watching it again, the event has been edited out. Here’s the joke. Halperin lost his prestigious and lucrative position within the TV and Print world because he masturbated in front of female colleagues.

We are in a crazy, brand new world.