 Every little thing can feel like a sudden reminder. You could be having a normal day and echoes from the past hit you like a ton of bricks. You may freeze up, you may feel rage, or you might even try to avoid these feelings altogether. But the pain of childhood trauma remains and can manifest into your psyche in various ways. There is no one size fits all when it comes to trauma responses and triggers, since trauma itself is complex and can come in many different forms. But in this video, we're going to learn about oddly specific childhood traumas with the help of licensed social worker Patrick T. Han. Let's begin. Emotional delay. Emotional delay is when an emotion about something can take several hours to catch up with you. For example, let's say your boss or partner asks something of you and at the moment you say yes. Later in the day, you start to get upset about feeling taken advantage of or not feeling seen. It may feel like an escalation of emotion that you weren't in touch with at the time of the event earlier in the day or yesterday. How does this stem from trauma? Well, it is due to disassociation and hypervigilance which refers to a state of heightened awareness and having your guard up. Childhood trauma survivors struggle with not being fully in their bodies and being present in their emotions in real time. The hypervigilance in survivors of childhood trauma occurs when our inner child kind of goes, wait a minute, was I just taken advantage of or let down again? This emotional delay can cause you to lash out later on which can leave those around you feeling confused but really it's a trauma response. Refrigerator buzz, depression. Imagine having a refrigerator that constantly buzzes loudly for years and you never notice it. This sound is just buzzing in the background until one day it hits you. What's that buzzing noise? This is the exact same thing that happens with refrigerator buzz, depression. This trauma stems from not realizing that you've been depressed because you've just been that way your entire life. Until one day the pain and grief finally hits you. Where does this come from? It comes from not getting help growing up as well as several different childhood situations and dynamics that caused you to shut down emotionally and that haven't been fully resolved. Some examples would be witnessing a parent's struggle with alcoholism, death, medical trauma, having oppressive parents, etc. This creates a false belief in victims of childhood trauma that nothing will ever change for the better. Being depressed becomes a natural defense mechanism and over time you become numb to difficult situations. Being tired is a trigger. This simply means we confuse our body just naturally being tired with depression or failing such as not being good enough. Trauma survivors can be addicted to productivity or being on a mission. An example is punishing oneself for sleeping too much or even trying to relax which can happen subconsciously. This behavior is highly damaging to one's self-esteem because you're labelling yourself a failure or loser for sleeping or taking a break which is something you deserve and you shouldn't feel guilty for doing so. Where does this come from? Emotional neglect as a child from your parents not being present or fulfilling your emotional needs. Being tired can be a trigger to sad feelings so we try to keep the party going to numb the pain. You should never feel ashamed about feeling tired or emotionally exhausted. It's completely normal but your trauma brain may trigger you to feel guilt for doing so. On the spot, disassociation. This isn't simply disassociating or checking out. It's a feeling of literally leaving your body or freezing when you feel that you're being put on the spot. Some examples of on the spot disassociation include having to do a presentation in front of people at school or work and having an anxiety attack or even being nervous and fidgety on a first date when being asked intimate questions. Where does this come from? Psychiatrist Irvin Yalom talks about how we usually only put a child on the spot abusively An example is how a parent may put their finger on their child's face and speak to them aggressively in an attempt to instill fear and intimidation. This type of trauma response also stems from parents who are hypercritical and overbearing such as not giving a child enough space and not allowing their thoughts and opinions to be heard. Laughing Through the Pain This trauma response comes up when someone is expressing or discussing their childhood story and what they endured. Specifically, this looks like jokingly talking about abusive or horrific childhood trauma experiences in an overly casual or funny way. You'll see this come up when others are shocked or in disbelief about a person's stories of trauma. But the survivor isn't fully connected to the severity of what they are talking about and what happened to them. Our inner child pops up in these situations and tells the truth but doesn't know how to take the truth of our abuse seriously since no one else did. Where does this come from? This response comes from dealing with a highly toxic family with extreme neglect and having no one to stand up for you. It also comes from a highly caustic and sarcastic family that withholds love and affection intentionally. Can you relate to any of these specific trauma responses? Let us know in the comments. Be sure to check out Patrick T. Hearn's YouTube channel for interesting insights on trauma and family systems, which is linked in the description. As always, stay kind and have a beautiful day. Please let us know what your thoughts are on this video in the comment section. We would love to hear from you. And again, thank you so much for watching this and we hope you have a great day. Take care.