How Trauma Destroys Your Sense of Self (PTSD Literature Review)

Aloha Sam🌺 all the way from Kona, Hawaii🌋50yrs young, born and raised here! I listen to you everyday, it’s 04:25AM here on a rock island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean…Mahalo

How do you make someone feel "safe" again after trauma, especially if it's been reoccuring & over a long period of time? Practically impossible. People are trauma. Interaction's with people in general become triggering, so self isolation & avoidance is actually the logical response. It's a rock & a hard place. How do you measure resillience in people? Or in mice for that matter.... Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

I am 67 years old I just discovered you I am amazed I waited my whole life to understand what is happening to me my (sadly)whole life was filled with questions mark . You opened my understanding you put words in my confusion you described my sorrow it’s like you’re inside of my mind putting words and explaining the mechanism god is talking to me via you 🙏🙏🙏🙏😅🙏🙏 for taking time and effort to give us an ( apaisement to our uneasy, unbearable life) I just love you , bless you,I wish I heard about you earlier I am very grateful to you SAM VAKNIN !!!! Your name is the title of my healing journal ❤❤😂😢😅😊

The assumption that there was at first a self that later felt changed is foreign to me. Abuse started when I was an infant. I’ve spent my life guessing at what normal or healed might feel like. Avoided the same old patterns, only to fall into other, sometimes worse kinds of trauma-echoing relationships.

Shalom friend, great work. Thank you for your wisdom.

Thank you for sharing all this amazing wisdom from psychiatry......All people on this planet can use this knowledge now for healing and improving the quality of their lives...not only the priviliged who can pay a good psychiatrist...

these are some excellent insights again 😮❤ I studied Law, but now learning about Psychology in my leisure time

Sam, once again, you've brought such a complex subject to us in a palatable, relatable and shareable manner. You are truly a gift of knowledge

I came from trauma. From birth to present. Each scenario present an experience. My own energy trips me up if I do not stay aware of my trauma. One works through it. Therapy. Self care. More exercise. The endorphins are a huge health benefit. ❤

Sam, is anti-Freudian sentiment in the west the reason why ‘parent blaming’ is still so…resisted in psychology? It seems so obvious not only that adverse childhood experiences lead to psychopathology, but that those same adversities make it difficult for the person to even recognize the experiences as traumatic. Is everyone on the planet driven by the unconscious desire to please mommy?

You're wonderful, Sam.

This could explain why my 45 year old son just recently died of sudden cardiac arrest. He suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2008. It resulted in unpredictable side effects. I think he suffered from ptsd all this time & was just trying to cope. He wouldn't go to doctors after the accident.

We kind of figured this by looking at one nuclear family with a borderline, narcissist, and an avoidant type.

My parents sucked, but we tried our best to make it a family i guess, not really. But I have explosive anger all the time lol, a homeless man yelled at me in the middle of the night last night and it scared the shit out of me, but I immediately started screaming back and threatening to beat his ass haha, Im homeless too because im so over emotional and hard headed so i thought it was funny.

Professor, do you think hypnotherapy is an effective tool for helping individuals who experienced CPTSD at a very young age? Or is it only useful for those who were traumatized later in life? Or is it not all that useful at all?

Thank you for your work and clear explanations! You mention that trauma treatment must start within two weeks of it occurring. Is that to do with a critical period that the brain naturally opens? Is that why psychedelics can be helpful for trauma treatment? They are said to reopen critical periods.

You mention aderol and adhd stimulants being very dangerous. With regards to PTSD or in general? Do you have a reference for me to read or watch? Thank you very interesting topic and update

Dear Professor Vaknin.. please forgive me the absurdity. I know I sound (maybe am) too stupid to talk as I cannot in my state formulate anything wise. You were right telling real victims stay silent. Yes, because its pathetic to talk in disorganized speech lacking signs of reason. Thats why I would only like to ask 1 query without my nonsense references to topic- from my personal expierience- is it possible that puppies cause deep empathy in narcissists? Ive seen video about pets, but I just refer to a random puppy, no special connection formed. Thank you. Great respect, sincerely.

Two weeks of traumatic event or two weeks of symptoms, after that most treatments don't cure CPTSD?

Professor, I’m wondering why there are is such little discussions around Histrionic PD in comparison to other personality disorders. Having grown up in a Narc household, I’ve learnt coping skills such as going no contact with my Mother and avoiding Narcissistic partners but I’ve definitely gravitated towards female friends who are Histrionic. It was easy to go no contact with Narcissists as I tell myself they have no empathy and cannot contribute any positives to my life. With histrionics, I’m not sure how to feel about them or why I seem to attract them 🤔. I’ve watched the few videos you have on Histrionics but would love to see more. It’s how I found your channel months ago. Are histrionics considered less interesting to analyse or is it a case of HPD diagnosis not being as common or officially recognised?