Betrayal...Trauma?

Thursday, March 01, 2007

The German writer, Helmut Thielicke, tells the story of a man who living amid the darkness of Hitler’s Third Reich took his stand against the Nazi party. As a result of his activities he was arrested and sent to prison where he endured torture and beatings and spent long spells in solitary confinement as his captors sought to extract a confession. After several months he was released without charge. Tired, physically weak, undernourished, he was nonetheless an unbroken spirit, still ardent in his opposition to Hitler and the Nazi Party. But two weeks after his release, he was found hanged, having committed suicide in his attic. Those who followed his story with interest wondered what was it was that finally destroyed him. What was it that finally sapped his strength and courage? Those who knew the man were well aware of the reason. Following his release from prison, he made the awful discovery that it was his only son who had informed against him. His only child had delivered him into the hands of the Nazi’s. The treachery of one whom he loved had finally accomplished what institutional brutality had failed to do.
I think its fair to say that the greatest pain is not inflicted by people who hate or revile us. As that man discovered, the greatest pain is inflicted by the people we love, by the people we trust. One person puts it like this: Betrayal entails a pain that surpasses the physical kind, no matter how intense. The inner sanctum of the heart is breached and there is no ready defence. I was recently reading an article by a psychiatrist on what he described as "betrayal trauma." Betrayal trauma occurs when the people we love or trust or depend on violate us in some way. Perhaps the best example of betrayal trauma is the sexual abuse of children. It is truly awful how these violations of trust resonate through a person’s life, resulting in so much damage
scribbled Gatekeepers4@ 6:15 PM  

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