Introduction:
Life is full of ups and downs. No one is born on the surface of the earth without a day of challenge or challenges. The challenge may vary in impact. What distinguishes an individual from the other in such a time will also depend on many factors. Such factors may be our attitude to life, proper education before such a time, preparedness before such day and so on. In our environment, such challenge can be termed as, ‘tragedy(ajaalu / ‘ikolu ibi’)’, ‘trials(idanwo)’, ‘misfortune(ijamba)’. However, in this session we will refer to it as Traumatic experience,

What is Trauma?
Trauma is shock(nkan ojiji), distress(iporuru), upset (idamu), disturbance(idamu), ordeal(ijamba), suffering(iponju/Iya), pain(inira) strain (ikanra). Thus, a traumatic situation is when something overwhelming happens to a person that is beyond what the person can handle at that time. E.g., Jan 24, 2000 Ikeja bomb blast, incessant plane crashes at a time, market being burnt down, loosing loved ones.

Believe System /Myth on Traumatic Events:
When a traumatic experience happens, note that;
It is spiritual or satanically orchestrated.
It is caused by God. Therefore, there is nothing we can do about it.
Do not talk about trauma else it will happen to you.
If you experience traumatic thing, you must have done something bad/sinned or be a weak person.
It is because you are poor or rich –Traumatic situations happen to all category of people.

It is because you have not prayed enough.
It is because you live in a particular area –not geographically confined.

Effects of Trauma:
In the first days or weeks after a traumatic event, people often experience strong feelings of fear, sadness, guilt, anger, or grief. As the victim begin to make sense of what has happened to them, these feelings usually begin to subside. Most people will recover quite quickly with the support of family and friends. For some people though, a traumatic event can lead to mental health issues such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug use, as well as impacting on their relationships with family, friends, and at work.

Prepared by Mr. O. F Megbehingbe for DelightsomeLands’ seminar for “Sexual Abuse and Mental Health Disorder – June 30 2018, at Ogba, lagos, Nigeria.

To be continued.