The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.

Judith Lewis Herman
The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and...
The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and...
The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and...
The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and...
About This Quote

Trauma is a state of being that is characterized by two opposing forces. The will to deny horrible events, and the will to proclaim them aloud. When someone is in trauma, they are in a state where they are denying horrible events when they are happening, but when they are happening their mind is saying “No, I’m not going through this again! I’m not going to go through this again!”

Source: Trauma And Recovery: The Aftermath Of Violence From Domestic Abuse To Political Terror

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More Quotes By Judith Lewis Herman
  1. The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.

  2. The ORDINARY RESPONSE TO ATROCITIES is to banish them from consciousness. Certain violations of the social compact are too terrible to utter aloud: this is the meaning of the word unspeakable. Atrocities, however, refuse to be buried. Equally as powerful as the desire to deny...

  3. The traumatized person is often relieved simply to learn the true name of her condition. By ascertaining her diagnosis, she begins the process of mastery. No longer imprisoned in the wordlessness of the trauma, she discovers that there is a language for her experience. She...

  4. Over time as most people fail the survivor's exacting test of trustworthiness, she tends to withdraw from relationships. The isolation of the survivor thus persists even after she is free.

  5. Traumatic events destroy the sustaining bonds between individual and community. Those who have survived learn that their sense of self, of worth, of humanity, depends upon a feeling of connection with others. The solidarity of a group provides the strongest protection against terror and despair,...

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