Articles...
"The Volcano Effect"
Written by Carol Weatherall. Published December 13th 2010
It is well documented and recognised that traumatic events during our formative years lead almost inevitably to suppressed memories and buried emotions. Our “friend” the sub-conscious mind hides away experiences too difficult to be remembered yet responds automatically to all things similar In other words, it intentionally excludes from consciousness any thoughts feelings or associated memories, deemed to be harmful to the psychological well being of the individual yet stands alert ,awaiting a familiar danger signal in order to respond. Consequently, we are left in a state of unidentifiable, confusion and panic , exhibited in a panoply of physical and psychological anxiety based disorders .
This theory has long been accepted and is as sound today as it was in the time of Freud yet I believe the conscious mind when determined to preserve the safety, integrity and identity of the individual can also create suppression based behaviours and physical symptoms indistinguishable from those influenced by the sub conscious.
In other words a child suffering continued abuse either sexual or physical in nature , ridicule, bullying or neglect can voluntarily determine not to react in order to defend and preserve the self. Such prolonged, deliberate and conscious suppression becomes both normal and habitual behaviour. The mind becomes conditioned to unresponsiveness and automatically buries emotion, the most outwardly apparent indicator being the lack of crying.
This serves to protect the individual from psychological damage whilst at the same time acting as a silent defensive barrier against the abuser. The child who decides not to cry does so for two reasons.The first is that tears inevitably lead to more violence but the second is for self survival. It is a weapon of self defense which enables empowerment of the victim through self control. It is a way of saying - “ You may hurt me on the outside but you will not change me because I remain me despite everything you do “.
I have witnessed many examples of self imposed emotional suppression both within my client base and amongst those personally known to me and the devastating effects on the lives of those who needed such barriers to exist. I have also rejoiced with those who have relived and dealt with their issues and have come to the realisation that they are now safe enough to allow themselves to feel and respond, to smile,laugh and cry.
These may be simple enough emotions for most of us who as human beings celebrate our sensitivity but for those who were forced to live in an emotional vacuum due to traumatising circumstance it is a triumph of liberation and survival. It is a release from the pressurising necessity to forever keep feelings in check – of always being on guard .
There are many roads that lead to conscious suppressed behaviour and often it is a road of fear rejection and violence Here are just four examples :-
S. experienced extreme violence from her parents which included verbal abuse, ridicule and swearing. She vividly recalls the attacks and can relate them in detail. On one occasion, she tells of being continually hit on the head with a shoe until she suffered from concussion. She was later pushed down onto the floor and her face pressed into the ground so hard that blood clots formed.
She clearly remembers being determined not to cry because she did not want her parents to get the better of her. It was her only defense and until the time I saw her she could not cry whatever happened. She was highly intelligent, anxious, hypersensitive, subject to panic attacks and sometimes controlling. In addition she suffered “pseudo” seizures which were of psychosomatic origin. When regressed she did cry and the release was profound. D had completely subjugated his own feelings and emotions from a very early age in order to cope with and care for his mother who was both clinically depressed and an alcoholic. At only thirteen, he was left to fend for himself . When he came to me as a client, he was unable to feel or express any emotion and was also suffering “pseudo” seizures which had no physical origin
Like S his fits disappeared once his emotions were allowed the release they had been pressurising his mind and body to produce.
M was continually told she was not wanted, she could readily recount many incidents of ridicule and being beaten with anything to hand. Her inner protection was not to cry and to silently stare at her mother as she abused her. As the years passed, she became anxious, hypersensitive, argumentative and defensive , very shy with low self esteem and suffered a range of anxiety based illnesses . She could not cry and was afraid to show any sign of weakness. St. Again suffered parental violence. His father was aggressive, violent and beat him often whilst at the same time shouting ridicule and swearing. Full of rage and hatred which he could not display, St refused to cry or show his feelings .
St became a drug user and alcoholic with low self esteem . He suffered from depression and was unable to face his memories.
The argument is therefore, that neurotic and psychological suffering is not necessarily caused by buried, unfaceable , traumatic childhood memories which have been covertly stored away by the sub conscious for our protection but can be a direct result of a deliberate and conscious ordering of the emotions by the individual in order to endure whatever would otherwise be intolerable. This theory puts the person in charge of his own feelings without reference to an obscure sub conscious. It cannot however ultimately override human nature and the need for emotional expression. Therefore in both cases the outcomes are the same.
It may be argued that other older suppressed memories are the driving force behind our suppressed emotional reactions. However, I doubt this, for in every case the client remembers specifically when they first decided to defend themselves by non emotional means and in addition emphasise that it was from this point forward a change in their behavioural responses occurred.
Another argument might be that this theory of self suppression is a straightforward case of stimulus response and certainly, one can see elements of this.
The person learns non crying behaviour in order to protect himself from greater violence This therefore is a positive reward worthy of reinforcement. However to accept this would be to ignore the intrinsic reasoning behind the action – to maintain the integrity of self and personal identity. Another argument in defence of the theory of autonomous suppression, is that unlike Freudian theory, such behaviours may be installed in adulthood with the same resultant physical and psychological outcomes. Physical domestic abuse by a partner is a good example of this where the victim “shuts down” in order to cope Her thought patterns and reactions, mirror those found in childhood abuse As with childhood abuse some behaviours are learned in order to protect the physical outward body others are deliberately implanted by the victim to ensure the existence of the inner self.
To conclude, I believe it is possible, that just like the buried heart of a volcano, behaviour patterns can be laid down and reinforced consciously by the individual, turning every injury , mental or physical into another building block in the defensive wall. However, there is a price to pay for its perpetual maintenance. It is our nature to feel and our emotions are a force within us which need to find an outlet. Like underground rumblings, negative influences and their resultant suppressive behaviours, need to be kept in constant check. Such vigilance creates a build of pressure. Over the years, cracks begin to appear, making it harder still to hold the outer fabric together. The inevitable eruption spews out in volcanic fashion, not gases, ashes and cinders but fear, stress, anxiety ,depression and a myriad of psychosomatic illnesses and addictions all struggling for precedence within a broken individual who has constantly guarded his inner citadel. This is the Volcano Effect. Hypnotherapy provides through regression and revivification ,the key which opens the box where emprisoned emotions have been kept. Like Larva from an erupting Volcano, tears, anger and sorrow pour forth and are experienced again. The healed adult is now looking on, like the old mountain, wiser and well able to deal with what was once a trauma of inescapable proportions. Emotions settle and provide like magma a new solid foundation upon which to build the future.
