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The word "trauma" -

For most people, the word “trauma” conjures up images of dramatic events, such as witnessing the murder of a loved one or falling victim to a terrorist attack.

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The word "trauma" -

It is not a word that comes up often in discussions, whether they be about history or mental health (except perhaps in the context of PTSD).

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The reality -

But, in fact, trauma is a much more subtle concept than many of us think. It is about the way in which we experience events and how they impact our minds.

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Meaning-making -

According to psychologist David Trickey, trauma is about “meaning-making” and what happens when an event throws into question "the way you see yourself, the way you see the world, and the way you see other people."

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Everyday tragedies -

Such events can cause stress to turn into trauma, and they needn’t be extraordinary in order to do so. Even everyday tragic events, such as being fired, can be traumatic.

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The trauma of being fired -

A lot of self-worth and sense of purpose is attached to having a job, and when that is pulled from under us we experience stress and our nervous system goes into overdrive.

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The trauma of being fired -

If nothing fills the gap, nothing redefines our self-worth and sense of purpose. Only a reframing of our beliefs and another go at “meaning-making” will alleviate the trauma.

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The concept of mass trauma -

If trauma, then, is about events and the impact they have on individuals, how can “mass trauma” exist? And even if it does exist, how can it be defined?

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Helpful definition -

According to one BBC journalist, “a mass trauma takes place when the same event, or series of events, traumatizes a large number of people within some shared time span.”

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Mass trauma in history -

Examples of key historical events that involved mass trauma would be the World Wars or the flu outbreak of 1918. The COVID-19 pandemic, too, falls within the definition.

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The mass trauma of COVID-19 -

You don’t have to look far to see how the COVID-19 pandemic may have put large numbers of people at risk of trauma.

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Death -

Firstly, the pandemic has caused bereavement on a massive scale. Death is always traumatizing and social-distancing rules have meant that many people haven’t been able to properly mourn.

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Hospital workers -

Hospital staff in particular are at risk of experiencing trauma, not least because they spend much of their time in isolation working with critically ill patients.

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Hospital workers -

Some doctors and nurses are also at risk of trauma by “moral injury,” when their ethical beliefs are thrown in question by having to decide who receives treatment and who doesn’t.

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Being unable to breathe -

Then there’s the potential for trauma that is associated with being unable to breathe. According to the BBC, an estimated 20% of COVID-19 patients have required hospitalization.

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Being unable to breathe -

According to Metin Basoglu, a founder of the trauma studies faculty at King's College London, "Being unable to breathe is the most traumatic event you can imagine.”

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Being unable to breathe -

It is so traumatizing "simply because there's nothing you can do about it. Once you are out of breath, it is a prime example of helplessness."

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Widespread fear -

But above all, the COVID-19 pandemic is traumatic because of the fear people experience at the thought of catching a highly contagious, potentially life-threatening disease.

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Widespread fear -

It is this fear that can traumatize the world’s entire population; it doesn’t distinguish between those people who catch the virus and those who don’t.

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Handle with care -

It is very important that communities deal properly with mass trauma, because if it goes untreated, the consequences can be devastating.

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Mass trauma in children -

This is particularly true for children, who are more impressionable than adults. According to Trickey, children “could develop a view of the world which is pretty terrifying."

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Mass trauma in children -

If children experience COVID-19 trauma, in the long-term it could become an intergenerational trauma that they pass on to their own children.

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Mass trauma in children -

The question as to how communities can best deal with mass trauma is very difficult to answer. What seems clear is that simply forgetting is not an option.

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The importance of not forgetting -

If a trauma is not processed and goes undiscussed, the very fabric of society and the “basic tissues of social life” that pull us together will never heal.

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The "Forgotten Flu" -

When it comes to COVID-19, we may be at increased risk of letting the trauma slip under the radar, as happened with the 1918 flu, which has been referred to as the “Forgotten Flu.”

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The problem with pandemics -

It may be that pandemics are relatively easy to ignore in the historical narrative because they have no perpetrator. As social psychologist Gilad Hirschberger said: "nobody's trying to infect everybody with COVID-19."

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The importance of commemoration -

It is therefore all the more important that we commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic, to encourage meaning-making and provide a channel for grief.

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The importance of commemoration -

National commemoration may be combined with a grassroots approach, where people share their personal experiences, perhaps via art or social media.

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Commemoration in the UK -

In the UK, for example, commemoration of the COVID-19 pandemic is a hot topic and there is talk of, amongst other things, a monument in central London to honor emergency frontline workers.

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Commemoration in the UK -

A group of individuals at the London School of Economics have also recommended a national remembrance day as a "key area for government policy."

Sources: (BBC)

See also: Finding love in the age of COVID-19

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