KIRSTEN ROGOFF and ASSOCIATES

What is the Result of Repeated Trauma?

Professional’s Corner: PSTD Revisited                      Page 4

Thanks to Dr. Bessel VanDerKolk and others, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been given more attention in terms of its neurological roots and impact on the nervous system.

The current thinking is that the brain is very affected by trauma, therefore creating long-lasting symptoms of PTSD.

A question arises as to what happens if trauma is chronic, that is to say, a person’s early

living environment has many traumatic situations over a sustained period of time?

Some theories have come up that suggest that chronic trauma is the foundation for the development of Borderline Personality Disorders.

Persons that come from severely abusive, violent, frightening, and unsafe environments have a high incidence of Borderline-like traits. This is easy to understand, considering that the environment, through the eyes of a very young child, is interrelated with his/her caretakers. The sense of stability  and autonomy then are threatened, as the child is out of control of his/her fate. This sets up the potential for abandonment issues, splitting, oscillating moods, and desire to recreate drama (trauma). -K-