Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome - Essay Example

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome Introduction Living in the United s was not easy for African-Americans. The country they thought wouldgive them the life they desired had left them scarred and traumatized by the shadows and nightmares of slavery. They were all but stripped off of their dreams and dignity. The law that was supposed to be protecting them shut them out and stepped on their rights as human beings. They were treated far from being such. Wearing the dark skins that they have was seen as a curse and someone who possesses it has no place in the society but to become a slave. But the racist society did not stop them from living. They developed their own strategies of coping from the physical, mental and emotional torture that they had had from the hands of the Whites. They fought hard for their rights in order to be accepted in the society that throws them out, a society that does not recognize them as human beings because of their 'unlikely' color. They mastered the pain until they become numb. They treated their own wounds until they heal. But the scars had remained. The nightmares continued and the trauma was passed on to generations without even knowing it. Blacks in the past were not given a chance to heal from the wounds of slavery. They were simply left ignored of their need to be treated by the mental and emotional abrasions that were caused by a racist society. Nobody paid attention to the damage that slavery had brought them. Not one soul made any difference of reaching out to them and offered to assist them in their journey through healing. Clearly, they were left 'licking at their own wounds' struggling to live a 'normal' life as any other member of the American society. PTSS According to Dr. Leary One does not necessarily have to experience personally or directly being enslaved as was in the case of African-Americans a long time ago in order to be traumatized by it. Various cases for indirect trauma exist among the people in the society. One example would be the trauma that other people have after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon even if they were not within the area of the incident. (Lamb, p. 26) This condition is regarded to be the justification of divergent behaviors that are observed among African-Americans in the community these days. How Blacks behave in the society these days is a strategy of living and coping up from a racist society that their ancestors learned when they were enslaved in the past. This mechanism was what the old generation had found to be an effective way of surviving the social dilemma that each Black person had gone through a couple of years ago. However, these strategies were found harmful to them and to the society. The manifestations of this phenomenon are observed through the poor mental and physical health, family and relationship dysfunction, and self-destructive impulses. (Talvi, para 2) Even as the US government enacted its laws on equality, the American society continues to be a racist society. Slavery may no longer be common among the Blacks, but it never was gone. The issues of color still exist. In addition, the traumatic experiences of slavery of the old generation African-Americans are passed on to the new ones who carry the burden of their mental and emotional torture. This condition is referred to by Dr. Joy DeGruy-Leary as the Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) that needs to be attended to immediately. The impact of slavery from the old times has affected widely even the generation of today. Based after the theory of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dr. Leary wants to point out that PTSS is a psychiatric problem that needs treatment. However, PTSS is a psychological phenomenon wherein the traumatic experience is not directly experienced by the person suffering from it. And the people who are suffering from its symptoms need experts who clearly understand the said condition. Just the same, as any person who has undergone a traumatic experience, one has to go through a series of process, a therapy that would allow a person to heal from the injuries he may not have undergone but etched into his mind all throughout his life. (Lamb, p. 25) Post traumatic slave syndrome requires time to heal. The healing process may take a long time in order to liberate African-Americans from the damages that were inflicted by slavery a long time ago. When PTSS is eliminated among the African-Americans, their identities will be brought back to them, thus they would be able to recognize their function in the society which is far from being slaves alone. The Effects of PTSS in the Society If African-Americans remain untreated of PTSS, their trauma will continuously be passed on the succeeding generation. The people who were affected by this phenomenon will continuously adopt the coping mechanisms they have learned from their forebears a long time ago - a strategy that keeps oppressed from American society for which racism can never be brought to an end, and color remains to be a big issue. Blacks are always linked to the problems concerning the society. Gang wars, terrorism, drug abuse and dealership, rape, and many other criminal acts are associated with people with dark skins. They always portray an image that is not capable of doing the right things. They carry the burdens of the past generations who have tried their best to assimilate in the American society. Eventually, they will go through the same mistake their forebears had gone through in order to deal with their traumas. These people will not be able to learn the proper way of dealing with the post traumatic experiences that the old generation of African-Americans had endured. There is no way where they will ever escape the nightmares of lynching, rape and other horrible images of the past. They will remain to endure the pain and sorrow brought by the past. Furthermore, they will keep on searching for a place in the society where they thought they would belong. Their identities will remain unknown as they live by what the past slavery had taught them. No matter what they do to try to heal themselves, they will continuously be walking through a circle that does not end their afflictions. They will continuously live in misery and torments the society through their rebellious acts contributing worsening even of their image in the society. Through it all, African-Americans will never learn how to dream and aspire once again. The lack of self-identity leaves their aspirations limited as they live by the comfort of the material things surrounding them. The scars of the injuries brought by slavery will always throb and every time, they will rely on their adopted strategies that brings them back to the past. Conclusion The dysfunction observed among African-Americans is a product of a neglected need for a psychological treatment that is deeply rooted from the past. Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome is a theory that explains their defiant behaviors such that their past is but filled with horrible images of racism and slavery. No direct experience is necessary in order for a person to suffer from PTSS since the traumatic experiences are passed on to the new generation that keeps them locked up from the injuries and pains of unending torture. There is no better way of dealing with the 'abnormal' behavior of the Blacks but to help them heal from the wounds of the past. References & Works Cited: Lamb, D. 2004. Expert explains post-traumatic slave syndrome. The New York Beacon. Talvi, S. 2006. Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. Retrieved from http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2523/ on November 17, 2007. Read More