(T)RAUMA VS. (t)RAUMA: IMPACT OF DIFFERENTIAL EARLY LIFE TRAUMATIC STRESS MAGNITUDE ON CVD RISK

Abstract

Bearing Stressful Burdens: Metaphorical Perspectives of Trauma from Greek Myth Whether it’s grabbing one too many bags when bringing groceries in from the car or a parent’s sad realization that their child is too big to easily be picked up, carrying heavy burdens is a well-known feeling everyone understands. What if struggling with an overwhelming weight – whether physical or mental -- carried lasting effects, however? We can look to famous Greek myths as metaphorical of these experiences. To begin, Atlas was a titan who, as a punishment from the god Zeus for leading his fellow titans in the battle against the gods, was forced to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders for eternity.1 Another example is the story of Sisyphus, a cunning man who escaped death twice. Using him a deterrent to other humans attempting to cheat death, Zeus made an example of Sisyphus and punished him by forcing him to push a large boulder up a hill forever.2 The top row of Figure 1 visualizes these fantastical stories. Extrapolating these myths and applying them to today, we can imagine Atlas and Sisyphus as representing two types of individuals carrying weighty mental burdens: early life trauma. Atlas can be equated to those experiencing (T)rauma, large magnitude early-life traumatic stress, such as child abuse. Conversely, Sisyphus can be likened to those having experienced (t)rauma – small magnitude traumas which individually may not be too heavy but could be overwhelming when combined. The bottom row of Figure 1 incorporates traumatic stress examples into the visuals to portray these trauma subtypes. In the following sections, we will investigate the phenomena of early life trauma and clearly, empirically define the concepts of (T)rauma and (t)rauma which have been briefly introduced using these illustrative metaphors.