This post is one of a series on trauma that is experienced by TCKs which falls outside of what is "expected" in terms of what kind of experience might cause trauma.
I didn't have any terrible experiences in my childhood. I had loving parents. A stable immediate family. No abuse. Nothing terrible happened to me. I was never beaten, held at gun point, physically threatened with death or violence, or any other "trauma-inducing" situation.
So why, at the age of 15, did I start to experience the effects of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)? Why do so many TCKs have a story like mine? Happy home, no visible trauma -- and yet, the symptoms appear as if they had undergone a serious trauma in their lives?
There are several reasons for this, which are actually well-studied, but not often applied to the experience of TCKs. The first, addressed in this post, is Vicarious Trauma. See all posts under the tag "trauma" for the rest of this series as they are posted.
Vicarious Trauma is also known as Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). STS is most often used to describe the experience of clinicians or trauma workers that, rather than being exposed to the trauma, are exposed to the ones exposed to the trauma. (Wang, 2014)
However, there is also research indicating that STS effects not only clinicians or trauma workers, but also anyone indirectly exposed to trauma (exposed to someone who has been exposed) -- that would certainly include TCKs! (Smith, 2014)
STS is basically the natural result of caring about the people around you, when those people are in traumatic situations. While this certainly does happen in the States or other First World Countries, violence and trauma are often more obviously pervasive in less developed countries. And, even at similar widespread levels -- TCKs are quite often put in positions to be exposed to traumatic stories, due to their parents' jobs. While Monocultural famlies often have jobs that are insulated from trauma, TCK's parents usually have some sort of "helping" job that exposes them to some of the worst things that might be happening in any given area. Humanitarian Aid Workers, Missionaries, Peace Corps, and Military -- all of these jobs are obviously placed in a position that might be quite exposed to trauma or at least to those have experienced trauma. As a result, TCKs are quite likely to have experienced Vicarious Trauma.
Because Vicarious Trauma or STS is a natural result of caring for those who have experienced trauma, it is often discounted. TCKs are dismissed as "not having experienced anything traumatic" when, as a matter of fact, they have -- just in being exposed to the stories. And, honestly, although traumatic, STS is not necessarily a "bad" thing -- as long as it is recognized and taken care of. It is very common among Clinicians, and they survive it just fine -- as long as they have support. (Newmand and Gamble, 1995 as cited in Wang, 2014) And often, that is the component that is missing for TCKs. When this trauma is dismissed or not recognized, then it has the opportunity to grow into something truly crippling, just like PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). (Howlett, 2014)
In summary: Vicarious Trauma can be experienced by children of social workers, when they are exposed to the stories of those who have exprienced trauma.
The symptoms and results mimic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (see handout pdf cited at the end of this post), and can become quite crippling. Vicarious Trauma can be even more difficult to deal with when families and organizations do not know about it, and therefore do not provide the support structure to make the victim's experience make sense or to resolve the resulting trauma.
However, when there is proper explaination and support, Vicarious Trauma It is not unusual, or even necessarily bad, because it stems from compassion and can teach the same kind of resilience that is learned by those who go through difficult experiences themselves (Howlett, 2014).
Resources:
http://www.headington-institute.org/files/vicarious-trauma-handout_85433.pdf
Wang, D. A. (2014). Secondary and Vicarious Trauma: Implications for Faith and Clinical Practice.Journal Of Psychology & Christianity, 33(3), 281-286.
Howlett, S. A. (2014). Vicarious traumatisation: risk and resilience among crisis support volunteers in a community organisation. South African Journal Of Psychology, 44(2), 180-190.