Slavic Christian persepective: toll of trauma on body, mind, and spirit
There are so many bodies, minds, and souls hurting in my Slavic Christian community.
From hormone issues due to unspoken childhood abuse being stored in the body, to women resenting the idea of motherhood because of the fear of repeating their pain with one’s children, to substance use and addiction to numb one’s memories (commonly found in men, teens, and women), to running away from your families’ home because you’re tired of being stuck and shamed, to fearing getting married because you’ve seen abuse and bitterness between your parents and you don’t want to repeat the same story in your own marriage, to questioning your gender identity because you despise the gender of the parent that cursed, abused, or neglected you.
This is just a small list of physical issues that my people experience that has deeper roots than we may want to, but need to, acknowledge.
As long as this pain is buried, symptoms will continue to surface.
Physiological symptoms include but are not limited to cancer, autoimmune diseases, developmental delays, depression, suicide, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia disorder, early death, etc.
Emotional symptoms include but are not limited to: defensiveness, stonewalling, broken relationships, divorce, infidelity, blame, invalidation of one’s own pain or that of others, minimization of traumatic experiences, emotional outbursts of anger, envy, insecurity, emotional degradation of self and others, manipulation, lying to cover up what one is afraid or ashamed of, etc.
Spiritual symptoms include but are not limited to: questioning one’s faith, walking away from one’s faith, hypocrisy, slandering, fear, condemnation of self and others, isolating self from other Christians, judgement, anxiety, depression, etc.
One might say, “Ilona, this list can apply to every human.”
You’re absolutely right. The point of this list is to help you recognize that EVERY human, Slavic Christian or not, is a sinner in need of a Savior. Each one of us, left to our own demise, is prone to breaking down beyond repair from a supernatural source, in this case, His name is Jesus.
If we don’t come before Him to heal these deep wounds, EVERY AREA OF ONE’S BODY AND MIND WILL HURT.
The only way to treat it is by seeking professional help and let that support bring you to the feet of Jesus. Seek help for your soul as if you just found out you had stage 4 brain cancer-that’s how important and urgent treatment is!! Recognize that trying to “fix” yourself has brought you this far and that you can’t do it on your own any longer.
May you understand that if you keep neglecting the pain and don’t treat it sooner than later, the “emotional, spiritual, or even physical cancer” will spread to other areas of your life (if it hasn’t already) and may kill you or your loved one.
It’s not too late to seek freedom and healing. If you are ready to let go of all the pain you’re carrying and are willing to receive it, I’d like to help you get there.
Please reach out and we’ll move forward together.