Lecture 7

Question 1

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is

Answer 1

is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

Question 2

A number of factors go into determining whether someone is at risk of PTSD

Answer 2

Gender
Lower income and education
Life events, like divorce
Ethnic minority

Question 3

Additionally, Indigenous peoples have greater exposure to

Answer 3

environmental risk factors for PTSD.

Question 4

Environmental factors include:

Answer 4

Exposure to trauma
Family instability
Childhood adversity
Separation from parents
Poverty
Family dysfunction

Question 5

Indigenous peoples also suffer from higher rates of individual risk factors

Answer 5

PTSD

Question 6

Individual factors include:

Answer 6

Personality
Mental health
Anxiety or depression
Emotional or behavioural problems before the age of 6

Question 7

Children display PTSD by:

Answer 7

Lose interest in play activities
Recurrent nightmares
Repetitive play with trauma-related themes

Question 8

Indigenous children are at high risk of developing PTSD because

Answer 8

because of the aforementioned other risk factors

Question 9

PTSD impacts a person’s life in many ways. Some of the major consequences are as follows:

Answer 9

Mental health issues
Substance use
Problems with personal and family relationships

Question 10

Clinicians had begun to associate symptoms displayed by former students (residential schools) with

Answer 10

with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because it is difficult to address intergenerational trauma.

Question 11

Diagnosing former residential students with PTDS is limiting due

Answer 11

to the complex nature of the trauma experienced.

Question 12

Little is known about;

Answer 12

• the complexities and extent of trauma from residential schools
• interventions that would promote healing for survivors

Question 13

Traumatic events in the past have implications and consequences

Answer 13

for how Indigenous peoples function in the present, both culturally and socially.

Question 14

In this model (Castellano & Archibald, 2013), symptoms of social disorders exhibited in the present are not only caused by immediate trauma;

Answer 14

the memories and images of past traumatic events are being passed, from generation to generation, disrupting adaptive patterns of behaviour and diminishing social efficacy.

Question 15

Some behaviours that perpetuate the transmission of intergenerational trauma are as follows:

Answer 15

-Being in control of all behaviours and interactions
-Demanding perfection
-Blaming others or yourself if something doesn’t go as planned
-Denying feelings
-Having the expectation of unreliability in relationships
-Abuse
-Not speaking opening about shameful or compulsive behaviour
-Not bringing closure or completeness to transactions
-Denying, disqualifying or disguising behaviour that is disrespectful, abusive, or shameful (Aquiar & Halseth, 2015 p. 10)

Question 16

Historic Trauma Theory

Answer 16

Aquiar and Halseth (2015) present five influential characteristics that perpetuate intergenerational transmission of trauma:
- Traumatic Bonding
- Trauma Re-enactment
- Anxiety
- Hyper-vigilance
- Depression

Question 17

Addressing Intergenerational trauma has been an ongoing challenge for mental health professionals. A part of the problem is

Answer 17

is failure to understand the connection between historical and contemporary trauma in Aboriginal populations

Question 18

Understanding how trauma theory relates to Aboriginal peoples is necessary

Answer 18

if we are to devise treatment approaches that are better suited to the unique context in which trauma is experienced by Aboriginal individuals, families, and communities

Question 19

Aquiar and Halseth (2015) explain how historic trauma (HT) distinguishes from PTSD:

Answer 19

HT is more complex
HT is a collective phenomenon
HT is described as cumulative in its impacts over time
HT is intergenerational

Question 20

“historic trauma transmission” was coined to explain

Answer 20

the origins of social malaise in Indigenous communities and the dynamics of interventions particular to Indigenous contexts.

Question 21

Research draws on

Answer 21

historical, social science, and therapeutic sources to develop core concepts.

Question 22

Past HT creates

Answer 22

conditions of disadvantage
- Resulting in the perpetuation of traumas for subsequent generations

Question 23

Contemporary traumas (racism and discrimination)

Answer 23

perpetuate colonialism

Question 24

Aquiar and Halseth (2015) illuminate conditions of disadvantage that Indigenous people have faced due to historic trauma:

Answer 24

• Lower levels of income and education
• Poorer quality of housing
• Reduced access to resources
• Erosion of cultural identity

Question 25

Direct experience of the trauma is

Answer 25

not required
- The trauma experience is passed down to close family members

Question 26

Studies show an association between secure infant attachment and

Answer 26

children’s health and well-being.

Question 27

Children who experienced chronic childhood trauma are

Answer 27

but may not show it

Question 28

Epigenetics may explain the way genes alter and can

Answer 28

perpetuate intergenerational impairments.

Question 29

Adverse childhood experiences in the first generation create increased stress

Answer 29

on the next generation and thus perpetuates the cycle of trauma.

Question 30

Chronic stress and anxiety have the power to manipulate

Answer 30

how the brain develops during childhood, which can influence thinking, motivation learning, memory, sensation, perception and emotion, and predisposition to addiction

Question 31

Understanding trauma is critical in devising

Answer 31

more effective strategies for health and well-being.

Question 32

Understanding must include the collective

Answer 32

and cumulative trauma experiences.

Question 32

Understanding the relationship between contemporary and historical

Answer 32

manifestations of trauma is required to disrupt the cycle.

Question 32

Interrupting the cycle requires

Answer 32

healing and rebuilding individuals, families, and communities.

Question 33

Indigenous children are acculturated

Answer 33

into a situation revolving around shame. The loss of language, identity, culture, and basic skills such as parenting reverberate through generations.

Question 34

The role of language in

Answer 34

a culture which bases all teaching and learning on the oral tradition is that it transmits the collective memory of the people

Question 35

Language aids in the

Answer 35

preservation of their histories; oral histories are the archives of the tribe
- To inhibit the transmission of this oral history is to render a culture mute, which was precisely what was hoped to happen as assimilation took place.

Question 35

Impacts on Self-worth & Identity : Loss of familial connections

Answer 35

Responses to trauma, and behaviours exhibited by trauma survivors, have the ability to create rifts between families.

Question 36

Impacts on Self-worth & Identity: Shame

Answer 36

Uncontrollable responses to trauma are revisited by the survivor later, and looked back at with shame.

Question 37

Impacts on Self-worth & Identity: Not worthy of love

Answer 37

This negative cycle continues, leading survivors to think negatively about themselves, and consider themselves not worthy of their loved ones.

Question 38

Current treatment approaches tend to

Answer 38

pathologize the victim and incarcerate the perpetrator.

Question 39

re-engaging in positive social and cultural activities, which can be viewed as

Answer 39

enlightening events

Question 40

revisiting their past, and making connections between

Answer 40

the traumatic events from the past and disruptive social behaviours in the present.

Question 41

revitalizing their political, social, and economic spheres, and their participation in a collective enterprise

Answer 41

of bringing wellness to their communities is creating positive changes.

Question 42

Incorporating this cultural context honours

Answer 42

the Indigenous ways of being prior colonization creating an stronger attachment to identity.

Question 43

Healing Must Include:

Answer 43

Indigenous Worldviews
Personal Cultural Safety
Capacity to Heal

Question 44

Pillars of Healing:

Answer 44

Reclaiming History
Cultural Interventions
Therapeutic Healing