Many missionaries living in countries experiencing violence, natural disasters, poverty, hunger and disease, often find themselves with post trauma symptoms when they return to their host countries or families.

Many missionaries have witnessed or survived many of the following experiences?
* Events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury,
* Events in which you felt intense fear, helplessness or horror,
* A threat to the physical integrity of myself or others,
* Terrorist bombings, shootings, arrests, war, civil unrest,
* Hunger, starvation, extreme poverty,
* Inner-city violence, domestic abuse, rape,
* Earthquakes, floods, typhoons, hurricanes,
* Other disasters, both natural and human made.

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you are a prime candidate for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is the fastest growing phenomenon among missioners today. Since many of these acts of natural and human made violence are happening among the poor and the suffering of the world, missioners are 80% more likely to experience traumatic episodes than the average person. As missioners continue to work within these violent situations, they too are becoming traumatized. Their dedication often compels them to remains in these countries despite psychological, physical and spiritual harm. As a result, these missioners are returning to their Religious Communities feeling physically exhausted, personally inadequate and emotionally defeated.

As is often the case with missioners these traumatic events are repeated many times or prolonged over an extended period of time. This raises the likelihood of missioners experiencing the effects of post traumatic stress disorder. To test you for signs of this particular stress disorder ask yourself the following questions?

* Do you have repeated, disturbing memories, thoughts, dreams or images of the stressful event(s)?
* Do you feel very upset when something reminds you of the stressful event(s)?
* Do you avoid activities or situations because they remind you of the stressful event(s)?
* Did you experience helplessness, hopelessness or powerlessness during or after the stressful event(s)?
* Do you have an increased need to be alone as a result of the stressful event(s)?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions then you are experiencing the effects of trauma. Due to the increase in the violence throughout the world, there has been extensive research on the effects of trauma on the individuals psyche, physiology and spirit. The latest research on trauma suggests that exposure to terrifying events overwhelm and break down the bodys natural defense mechanisms, disrupt the central nervous system and increase the risk of heart disease, cancer and addiction.

The following definitions will help the reader understand the multiple ways in which stressful, anxious or traumatic experiences can affect us.

1. Trauma is any experience that overwhelms ones normal coping mechanisms.
2. Vicarious Traumatization is an unconscious infection of ones normal thought processes due to the exposure of others traumatic experiences which you witness or hear about.
3. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an experience of persistent memories, flashbacks, nightmares, detachment or symbolic avoidance that the individual experiences after the traumatic event.
4. Compassion Fatigue is the result of having to control or suppress ones emotions during the time of a traumatic event which do not become integrated within their normal psycho-emotional processes.

Trauma affects the psyche of the individual in many ways. Most common, during the event itself, psychic numbing will occur. This is the minds way of absorbing such an intense experience which it cannot process immediately because it has no logical frame of reference for the experience. This is a wonderful safety device that allows the psyche to develop new coping mechanisms necessary for these intrusive experiences. These devices should be disengaged once the situation becomes normal. However, in countries besieged with various forms of human brutality, insensitivity and danger, these mechanisms stay engaged too long and begin to develop dysfunctional patterns with the otherwise normal psyche of the individual.

Advances in traumatic studies consistently demonstrate that trauma affects the body much more than had been previously thought. Along with psychic numbing, trauma causes a specific type of body numbing to occur. This is for the express purpose of protecting the body from being flooded by sensations, feelings and emotions that would otherwise overwhelm the nervous system. Increased adrenaline in the body produces a hyperactive or hypervigalent state which, if maintained for a prolonged period of time will deplete the individual of his or her natural energy. As a result, individuals who experience trauma must take the appropriate steps to restore their sense of somatic awareness.

The changes in the chemical and neurological patterns of the body due to trauma will alter the individuals personality as well. Most people will find themselves swinging between extreme inner states such as depression or hyper alertness; social isolation or excessive socialization, emotional constriction or explosive outbursts of emotions; fatigue or hyperactive behavior. All of these changes will make the individual feel uncomfortable with themselves and therefore uncomfortable being around others. This produces a type of withdrawl which, if not attended to can lead to depression and addictive behavior and/or substance abuse.

As increasing numbers of missioners are experiencing traumatic events, these traumatic symptoms are slowly finding their way into the relational dynamics of the larger missionary community. Often, the individual and the community leaders are unaware that this is happening, they are unsuspecting of the seriousness of this dynamic and few know how to resolve it. If missioners continue to work within traumatizing ministries, and the gospel mandate to minister to the suffering of the world suggests they will, then it is imperative that religious communities become sensitized to the insidious and damaging effects that living and working in climates of fear, violence, oppression and human degradation can have on their relationships.

New relationships must be forged between the individual going to minister in traumatizing situations and their superiors who are sanctioning their ministry within this trauma environment. Both the leadership and the individual missioner must develop an acute awareness of their mutual responsibility in the prevention of post traumatic stress disorder. Neither can resolve the cycle of trauma and recovery alone. A new relationship must occur between the individual missioner and his or her community leaders if mission among traumatized people is to be achieved in a healthy and safe manner. If this responsibility is to be taken up as seriously as the medical sciences suggest it should, then trauma itself can become a catalyst for developing stronger relationships among missioners and their communities.

Traumatic experiences undermine, not only relationships with ourselves and others, but they also undermine our relationship with our God. Experiential theology teaches that for each new encounter in life, we must continually rework our spiritual relationship with God. This is even more true for people living in traumatic environments. The dehumanization, debasement and devaluing of human lives calls into question any former understanding of right and wrong, good or evil.

All of this requires a deep soul searching that is usually disruptive of our traditional spirituality. A new spirituality must be developed that can include the human atrocities experienced in traumatic circumstances. Many missioners require greater periods of inner reflection and more soul searching than usual when trying to integrate trauma into their spirituality. People who experience these extreme conditions of humanity seem to be predisposed to a greater depth of spirituality during and after their recovery process. As a result, if individuals take the time to recover from their traumatic experiences they predispose themselves to a concomitant depth of spiritual experiences that will help them to make sense of additional traumatic events they might experience. The end result of reintegrating these traumatic events in ones life is a renewed psyche with a healthier body and a deeper spirituality. Recovery from PTSD helps to restore the fabric of self-identity which was torn. It unveils the real fragility, precariousness and vulnerability of our humanity which allows the individual to radically redefine life. And most importantly, the recovery process of trauma causes an emergence of a new incarnational maturity, one that we will clearly need for the advent of the new millennium.