• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.41
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• pp.33-56
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• 2015

Trauma studies have provided useful models for dealing with the catastrophic and disastrous events that an individual and collective group experience. Most important of all, the perspective of post-structuralist trauma study, including Cathy Caruth, became a paradigmatic model and it has been applied to almost all contexts of life. The perspective of this study model, which is called an "event-based model of trauma," focuses on the literal registration of the traumatic event and the accurate and immediate recall of the past. The person directly involved in the event becomes the passive bearer transmitting the truth of a traumatic event. From this perspective, the traumatic subject only undergoes and endures the event and cannot play an active role in constructing trauma and dealing with it. Eventually, the truth of trauma has to be obtained at the cost of the traumatic subject's autonomy and the possibility of his/her agency. The problem here is that the truth, which is reencountered through the literal return of the past, obtained at the cost of the subject's autonomy, strikes a rather fatal blow to the person, than gives help for resolving many of matters surrounding traumatic experience and curing trauma. This suggests that the active way of dealing with trauma on the part of the traumatic subject, rather than the traumatic event itself, is demanded. Furthermore, because more recently, images of disastrous events were viewed "live" by audiences and an immediacy to the event is replicated in public discourse about them, the event becomes more immediately traumatic and there is a more strong presumption that people regard themselves as traumatic victims than before. This is the reason that we must explore an active way dealing with trauma on more human position at this time. This essay aims to examine the limits of the paradigmatic model of trauma study, an "event-based model of trauma," critically through a literary, theoretical text in which it reveals how the literal return of the traumatic past have a fatal effect on the victim; and hopes to suggest "the narrative memory" as a way to deal with trauma from a more humanistic perspective.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.77-86
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• 2011

Objectives : These days assaults and other natural and human disasters are increasing. But oriental medical treatment researches in Korea are limited in car accident PTSD patients only. Our object is to explore an oriental medical intervention model for the evidence-based approach to PTSD after diverse trauma including disasters. Methods : Domestic papers for Korean researches are obtained from oriental medical related journals by internet searching. International materials are obtained from PubMed searching and a publication from Department of Veterans' Affairs. After assorting searched articles into RCTs and non-RCTs, we analyzed the articles according to the elapsed time from trauma. Results : We confirmed that acupuncture, CBT, and PMR were effective in acute stage after traumatic event. And EMDR, EFT, and relaxation therapy were effective in chronic stage after traumatic event. Building on the findings, we proposed a model of oriental medicine for Disaster Mental Health. Conclusions : Analyzing previous researches about oriental medicine on PTSD, several interventions were confirmed the effectiveness on specific treatment stage. We could find the possibility of Oriental Medicine as a Disaster Mental Heath and proposed a model of Oriental medicine for Disaster Mental Health.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.72-79
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• 2022

Objective : Any traumatic event can be a risk factor, for subsequent mental disorder. However, childhood trauma, especially in interpersonal nature, is associated with later development of complex symptom patterns. This study examined the role of dissociation as a mediator between childhood trauma and symptom complexity. Methods : A pooled data of 369 psychiatric outpatients at a university-affiliated hospital was analyzed for descriptive statistics, group differences, and bivariate correlation analysis to verify a structural model. The questionnaires included the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, the Trauma History Screen, the Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Abbreviated PTSD checklist. Results : When other trauma variables were controlled, childhood interpersonal trauma had significant correlation with symptom complexity (r=0.155, p=0.003). Among the paths analyzed, that of childhood interpersonal trauma and dissociation showed the greatest impact on symptom complexity (b=9.34, t=5.75, p<0.001). Based on the significance of the indirect impact, the results suggest a complete mediation impact of dissociation on symptom complexity. Conclusion : This study validated that childhood interpersonal trauma impacts symptom complexity, through the sequential mediating impact of dissociation. Thus, clinicians should understand childhood interpersonal trauma, dissociation, and symptom patterns in a complex and interacting mode, and develop effective pertinent treatment strategies.