Ideally, describing traumas from past experiences can reveal unresolved suffering in which a person’s beliefs, emotions, and behaviors are filled with deep negative images.
A scar is a metaphor used to represent a painful reminder of an activity of the past. In most cases, a lot of people by describing their trauma can normalize past experiences and be able to face future traumas with a positive attitude.
Scars are representations that nobody gets through life without being affected. Pain is part of what it means to be human and scars become silent proof of humanity. In mental health, when someone experiences a past mental wound it may be harder to accept or tolerate a lot of phenomenon.
Those with scars undergo a remodeling of their emotional state and are more prone to the development of depression and anxiety, feelings of shame and aggression can also follow. This creates strain in social interactions, resulting in stunted communication, reduced intimacy, and avoidant behaviors with close relations. Therapy can help people learn from their scars.
A scar can also be a reassurance that they have gained resilience for future traumas in their lives. Scars are inflexible and cause functional impairment which may prompt a change, it could be negative or positive. The scar metaphor is a clear and simple way of reminding people that traumatic experiences, apathy, abuse, loneliness, or loss can sometimes create resilience. “Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real”. Cormac McCarthy.
They can be symbols of successful healing, and scars can be used as life maps. Scars are not wounds but similar to what is found in many survivors of physical wounds, they tell a story.
Story by: Priscilla Agyepong / Ahotoronline.com
