“Night in the Psych ED,” depicts me having a flashback, triggered by staff abuse of another distressed person after they escalated it. This is just one moment in the system of abuse and neglect I entered when I asked for help for severe Complex PTSD from extreme Developmental Trauma. When a distressed person is treated like an object, it’s not care, but warehousing and profiteering off human misery.
I experience trauma anniversaries throughout the year. There is no month or season untouched by abuse and neglect at the hands of caregivers and others in positions of power. For a survivor, such anniversaries are not merely calendar dates, but complex patterns of memory encoded in the body through sensations, emotions, images, and expectations. Here are the main aspects from an Relational Neuroscience perspective:
Diverse Triggers: Anniversaries can be triggered by specific calendar dates, seasonal changes (like light or temperature), sensory cues (sounds, smells, medical settings), or relational dynamics that mirror past power imbalances.
Body-Centered Response: Trauma is often “remembered” by the body before the mind consciously identifies the reason. Physical signs include fatigue, hypervigilance, irritability, sleep disruption, or shifts in appetite, with reactions often feeling disproportionately intense for the present moment.
Survival Adaptation: The body links stress responses (like tense muscles or narrowed attention) to environmental cues as a survival mechanism. An anniversary response occurs when the body recognizes these cues and automatically reverts to those learned physiological patterns.
Complexity of Chronic Trauma: For those with complex trauma, anniversaries can be less about single events and more about ongoing background conditions. Triggers can include developmental milestones, routine interactions with authority figures, or family-centered holidays, making it harder to distinguish “anniversary” periods from “ordinary days.”
The Power of Recognition: Naming the connection between present-day physical activation and past experiences can help reduce confusion. Recognizing that a reaction is a patterned memory rather than a new, immediate threat allows for greater regulation and context.
