The First Trauma Story: Adam & Eve
With this article, Kimberly Fritsch, LAC continues her series on understanding trauma. Catch up on her first article in the series here.
Trauma isn’t selective in whom it devours and can attack at any given moment. Accurately defining trauma is essential and is done best by turning to the mental health field. For example, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states, “individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.” SAMHSA’s clear definition serves as a “fact check” that trauma alters life completely.
Simply put, humans aren’t wired for trauma.
The brain has trillions of neurons that connect to other neurons when life experiences are gained. With repeated experiences, the brain strengthens like a muscle where they become permanently etched for survival. This brain wiring helps adaptation to similar experiences that may arise in the future, so we can navigate through life and not view experiences as life-threatening. When the brain gets bombarded with trauma, harmful effects occur like a bomb going off that ends up rewiring the brain to function abnormally.
Here are some ways trauma negatively affects the brain:
Thinking processes and the ability to regulate within the brain’s prefrontal cortex gets stunted.
The amygdala located in the middle of the brain “stays on” like a smoke detector, diminishing emotion control.
The body stays on high alert continuously known as hyper-vigilance.
Psychological numbing or avoidance occurs.
Normal stress becomes unmanageable.
Trusting others and relationships declines.
Neurobiological make-up, health, and overall well-being wear the person down.
Spiritual beliefs and making sense of life’s purpose come into question.
The first trauma story: Adam and Eve
While it may be difficult to fathom, God’s design for humankind didn’t include trauma of any kind. How do we know? Our first earthly parents, Adam and Eve, were solid living proof, but then everything changed for them through the Fall where trauma’s origins began. The Bible depicts a series of traumatic events that would have altered Adam and Eve’s normal everyday functioning…
Leaving their home. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden against God’s command, they had to leave. God was not angry with either person, Adam or Eve, but at their disobedient behavior. Since they sinned against God, He exercised righteous anger by acting in love to preserve Himself, His name, and what He always stood for: purity and holiness. Imagine what it was like for Adam and Eve to walk out of Eden one last time? This must have been excruciating. In addition, seeing cherubim and a moving flaming sword placed at the Garden of Eden displayed finality of no return. Their first traumatic experience was the unwanted consequence of leaving paradise, their home.
Knowledge of their consequences. The Bible says from that time forward, Adam and Eve and all future generations of humanity would face turmoil and hardship on earth. Boom! Adam and Eve’s one bad choice caused generational sin and a snowball effect of judgment.
Learning to survive. Being displaced, homeless, and learning how to live outside of paradise could be a third traumatic experience. God provided survival needs on a daily, constant basis in Eden, but now Adam and Eve had to provide for themselves. This would be shell shock to anyone, not just Adam and Eve.
The loss of a child. When Adam and Eve bore two sons, Cain and Abel, daily life continued to present more stressful and worrisome struggles. Great tension and envy led Cain to engage in a deadly quarrel with Abel. The death of a loved one is trauma. Adam and Eve were the first caregivers to experience tragic loss through the death of their own son, Abel. They didn’t know death, sadness, or grief because they were supposed to live forever in the Garden of Eden. They had to face the grieving process as individuals and as a couple.
A strained relationship with their son. Not only did they mourn Abel, but they now had to struggle with the homicide committed by their other son, Cain, and his future. Cain was a murderer and fled from the Lord’s presence. Our first family had to wrestle with God’s sovereignty through feelings of humiliation, guilt, shame, and betrayal.
According to SAMHSA and today’s mental health standards, Adam and Eve most likely would have been trauma victims.
We can glean a lot about pain, fear, and tragedy from the lives of Adam and Eve. However, the Bible also shows us that many other biblical figures encountered trauma as well. Job, Joseph, even Jesus Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane before being led to His crucifixion, amongst others encountered horrific, traumatic experiences. Trauma is universal and unavoidable for all of humanity.
Although it may seem that trauma is fixed and permanent because its adverse effects are so intense, constant, and long-lasting, this is untrue. Just like trauma rewires the brain, the brain can reverse itself back to its healthy state through the amazing phenomenon of neuroplasticity. Whenever something like trauma seems to have the last word, God always provides alternatives for physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual transformation.