Dealing With Past Trauma

We need to be very careful in our dealings with people who have been scarred, due to bad past experiences.

There is a proverb:
من لدغته الحية يخاف من الحبل
‘A person who was bitten by a snake fears a rope.’

We should be very gentle with them, because they will interpret even harmless things as a threat.

Like a little kitten that has been beaten for many years … if you try to stroke its head, it will think that you are trying to hit her.

It is actually a survival instinct built inside us to protect us against further harm – but it can spiral out of control if we don’t control it.

For example, women who have escaped abusive relationships or cheating husbands: they start mistrusting and hating men in general.

I once knew a person who was once racially abused in his youth – so his entire world-view changed to seeing everything in racial lines. He once parked in front of someone’s gate, when they confronted him, he pulled out the racial card, saying: you are racist.

We should judge each situation separately and not allow our vision to be blurred by past experiences.