History of Trauma
Lecture by researcher and historian Bart Nauta
In his lecture on the history of trauma, presented during the performance Untangling Trauma at the Fascati theatre in Amsterdam, ARQ researcher Bart Nauta explores how the concept of trauma - once nonexistent - has evolved to become central to our zeitgeist.
On a night like this, it’s almost impossible to imagine, that for a long time, the world in which we live was a world without trauma. The word trauma, as we know it - this psychological wound - simply didn’t exist. This doesn’t mean that our ancestors didn’t suffer after violence or conflict. Surely, the Romans, the Vikings, and soldiers of Napoleon – endured nightmares and flashbacks. But the word "trauma," as we understand it today, with its power to describe painful experiences and its promise of care and recognition, would have held no meaning for a Roman. It was a concept entirely foreign to them.
It wasn’t long ago that trauma, as a psychological wound, was meaningless to most. In the early 20th century and before, trauma had no solid scientific foundation nor societal acceptance. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that trauma began to take root in our collective understanding. How did something that "didn’t exist" come to define us? How did it seep into Western society, integrate itself completely, and grow to the point where we now can speak of trauma inflation?
Let’s take a brief historical journey
For a long time, people reporting psychological complaints after surviving horrific experiences were met with distrust. During the First World War, soldiers shattered by the violence in the trenches were said to suffer from "shell shock." But military psychiatrists dismissed them as frauds or cowards, evading their duty to fight. Some soldiers were put in front of a firing squad, and executed.
Skepticism only began to fade after World War II, when Jewish survivors returned from the Nazi camps. Their testimonies of survivor’s guilt became seen as the essential truth about the human condition. Their trauma could not be ignored nor distrusted.
Then, In the 1970s, feminists advocated for the recognition of the psychological harm caused by abuse and domestic violence -suffering that had been ignored for far too long. At the same time, military psychiatrists grappled with the plight of American Vietnam veterans. These soldiers had fought in a senseless, brutal war and, in some cases, committed atrocities against Vietnamese civilians.
"The Holocaust survivor, the victim of abuse - all became figures who deserved our empathy."
The advocacy of military psychiatrists contributed to a breakthrough
In 1980, the third edition of the DSM officially included the revolutionary concept of PTSD. The disorder recognized that anyone who experienced a shocking event could suffer from nightmares, flashbacks and hyper-vigilance as a result. The Holocaust survivor, the victim of abuse, the morally wounded veteran—all became figures who deserved our empathy. Their testimonies and our attentive ears became moral acts.
The publication of the third edition of the DSM marked the dawn of our trauma age - in which we live today. Where survivors were previously distrusted, from now on the sincerity of the trauma victim was no longer questioned. But trauma is no longer just a psychiatric phenomenon. Its dominance has reshaped how we perceive time itself. Trauma frames past, present and future in terms of bitter causes and traumatic consequences—extending across generations.
Where nations once viewed their pasts with pride and arrogance, they now see the trauma of historical oppression. And where the future once promised opportunity, now it looms with potential trauma. Trauma has become the cornerstone of victimhood culture. Recognizing the historical trauma of marginalized groups is vital in a healthy democratic society. Yet, recognition has a different side to it.
Recognition of trauma was meant to help people heal, but when trauma becomes a fixed identity -one that offers rights and privileges - it can hinder recovery.
And what about those who don’t wish to be defined by trauma? Because not everyone who experiences unimaginable trauma wants to label it as such. Some want treatment, resolution, and to move forward - not to remain bound to the identity of trauma. Some seek quiet resolution, while others are represented publicly through visible, collective acts of remembrance. Yet, not all forms of trauma are equally acknowledged.
A few years ago I interviewed an American Vietnam veteran and professor. He reflected on the Dutch commemorations of the Second World War. On the 4th of May, Dutch veterans stand on the Dam Square, forming a guard of honor, some of them accompanied by a service dog that symbolize their psychological scars. However, absent from this scene are refugees, Dutch citizens from Iraq, Afghanistan, or Bosnia—the very countries where these veterans once served. Their stories, and the trauma they carry, remain largely invisible. What do we know about their trauma?
"If everything is trauma, then trauma becomes meaningless."
Can we be critical of the unintended effects of trauma culture? Can we question trauma without doing harm or re-victimizing?
One thing we must question is the inflation of trauma in everyday language. Too often, any painful experience is labeled "traumatic." Losing luggage at the airport or waiting too long in line at a nightclub— I am not exaggerating: this is what people call traumatic. This trauma inflation devalues the concept. If everything is trauma, then trauma becomes meaningless.
We therefore must critically untangle trauma, not to diminish its significance, but to protect its meaning. In order to preserve the care and recognition that traumatized people deserve - in a future certain to hold its own trauma caused by violence, persecution, and war.
Since 2017, ARQ National Psychotrauma Center and Frascati Theater have been collaborating on a unique dialogue between art and science. In the performance Untangling Trauma, theater makers and ARQ trauma experts presented an evening of performances and discussions about trauma, treatments, and (collective) resilience.
Bart Nauta is as a researcher affiliated with ARQ.