PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a term that gets used a lot in psychology these days. Fear isn’t something that just happens before an event, fear can be experienced later when remembering (and re-living psychologically) something traumatic. It’s easy to tell someone to not dwell on the past, but it is something our brains do. Maybe it is a way for us to learn from the bad things that happened so we avoid situations in the future. Even with infants, is it possible that the individual can grow up with memories of the event and experience fear as they relive the moment? Some have reported nightmares that suggest so. If a person goes into having surgery performed on their body knowing what to expect, they are much less likely to be traumatized by it. With many genital cutting rituals of older children, those children are often not well prepared; thus, they end up with a traumatic event in their life.
Page last updated February 8, 2022