Mental Health: Wellbeing and Happiness Series with MoNya-Mental: How to Deal With Trauma and Health Issues

Smacking a child can be quite traumatic and can have a bearing on the rest of that child’s life, yet most families normalise this By Mertha Mo Nyamande Trauma is one of the core issues in all mental health issues; be it physical trauma where blood, guts are spilled and tissues bones are damaged, or psychological where our beliefs are shaken, questioned or threatened. The complexity is when the organ that is both physical and mental is damaged, thereby affecting the cognitive processes. Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) is the most common injury found in Road Traffic Collisions, Abused Children, Domestic Violence or Gender-Based Violence and other violent incidents where trauma to the head, in particular, is sustained. We may not necessarily see the injury to the brain, but the injury to the skull or a concussion is a strong indicator to trigger further neurological assessments. The scar to the organ is never really seen until or unless post-mortem or autopsies are performed after death. This is how we have learnt of Dementias, particularly the Alzheimer’s type, and the aneurysms, seizures and strokes that cause other types of invisible brain injuries.