Our trauma can be triggered when we happen to find ourselves in situation similar to when we were first traumatized. We know that, but sometimes it is not easy to consciously see the similarities in a situation, when our subconscious very well can. I was alway afraid of doctors. The idea of – hold still, I just swiftly cut you bleeding – alway felt unnatural und rather sadistic to me. „I only want to help“ the doctors used to tell me. Too bad my doctors couldn’t project the scope of consequences it reals to grow up with a sadistic mother. Everyday tasks are triggering. For example …
To this day my teeth are cricket because I was too anxious to pull out my baby teeth – and left them in as long as I could. I have fainted when a loose tooth started bleeding and still couldn’t bring myself to pull it out. I have postponed having my wisdom teeth removed for years. And then almost demolish the practice when I had the stitches removed. Although I have alway gone to regular check ups because rationally I of cause see the necessity.
As I have talked about before, I faint by the mere thought of blood and injury. As I have learned while writing this article, it is more due to disgust rather than fear. However, it has been argued that dental phobia might be a specific subtype of blood and injury phobia – Which even if that is the case it doesn’t look at causality (1).
A study found that women who had been sexually abused where more anxious and fearful of dental treatments than others. It even took into account that victims of sexual violence are probably generally more fearful. Maybe the loss of control is the particularly triggering experience for these women, they argue. But they also look into the specificity of possible triggers and found that women who’s mouth was penetrated during the abuse, where most fearful of dentists and dental procedures. Like me, 40 % of the women reported they had cancelled appointments, however most of them do get regular check ups, too (2).
Maternal abuse can be wonderfully disguised as hygiene routine. It thereby evades being detected with the regular definitions of sexual abuse (3). But lets say for arguments sake that a violent penetration of the mouth cavity with a finger of inanimate object could also by a disturbing experience with long term repercussions. Then maternal abuse should be looked at as in individual gruesome beast, because it has severe implications on the victims health and well being. Or maternal abuse should be looked at as a form of sexual abuse.
(1) Is dental phobia a blood-injection-injury phobia? (2014) C. van Houtem, I. Aartman, D. Boomsma, L. Lighthart, C. Visscher A. Jongh
(2) Dental fear in sexually abused women (2001) T. Willumsen
(3) Mother-Daughter sexual abuse: An exploratory study of the experiences of survivors of MDSA using Reddit (2022) A. E. Lin , J. A. Young , J. E. Guarino
