Sometimes people who have been exposed to somebody (or something) who had inflicted terrible harm on them—harm they have no way of escaping from lose hope because they have been trapped or immobilized, unable to take action to stave off the inevitable. The mere opportunity to escape does not necessarily make traumatized people take the road to freedom. Many traumatized people simply give up rather than experimenting with new options, they stay stuck in the fear they know. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 7

They may realize that they do not have enough money to escape or somehow believe that their problems will follow them and they will be worse off. Traumatized people secreted much larger amounts of stress hormones, called cortisol, than is normal, and they keep secreting large amounts of stress hormones long after the actual danger has passed. Which may indicate that it takes a while to recover from extreme trauma because the body and mind are still in shock, and it wreaks havoc with their health.  #RyanPhillippe 2 of 7

Some studies have shown that traumatized people may be condemned to seek refuge in what is familiar. However, is it possible to help people become attached to places and activities that are safe and pleasurable? A sixteen-year-old called Jenny was brutally raped at gunpoint in a hotel room at age sixteen. Shortly thereafter, she got involved with a violent pimp who prostituted her. Finally, her grandparents intervened and paid for an intense rehab program. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 7

After she successfully completed inpatient treatment, she started working as a receptionist and taking courses at a local college. In her sociology class she wrote a term paper about the liberating possibilities of prostitution, for which she read the memories of serval famous prostitutes. A brief relationship with a classmate quickly went sour—he bored her to tears, she said, and she was repelled by his boxer shorts. Jenny then picked up an addict on the lightrail who first beat her up and then started to stalk her. She finally became motivated to return to treatment when she was once again severely beaten.  #RyanPhillippe 4 of 7

SECRETS AND LIES 

Reenactments are an unconscious attempt to get control over painful situations and that they could eventually lead to mastery and resolution. There is no evidence for that theory—repetition leads only to further pain and self-hatred. In fact, even reliving the trauma repeatedly in therapy may reinforce preoccupation fixation. Normally attractors are meant to make us feel better. So, why are so many people attracted to dangerous painful situations? #RyanPhillippe 5 of 7

Well, the body learns to adjust to all sorts of stimuli. We may get hooked on recreational drugs because they right away make us feel so good, but activities like sauna bathing, marathon running, or parachute jumping, which initially cause discomfort and even terror, can officially become very enjoyable. This gradual adjustment signals that a new chemical balance has been established within the body, so that marathon runners, say, get a sense of well-being and exhilaration from pushing their bodies to the limit. #RyanPhillippe 6 of 7

At this point, just as with drug addiction, we start to crave the activity and experience withdrawal when it is not available. In the long run people become more preoccupied with the pain of withdrawal than the activity itself. This theory could explain why some people hire someone to beat them, or burn themselves with cigarettes, or even why they are only attracted to people who hurt them. Fear and aversion, in some perverse way, can be transformed into pleasure. #RyanPhillippe 7 of 7