Life on the street = additive trauma

On the street, everything is present tense.

You need rent money now.

You need to find a safe place to sleep now.

You need to get away from the man attacking you now.

There is no planning for things that might happen in two hours or two days or two months.

It’s all action, all the time. And that means there’s always a new distraction. And no time for reflection.

If, in a quiet moment, memories start creeping into your brain of the horrible things that have been done to you, they’ll be gone a second later when you have to run for cover from a rainstorm.

If you are walking down the street looking for a date, and a lull in traffic lets thoughts sneak into your mind about the horrible things you’ve done, they’ll be gone as soon as a man drives up and says, “Hey baby, want a ride?”

In a present-tense world, there is only time to stay alive.

And that may be on purpose. The trauma builds up over time. First, you are robbed, then you steal. Next, you are beaten, then you learn to punch first. Until finally, there has been so much pain caused by the relentless onslaught of bad things, you’re only thought is keep moving and hope to stay ahead of it. And the hope of a “normal” life has been buried alive by the bad things.

This concept of “additive trauma” is why experts say homeless teens need to get off the street as quickly as possible — hopefully in one year or less.(1) After that, they have seen so many bad things, going back to a mainstream home gets much harder.

After a year, the present tense starts to seem normal. They tell themselves they like the fast pace. The constant movement.

But it’s a lie they tell themselves in order to stay alive.

— Christine Barber, Executive director, Street Safe New Mexico

 

1) Kamieniecki, GW. “Prevalence of psychological distress and psychiatric disorders among homeless youth in Australia: a comparative review.” The Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2001 Jun;35(3):352-8.