When I Woke Up Friday

Understanding our past is an endeavor that most individuals struggle with. An individual’s past affects the individual’s present and near future, simply because our past shapes us as an individual. In addition, an individual’s past may also affect how that individual handles the events he or she encounters. For example, due to their past, some individuals may dissociate meaning that they will blank out on a situation or event, while some may split, meaning they will think in an either or pattern, which is inconsistent. Martha Stout, the author of “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday” tells stories about how her patients are affected by trauma and explains how an individual’s understanding of his or her past can influence his or her …show more content…
The environment an individual was raised in can affect them because they may not be able to express themselves, which ultimately results in dissociation or having to live a double life. Julia, one of Stout’s patients experienced trauma due to her abusive family and the environment she was raised in. Julia mentally separated herself to an extent to which she did not know herself: “By this, she meant that her mind had learned how to dissociate Julia’s self from what was going on around her, how to transport awareness to a place far enough away that, at most, she felt she was watching the life of a little girl named Julia from a great distance. A sad little girl named Julia was helpless and could not escape; but psychologically absent” (426). Julia’s encounter of dissociation depicts that dissociation can create an unrealistic perception of reality, which may ultimately prevent an individual from understanding him or herself. If Julia had the ability to understand how she would realistically feel, then she would have had been able to identify herself and create her own history. However, due to the abuse she suffered, she did not get the chance to discover herself as a child and instead dissociated and was removed from reality. When individuals like Julia cannot express themselves due to family trauma, they are unable to create an identity of history for themselves, due to …show more content…
An individual may be unsatisfied with his or her current life, and can use his or her past experience to make a change. This change will enable individuals to better define themselves with the creation of their own identities and histories. For example, Seth, one of Stout’s patients, had suffered from trauma in the past, which did not allow him to live his life and thus wanted to make a change so he could better express himself as an individual. When expressing how he felt while in a state of dissociation to Stout, he responded, “I feel like such an imposter. I’m out in my ocean, and you don’t know that. And I can’t tell you what’s going on. Sometimes I’d really like to tell you, but I can’t. I’m gone.” (436). Seth’s feelings indicate that trauma victims may have the ability to understand their feelings, and may in fact want to have an understanding of themselves as a whole, without dissociating, which ultimately would result in creating an identity for themselves. Individuals who encounter a similar situation as that of Seth’s are given the opportunity to create an identity and history for themselves if they want to make the change. They can use their past experience that they didn’t learn much about themselves as a tool to help them progress further. Similar to how Seth wanted to make a change and

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