The 14 Hidden Roots of Psychological Trauma | NowShift August 10, 2025

Trauma’s fingerprints are everywhere—on our choices, our relationships, our trust in the world—yet we often fail to see them. In this opening episode of our 7-part series, Dr. Abhimanyou Raathore, founder of the Antifragilient Operating System, guides you through a rare and revealing map of the 14 hidden roots of psychological trauma.

What is trauma, really? It’s not just a single shocking event—it’s an injury, whether physical, sexual, or emotional, severe enough to alter your sense of safety, trust, and reality itself. Dr. Raathore explains how these roots often form in early life, shaping the “protective parts” of our personality—managers, firefighters, and exiles—that work tirelessly to keep us safe.

From attachment failures and childhood neglect to community violence, racism, and sexual abuse, you’ll hear how each root leaves a lasting imprint on the nervous system. Most importantly, you’ll discover why these responses are not signs of weakness—they’re intelligent survival adaptations your body and mind created in moments of deep vulnerability.

By the end of this episode, you won’t just know the roots of trauma—you’ll recognize them in yourself and others, and begin to shift from self-blame to self-understanding. Take a breath, offer yourself some gentleness, and prepare to see your inner landscape more clearly than ever before.

This is just the beginning. Subscribe now to follow the series and explore how trauma shapes your emotional symptoms, protective parts, and path toward healing.

A podcast by Dr. Abhimanyou Raathore
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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Anti-Fragilient Transmission
• 1:06 Defining Trauma and Its Impact
• 2:35 The History and Roots of Trauma
• 7:34 Healing Journey and Looking Forward
• 8:42 Closing Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Today is August 10th 2025. My name is Dr Abhimanyu Rathore and I'm the founder of the Anti-Fragilient Operating System. Today's anti-fragilient transmission for the day is that we understand more about trauma and the different kind of symptoms that trauma can show up. As you might ask me, doc, why do we need to understand that? The reason is that in the past three episodes, you were exposed to or you got to know about the different kind of parts that you have, that's, the managers, the firefighters and the exiles. Understanding the different ways in which drama can show up will help you understand how these parts got formed for you as an individual. So in today's session and the next six sessions, which are going to be very interesting, we are exploring a different way trauma can leave its mark. The idea is not to diagnose you, but to help you recognize patterns and understand yourself better.

Speaker 1: 1:36

For our purposes, what is trauma? Trauma is actually an injury, so it can be a physical, sexual or emotional injury, and it is so severe that it shifts your fundamental reality, it shifts your ability to trust people and it even shifts your worldview. And trauma can be caused by a single event, or it can be a long-standing pattern of injury, like childhood abuse or neglect, and we know from studies that you know there are many symptoms that result from psychological trauma. In this series we are going to look at those symptoms across different categories so you can relate to them and see how they might be showing up in your life. And today we begin with the history of trauma. Now, what is history of trauma? History of trauma, in simple terms terms, is when we talk about trauma, we are not just talking about one shocking event. Sometimes it's a chain of experiences that shapes how safe we feel in the world. And now let's understand some of the common roots.

Speaker 1: 3:08

The first root could be inattachment failure. This is when, as a child, you didn't get the steady love, care and safety you needed from your primary caregiver. You might have felt unseen, unheard or emotionally alone. Second route could be childhood neglect. You know, because while growing up, it's not just about food or clothing, but it is also about having your emotional and developmental needs ignored or respected. When they're ignored and there's no one to comfort you when you're hurt, scared or sad, that's childhood neglect. The third route could be community violence Growing up in an environment where fights, shootings, riots or unsafe streets were a regular part of your life and that's why you couldn't relax, because danger felt just outside your door. That could be another route. The fourth route could be criminal violence. You know being a victim of robbery, assault or any act where another person intentionally harmed or threatened you could be a route to the fifth.

Speaker 1: 4:39

One could be discrimination. You know being treated unfairly or excluded because of your race, religion, gender, gender, sexuality or appearance. You know this chips away at your very sense of belonging. Sixth root of you know trauma could be divorce. Watching your parents' relationship break apart and feeling the emotional fallout, which could be confusion, loss of stability, sometimes even guilt could be a root too. Seventh root could be violent or frightening caregivers. Seventh root could be violent or frightening caregivers. You know living with adults whose anger, aggression or unpredictability made home feel unsafe can be really tough. Eighth root could be early loss. You know it could be death of a caregiver or it could be adoption. Losing a parent or a primary caregiver caregiver, sorry, caregiver as a child, through death or separation can leave a deep wound, even if you were later cared for by someone else. That can be pretty tough.

Speaker 1: 6:05

Ninth possible route is family separation. You know being physically apart from your family due, to, say, migration, war, imprisonment or other circumstances. That gap leaves a feeling of being cut off from your roots. Tenth could be hate crime. You know experiencing violence or harassment specifically because of your identity Okay, it is. You know probably could be race, religion or sexual orientation.

Speaker 1: 6:42

Eleventh could be medical trauma going through painful or frightening medical procedures, long hospital stays or being treated in a way that felt unsafe or dehumanizing. Twelfth could be physical abuse any form of hitting, beating or physically harming a child or adult. You know the body remembers this even years later. Thirteenth could be racism. Experiencing prejudice, you know exclusion or mistreatment because of your race, sometimes in small daily ways, sometimes in life-altering moments of your race, sometimes in small daily ways, sometimes in life-altering moments. And, last but not the least, could be the root of sexual abuse Any unwanted sexual contact or behaviors, especially devastating, you know it's especially devastating when it especially happens in childhood or at the hand of someone you trusted.

Speaker 1: 7:50

If you noticed yourself in any of these examples, please remember it's not about shame or blame. These are your nervous system's ways of surviving. These are your nervous system's ways of surviving. Take time to notice, breathe and be gentle with yourself if any of these happen to you. In our next episode, we'll explore emotional symptoms of trauma so that you can continue building a clearer picture of your own healing journey and, in the process, understanding your parts that's, your protective parts, your firefighters and your exiles better. Thank you very much. I'm holding you close and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.