Christmas beyond the lights: a psycho-criminological perspective on relational violence
The Christmas season is often depicted as a time of harmony; yet, clinical reality reveals a profoundly different dimension: a period of peak vulnerability where relational tension can escalate into tragedy. Through the analysis of 17 daily life stories, a "red thread" emerges, linking unresolved trauma to impulsive violence, highlighting that scientific awareness is the only effective tool for prevention.
The pathology of everyday life: C-PTSD and emotional dysregulation
The core of the risk lies in dynamics that are often invisible. Many victims live in a state of C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), a condition of perennial alertness where the body remembers danger even before the mind does.
- Emotional hijacking: Seemingly harmless stimuli - such as a music box melody or an affectionate question - can activate the FEAR system at maximum volume, shutting down the prefrontal cortex and leaving archaic instincts in command.
- The illusion of the “raptus”: Science proves that violence is not a "bolt from the blue." It is often the outcome of chronic emotional dysregulation and a long "fuse" built on humiliations and unresolved conflicts, such as unpaid debts or old family grudges.
- The Improper Weapon: In contexts of betrayed intimacy, common objects like a kitchen knife become instruments of an irreversible fate in a fraction of a second.
Vulnerability and social silence
Trauma makes no distinction of gender or age, but it thrives on isolation and prejudice.
- Invisible victims: Men suffering in silence from domestic abuse and elderly women imprisoned by shame regarding their abusive children represent tomorrow's "empty seats" if the wall of silence is not broken.
- Repetition compulsion: Without emotional education, individuals are condemned to replicate models of abuse suffered in childhood, often mistaking obsessive possession for love.
- The christmas deception: Denial ("everyone is kinder at Christmas") is the worst enemy of prevention, leading people to lower their guard exactly when tension is at its peak.
Scientific hope: measurement and biofeedback
To counter the "condemnation to repetition," the AIPC and CIPR approach proposes objective clinical protocols that replace sensations with data.
- ASVS protocol: A fundamental tool for assessing the risk of acting out and the capacity for self-control, allowing for intervention before the explosion.
- Biofeedback: This technology allows patients to physically "see" their stress and anger on a screen, learning to master them through neuroscientific regulation of breathing and heart rate.
- Education as a watershed: The difference between tragedy and healing lies in the ability to name one's pain and measure one's mental health status.
Conclusion: The gift of rebirth
True justice and true peace are not found in a court sentence or under a tree, but in the solemn promise to listen to one's body and ask for help. Healing is a real and measurable journey.
If you recognize yourself in these dynamics, write a new beginning.
Email: aipcitalia@gmail.com
Website: www.associazioneitalianadipsicologiaecriminologia.it
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