Kleshas: The Five Trauma-Generating Mental Afflictions

Patanjali identifies five kleshas (afflictions) that generate all psychological suffering: avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of death). Trauma engages all five. Ignorance keeps survivors unaware of their nervous system's conditioned responses. Ego creates shame narratives that compound trauma. Attachment to how life should have been fuels grief and resistance. Aversion causes avoidance of triggers and emotions. Abhinivesha manifests as hypervigilance and death anxiety. Understanding these kleshas provides a diagnostic framework for PTSD's psychological mechanisms. Rather than experiencing trauma as random chaos, survivors can recognize patterns: the aversion that drives nightmares avoidance, the asmita creating shame, the avidya preventing recognition of recovery progress. By naming these afflictions, practitioners gain psychological distance and agency. Patanjali's system suggests that trauma's power decreases when its constituent patterns are recognized and consciously addressed through specific practices targeted at each klesha's root.