The Trauma Produced Time-lapse in Theoretical Perceptions and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

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Written, edited, created, and published By Nisa Pasha — Executive Political Health Guru, Peer Counselor, and Educator, MentalHealthRevival.org

The Geography of Time by Robert Levine explores how different cultures and individuals perceive and use time, arguing that time is not a universal experience but a socially constructed concept that varies across geography, society, and personal psychology.

I own a copy of this book, I first encountered the Geography of Time by Robert Levine during my studies at California State East Bay-Hayward pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Human Development.

When we relate this to time lapses and people with developmental delays in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), we can extract a meaningful interpretation that blends Levine’s insights with clinical application.

Descriptive Summary: Geography of Time & Developmental Delays in DBT

1. Time Perception is Cultural and Personal:

Levine describes how people in different parts of the world experience time differently—some cultures are fast-paced (e.g., U.S., Japan), while others move more slowly (e.g., Brazil, rural Africa). Similarly, people with developmental delays may experience subjective time differently due to neurological, cognitive, or emotional processing differences. In DBT therapy, this altered time perception can manifest as:

Difficulty sequencing events (e.g., understanding cause-effect over time).

Disorientation in daily routines, leading to struggles with scheduling or impulse control.

Emotional time distortions, where distress feels eternal or joy feels fleeting.

2. Time Lapses and Mindfulness:

In DBT, mindfulness is a core skill that emphasizes staying present. For individuals with cognitive or developmental delays, time lapses—moments where attention drifts, memory fades, or emotions override cognition—can disrupt emotional regulation and task performance. Levine’s notion that time is fluid aligns with how DBT encourages people to ground themselves in the “now”, compensating for the subjective speeding up or slowing down of time.

Someone with ADHD or a developmental delay may overestimate or underestimate how long an emotional episode or task will take.

DBT teaches how to slow down time intentionally, through techniques like “STOP” (Stop, Take a step back, Observe, Proceed mindfully).

3. Pace of Life and Therapy Expectations:

Levine warns that a fast "pace of life" can lead to stress, burnout, and reduced empathy. For people with developmental challenges, living in a society that values speed and productivity may increase shame, frustration, and invalidation. DBT therapists are trained to validate the client’s internal clock, helping them build realistic goals that align with their unique pace of development and time processing.

Therapy may progress non-linearly; time perception differences mean clients may “regress” or plateau.

DBT’s structure, with repetitive skill training, accommodates this by reinforcing concepts over time rather than expecting immediate mastery.

4. Radical Acceptance and Temporal Self-Compassion:

DBT emphasizes radical acceptance, including acceptance of one’s time-based struggles. Levine's book encourages us to understand that no single time rhythm is superior. For individuals in DBT with developmental delays:

Learning to forgive themselves for time loss (e.g., dissociation, emotional shutdowns) is healing.

Therapy helps create a personal time map, where progress is tracked based on individual milestones, not societal clocks.

Conclusion: Integrating Levine and DBT

In sum, The Geography of Time shows us that time is not fixed, and DBT supports clients in navigating their subjective temporal realities—especially when developmental delays affect perception, regulation, and planning. Understanding that everyone experiences time differently allows for more compassionate, customized therapy and reduces stigma around being “slow” or “behind. ” DBT and Levine both advocate for mindful engagement with the present, respecting one’s internal pace, and building tools to live effectively—even when time seems against you.

***Here is a short story which is semi nonfictional with a twist of surreal events with a sinister time lapse projected on me

“The Line That Bent Time” — by Nisa Pasha

I remember the day so clearly, even though it felt like time didn’t move the way it was supposed to. It was one of those afternoons when the air felt too thick with energy — like something was about to happen, but you couldn’t name what. I walked into this store, minding my own business, when the scene hit me like a déjà vu that didn’t belong to me.

The line was long — unnaturally long — a slow-moving snake of people stretched across the aisles. Every face looked locked in a kind of loop: tattoos, strollers, blank stares, babies crying, phones lighting up faces that didn’t blink. It was like someone had pressed play on a time-lapse, and I’d just stepped inside it. Everyone moved at the same rhythm, like a pulse that wasn’t mine.

For a second, it felt like they were waiting for me. Like this line existed to provoke something, some reaction, like the universe wanted me to confront this strange choreography of chaos. And in that moment, my chest tightened — not from fear, but from recognition. I’d seen this before, just not in a store. It reminded me of The Walking Dead — that same eerie slowness, people drifting like ghosts still trying to act alive, carrying their sins and symbols on their skin.

That’s when I realized — this wasn’t just a line. It was a mirror.

I wasn’t looking at “them”; I was looking at how my mind processes disorder — how trauma, fatigue, and too much information can warp a regular moment into something cinematic and sinister. My body was whispering, “Slow down.” My brain was saying, “You’ve been here before.”

As a peer support counselor, I’ve learned to translate those moments into mindfulness. So I did what DBT taught me: STOP.

I took a step back.

I breathed into my ribs.

I let myself just observe.

I looked again, without the story this time. Ten people, one clerk, a crying baby, two tattoos, a woman scrolling through her phone, a man staring at the gum rack. Nothing supernatural. Nothing aimed at me. Just life — messy, human, slow.

And yet, there was truth in that illusion. The moment felt sinister because the world can feel that way when we’ve been through too much. When you’ve carried trauma, you start seeing signs everywhere — in lines, in eyes, in time itself. But healing means learning that sometimes what looks like chaos is just ordinary life passing through your nervous system too fast.

By the time I reached the front of the line, the time-lapse had stopped. I was back in real time — heart rate steady, voice calm, holding my items and my peace.

Walking out, I thought: maybe these “sinister” moments are invitations. Maybe they’re just the universe saying, “Check your grounding. Time is bending — stay present.”

So I smiled at the next person walking in, hoping they’d feel something different than I did. Hoping they’d feel time moving normally.

Theory: "The Walking Dead" as a Metaphor for Traumatic Time Lapses

Premise:

The Walking Dead can be interpreted not only as a post-apocalyptic survival story but as a symbolic journey through collective and individual trauma, where time does not move in a linear way—mirroring how the traumatized brain experiences time lapses, disorientation, and fragmented memories.

1. Traumatic Time and Psychological Freezing

After the apocalypse, characters often seem “frozen in time.” Seasons go by, but emotionally, many are stuck:

Rick continues to hallucinate Lori.

Carol cycles through guilt and detachment across seasons.

Morgan's PTSD causes temporal dissociation—he “forgets” where he is, what he’s doing, and snaps back into different mindsets.

Theory: The undead world is a frozen moment of trauma—a suspended psychological reality where time has lost its meaning. The walkers don’t age, decay slowly, and wander aimlessly—a metaphor for psychic time lapses, like dissociation and emotional numbness.

2. Time Skips as Symbolic Recovery or Avoidance

Throughout the series, the show uses time skips (months or years between seasons) without explaining in detail what happened in the interim. These gaps symbolize:

Avoidance of pain – much like trauma survivors suppress memories, the show glosses over the darkest times.

Subjective time loss – for many characters, time does not move in “normal” ways. They miss their children's growth (e.g., Judith), lose track of how long they’ve been surviving, or experience days that feel like decades due to loss and violence.

Theory: The series’ time jumps replicate the discontinuous perception of time in grief, PTSD, and survival—where time either drags or vanishes altogether.

3. The Walkers as Lost Time

Walkers, in this theory, represent time that cannot move forward:

They are echoes of the past—dead yet moving, reminders of moments that never fully end.

Like memories of trauma, they return in waves, never quite gone.

Killing walkers is a ritual of trying to sever ties to moments that should be over, but linger like emotional flashbacks.

4. Narrative Time and the Lack of Civilization

In the show, clocks, calendars, and schedules no longer matter. Civilization is measured in human connection, not in time:

Relationships mark time (births, deaths, new groups).

There is a sense of timelessness, almost a mythical journey through archetypes—leader, betrayer, prophet, healer.

Theory: The Walking Dead constructs a mythic time zone—a state where society’s linear timeline is erased, and human healing becomes the only marker of progress.

5. The Show as a DBT Allegory: Time and Emotional Regulation

DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) emphasizes living in the present, tolerating distress, and regulating emotions—skills many characters are forced to learn:

Carol practices radical acceptance of pain and loss.

Morgan oscillates between emotional mind and wise mind, struggling to stay regulated.

Rick tries to build a life despite emotional flashbacks.

Theory: The show’s portrayal of time—skipped, stretched, and suspended—mirrors the inner journey of trauma survivors, like those in DBT therapy, where emotional and cognitive time rarely align.

Final Interpretation:

The Walking Dead is not about zombies. It is about survivors navigating nonlinear time, where trauma distorts past, present, and future. The time lapses—both in narrative and in the characters’ minds—reflect a world where the ordinary flow of life has been interrupted. Healing, then, is not about restoring the old time, but learning to live fully in a new, undefined present.

If you have specific questions or concerns, feel free to share!

Hope you found this insightful while grasping the key components!

Please contact me if you would like to chat in a peer counseling session, revolving around this post or another topic.

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