Tina was an inspiration to millions. Her story is one of triumphing over childhood trauma, and later, domestic abuse, which is what attracted me to wanting to write about her in the first place. She was a force all of her own, and boy, did she survive.

Here’s what I wrote back then.

Sigmund Freud
It is Freud who is most famous for introducing us to the idea of instincts and drives. He talked of both a survival instinct (Eros) and a death instinct (Thanatos) and the internal conflict that can arise between the two. We sometimes say of a person, “I think he has a death wish”, when someone is demonstrating self-destructive behaviours. But how does the will to survive override any desires to be dead? When does one win out over the other?

Complex PTSD and PTSD
Tina’s story includes all the ingredients of adverse childhood experience, bringing about complex PTSD; and then, later, her abuse at the hands of Ike Turner, that would be enough to give anyone “ordinary” PTSD.

The neglect and often-complete abandonment Tina suffered at the hands of her mother and father whilst growing up was a classic set of circumstances to set her up for what happened next. How could someone who had never felt loved be expected to go out into the world and attract a loving relationship? Ike, and the years of domestic abuse Tina suffered at his hands, were an accident waiting to happen.

Resilience
But what is so remarkable about Tina, was her ability to get herself out of a bad situation, to maintain her pride, to leave Ike with all the money, house etc. and to have the presence of mind to walk away with nothing but her name. More remarkable still, is, that despite her background, she did find love in the end, and a great love too.

The Greatest Love of All
Erwin and Tina have been together for more than 30 years and latterly have been relentlessly challenged by Tina’s catalogue of ill health; high blood pressure, a stroke, cancer, kidney failure and then a kidney transplant (donated by Erwin).

I think it can be said that all those years of abuse, giving rise to both complex PTSD and then PTSD on top of that, took their toll on her body, but still Tina came out fighting. It would seem that love truly can conquer all.

How did Tina Survive?
What makes Tina’s story so different to the next person who has similarly suffered? She had a huge talent to fall back on, for sure, but many rock ‘n’ roll stars have travelled down the path of self-destruction in spite of their talent and their success. I cannot speak for Tina, but having read her book I think there are several things that helped save her.

• She found Buddhism, and in particular chanting
• She never took drugs
• She is possessed of extraordinary psychological resilience
• She is a spiritual seeker, and takes solace in reading and educating herself in spiritual matters. She is an avid fan of Deepak Chopra’s work and talks of the influence of Dante upon her
• Addictions often follow in the wake of such abuse. I wonder at what Tina’s may have been. I suspect she is a shopaholic, indulging her passions for decoration, interior design, designer clothes and shoes. But she never got herself into unmanageable debt. She was also a workaholic and I suspect that her grueling concert tours and loud music would have had the same numbing effect that other addictions generally provide.
• Did taking on a new name and identity help her leave little Anna Mae behind?
• She was always incredibly loyal to her mother, in spite of her poor treatment of her. Was her ability to demonstrate kindness and, eventually, forgiveness, a key to her survival?

There are so many moving parts when it comes to surviving, or not surviving, adverse experience and the post traumatic stress that can result. Tina is an inspiration in that regard. She has more than survived. And, eventually, thrived, finding love and happiness.

Health Challenges
However, Tina did endure many health challenges and these may be seen as the legacy of all that she suffered. Louise Hay’s work encourages us to look at the metaphysical reasons lying behind ill health. Gabor Maté’s work is also in this field, and I can recommend his book “When The Body Says No”.

Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine regards the kidney as the seat of fear. We know that Tina ended up having a kidney transplant. It does not take much of a leap of imagination to know that Tina’s early life was riddled with fear that may have ultimately culminated in her kidney problems.

Intestinal Cancer
Equally, she suffered with, and eventually has died from, intestinal cancer. The metaphysical question here is “What was it that she couldn’t digest?”. Plenty, I would think, although she made a good fist of moving on from it all.

Inner Conflict
At 83, Tina has lived to a good old age. Much of the last decade or so has been defined by ill health, but in many ways, she defied the odds. Love kept her going when her body was reeling from the aftermath of all her traumas.

The Human Spirit
We also cannot deny that Tina’s human spirit was indomitable, and together with the love she found with Erwin, it kept her going through thick and thin. She was a survivor, even though there was a price to pay for all that she had suffered along the way.

🕊️Tina Turner, aka Anna Mae, May you Rest in Peace🕊️