What is Psychological Trauma?
Trauma is a psychological response to an event or series of events that is deeply distressing or disturbing. These events may include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, exposure to violence or warfare, accidents, natural disasters, or other forms of severe stress. Trauma can have a profound and lasting impact on an individual’s mental and physical health, and can manifest in a wide range of symptoms, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a host of other emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes. Trauma can also affect an individual’s relationships and ability to function in their daily life. It is important to note that people respond differently to traumatic events and have different ways to cope with it. Trauma-informed care and therapy are some of the ways that are used to help individuals to heal from the effects of trauma.
Types of Trauma:
- Mono-trauma: Experiencing one traumatic event
- Multiple trauma: Experiencing a series of traumatic events
- Sequential trauma: Experiencing the same traumatic event repeatedly for a period of time
- Developmental/Complex (Childhood) trauma: Experiencing traumatic events during childhood
Types of tramatic events:
- Big t-trauma
- War-actions
- Criminal actions: sexual abuse and rape, misuse, extreme neglect, torture, kidnapping and other crimes of violence such as armed robbery or murder
- Natural catastrophes/traffic accidents: Earthquakes, tornadoes, fire, flooding/ disasters with trains, aircrafts and ships
- Accidents and diseases
- Invasive medical operations (Intensive care unit)
- Sudden loss of someone close and social security
- Small t-trauma
- Cumulative incidents involving fright, humiliation, extreme awkwardness, shame and helplessness.
Signs and Symptoms of Psycholocial Trauma:
Some of the most common symptoms of psychological trauma may be divided into five categories:
- Intrusive Symptoms:
- Intrusive thoughts
- Nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Anxiety and Panic attacks
- Avoidance Symptoms:
- Avoidance of activities and/or places that may trigger memories of the event
- Social isolation and withdrawal
- Lack of interest in activities that were previously enjoyed
- Alcohol and drug use
- Dissociation
- Hyper-arousal Symptoms:
- Insomnia
- Hypervigilance
- Loss of memory and concentration abilities
- Easily startled
- Out-of-control bursts of anger
- Hypo-arousal Symptoms:
- Emotional numbing
- Feelings of depression, shame, hopelessness, or despair
- Anhedonia
- Self-harm
- Lethargy
- Other trauma-related symptoms:
- Physical symptoms (somatoform)
- Eating disorders
- Relationship building difficulties
- Impaired communication skills
- Personality Disorders
Directly After Trauma:
Directly after trauma it is vital to practice self-care. Remember that your responses are normal reactions to a stressful traumatic situation. Therefore, it is important to be around those close to you and to focus on your basic needs. Do things that feel good to you and maintain a routine. Don’t force yourself to do things you don’t have the energy for, nor make any major life decisions. Give yourself time and rest when you feel tired.
Help After Trauma:
After trauma, many people use their coping mechanisms to help ease the stress. This can be very beneficial at first. When coping mechanisms start to become ineffective and even unhealthy – for instance alcohol or drug use or retreating from family and friends – this might be a good time to seek professional help.
Treatment:
It is important to know that recovering from trauma takes time, and varies from person to person.
Trauma treatment includes psychotherapy, but may also entail psychopharmacology.
It is important to find the right therapeutic approach for you (individual, group etc.). No particular treatment approach is effective for everyone, finding the right one for you might take a while.
Who can help?
Working through trauma can be painful, and the work is best done with the help of an experienced trauma specialist. A family doctor, a local priest, or an imam may be able to help you find someone with experience in treating PTSD.