The Impact of Trauma
News Letter
by Chris Straface, LPC on December 7, 2023
Trauma. This word is used a lot. It has become a common word heard in television, movies, and to describe interactions or occurrences that are stressful. While trauma is a presentation of stress, it is more than that. Like many buzzwords, the word “trauma” is often overused. This leads to a minimization of those who experience trauma. This article will describe what “Trauma” is, what it is not, signs of trauma, and methods of treatment.
Trauma describes an adverse reaction to a stressful situation. Everyone experiences stress. We experience work stress, financial stress, family stress and so forth. However, this is not trauma and these situations would not usually be considered traumatic events. They are common experiences most adults humans experience.
But imagine for a moment that you are living your day. Just like every day. You get up, get ready for work or school. Grab coffee at the local coffee shop and then suddenly “CRASH”!!! Your life is interrupted. Notice I didn't say “day” but “life”. This interruption could be a car accident, the unexpected death of a loved one, an assault, a natural disaster, or a burglary. It really can be anything. This one event has turned your life upside down.
The impact
The impact of a traumatic event can be almost immediate. If your negative reactions to the event occurred within the first days or weeks after the event, you might have what is called “Acute Stress Disorder”. However, sometimes the symptoms can remain for years or show up years later. PTSD is typically defined as experiencing symptoms of trauma that last 6 months or more.
Trauma, which is the reaction to the traumatic event, does not mean a person is weak or incapable. It doesn't mean that something is wrong with you. The symptoms of trauma, especially initially, are considered normal human reactions to a stress inducing event. However, if the symptoms are leading to functional impairment and are staying present when it doesn't make sense, thats a problem.
Here’s an example. Jim was in a serious car accident several years ago. At the time Jim was in the hospital for several days and had months of physical therapy. This impacted his job, family, and financial status. Now he is physically better. He is able to work, drive, spend time with family, but he doesn't. Every time he has to get into his car he experiences trembling hands, rapid heart beat, and nervous sweating. He relives the accident over and over in his mind, not because he wants to, but because his mind wont let go of it. The memories are unwanted and intrusive. If he is able to get to work, he has trouble focusing and finds he is daydreaming a lot. At home he is irritable and argues with his family more than he used to. His family tells him he is not himself.
Some of Jim’s experiences might make sense in other settings. For example, if he lived in a place where there was a threat of constant attack. Rapid heart beat, rapid breathing, adrenaline entering the body preparing it for action, anger to fend off the threat, replaying a scenario in ones mind to prepare for it. All of these experiences make sense in a life or death situation. But they don't make sense for Jim, when he is sitting on his couch trying to get ready to go work and thinking about going for a drive in his car.
Symptoms of Trauma
Symptoms of trauma include physical reactions as well as mental and emotional reactions. Some of the examples of a traumatic response include rapid heart beat, rapid breathing, trembling or shaking, upset stomach, nervous sweating, racing thoughts, preoccupation with unwanted thoughts or physical sensations, difficulty focusing, unwanted memories of the traumatic event, irritability, panic, fear. In extreme circumstances someone might experience depersonalization, derealization, or disassociation.
Ok, so we have discussed very briefly what trauma is and how someone might experience it. Now a brief discussion on what trauma is not. First, let me comment that anything can be a traumatic event and lead to trauma. The event is not as important as the perception of the event. Any event that causes a person to experience a sudden sense of threat or imminent risk of danger or loss. Not simply a general loss, but for the person, on a core level, the said event is perceived the same as threat of death or significant loss. Even though a person might not experience a life or death situation, their brain might interpret the experience to be the same as a life or death situation and have trauma symptoms.
Trauma is not just being upset or experiencing something upsetting. There are times when someone might experience what is considered to be a traumatic event, but not have symptoms of trauma. They might actually grow from trauma. This is called post-traumatic growth. You might be asking why it is that someone can experience a traumatic event and not experience trauma symptoms, when someone else experiencing the same event does experience trauma symptoms. There are several reasons for this, however, if the person has many protective factors they could be more resilient and thereby not experience the impact of the traumatic event as severely.
Some examples of protective factors include healthy physical development, high self esteem, intellectual development, the ability to regulate emotions, good coping skills, involvement in school, healthy and safe friendships, involvement in athletics or healthy hobbies, involvement in religion, and supportive cultural beliefs.
What to do if you or someone you know has symptoms of trauma
There is good news. Fortunately there are several treatments that are shown to reduce the impact of traumatic events and lead to healing. While no therapy can erase the event, treatment can help the event become much less impactful and help the person move back to a healthy and happy life. Examples of treatments that are research supported to reduce the impact of trauma include Trauma Informed Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT) (for children), and Exposure Therapy. With good therapy it is possible to reduce the impact of the traumatic event and move back to a healthy and enjoyable life.
PCS Counseling Services, PLLC offers in person and virtual counseling services for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, PTSD, OCD, Life Adjustment, Parent/Child relationship, and Parenting Defiant Children. To learn more about our services or schedule an appointment visit our website at Request Appointment | PCS Counseling Services | SimplePractice (clientsecure.me).
