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Trauma is not one event or a clutter of experiences, it’s a person’s individualized injuries as a result of experience(s).
As a trauma treatment specialist, I often encounter the term “trauma” being misused. Some people believe that trauma is defined as an experience(s) such as sexual assault, natural disasters, and child abuse to name a few. Yet, trauma is actually an injury that results from an experience(s). To better understand this concept consider the medical field.
Doctors and nurses provide treatment based mainly upon a person’s injuries. For example, let say that two people have the same severe injuries from an animal attack. Their doctors would identify both sets of injuries as trauma and would determine the course of treatment accordingly. The doctor would not designate one person has having more trauma when compared to the other as they have the same injuries. Going further, if one of these patients was attacked by a tiger and the other was attacked by a domestic cat - they are both experiencing trauma as defined by their doctors. I wish that more people would perceive trauma related to mental health in the same way. Yet, there is a misperception that some experiences are more traumatic than others - even if the injuries are similar.
There are many well known experience(s) which could cause trauma. Here are a few:
- War (civilians and military)
- Physical/Sexual/Emotional Abuse and Neglect
- Child Abuse
- Medical Illness or Injury
- Deaths
- Natural Disasters
- Life Threatening Events
Yet, there are other experience(s) which can cause trauma that you may not be aware of. Here are a few:
- Distributed Attachments (Loss of a caregiver by death, mental illness, adoption, substance use, deployment, imprisonment, divorce, abandonment, parental mental illness, etc.)
- Racism, Discrimination
- Homelessness, Poverty
- Bullying
- Medical Procedures
- Substance Use
- Divorce, Separation, End of a relationship
- Secondary trauma (a result of supporting others who experienced trauma)
How do I identify trauma?
In order to identify if you or someone else experiences trauma try not to focus solely on the event(s). There are many people who have experiences that some would consider traumatic, but these people have not experienced trauma. For example, you could have a near death experience and feel well adjusted after an initial period of shock. We don’t know all of the factors that protect some people from experiencing injuries when they experience events that may be traumatized for others. It’s important to know that an experience which may result in injuries to some may not do so in others. Here is a brief list of some of the injuries that someone could experience as a result of a traumatic event:
- Delayed cognitive, physical, and emotional development
- Insomnia, hypersomnia, Sleep difficulties
- Physical illnesses, Chronic pain
- Struggles to attach, trust, or feel safe with others
- Social isolation
- Inability to regulate emotions
- Low self worth
- Anxiety, panic, depression, anger, confusion, lack of concentration
- Dissociation or depersonalization
- Flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thought
- Self sabotaging thoughts and/or actions
Trauma is not one event or a clutter of experiences, it’s a person’s individualized injuries as a result of experience(s).
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