If you have experienced something traumatic you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed, confused, fearful, unsafe, ashamed, numb, angry or helpless.
After a traumatic experience, it can be normal to feel this way. However, if these feelings persist over time, or resurface and cause distress long after what happened to you, your brain may not have processed what has happened. Some people also go on to develop a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
What Is Trauma?
What Is Trauma?
Trauma is the psychological and emotional response we have to a distressing or frightening situation. Trauma occurs when we experience something that overwhelms our brains ability to cope.
How trauma affects someone, is dependent on a variety of things such as: the age that the trauma occurred, whether it was a one off or ongoing situation and the level of support following the incident(s).
What Can Cause Trauma?
What Can Cause Trauma?
There are many situations that people experience that can cause a traumatic response. Some of the more commonly understood ones are:
- Family Violence
- Being in or witnessing a serious accident
- Childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse
- Witnessing or being subjected to violence (physical, sexual or emotional)
- Childhood neglect
- Medical procedures (especially in early childhood)
- Significant relationship breakdown
- Death of a loved one
- Terminal Illness
- Natural Disaster
- Bullying
- Being neurodivergent in a predominantly neurotypical world
However, it is important to note that there are many other things that can result in trauma. Often, people minimise their experiences and symptoms, leaving them untreated for years. They believe that what they experienced was not that bad compared to someone else; who they may perceive as legitimately having PTSD or struggling with trauma symptoms. It is important to recognise that ANYTHING that overwhelms your brain’s ability to cope, leaving you feeling helpless and very emotionally distressed can cause trauma or PTSD. While traumatic experiences can be frightening or deeply upsetting, there are effective trauma informed treatments to support you and help you heal.
