PTSD & Trauma Basics: Definitions, Effects, Symptoms
7 out 10 people have experienced a traumatic event during their lifetime, and 20% of those people may be suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms. Trauma effects people many times and they don’t even know they have been through trauma. They just know that they are having trouble sleeping, easily startled, and having trouble functioning with daily life.
What exactly is trauma and how do you recover from it? What are the signs of trauma & PTSD? What are the types of trauma and examples of PTSD?
Want to identify PTSD & Trauma symptoms? Keep reading…
In this Article:
PTSD & Trauma Basics: Definitions, Effects, Symptoms
- What is Trauma?
- The effects of Trauma
- What is PTSD?
- 4 Common PTSD Symptoms
- Brain & Body Trauma Effects
- Types of Trauma
- Examples of Trauma
- How to recover from Trauma
- What is the treatment for Trauma: Trauma Therapy Recovery
What is Trauma?
Trauma can be any event that is distressing or life-threatening. Especially because Trauma can change your perspective, functioning and coping.
What defines Trauma?
Trauma can have many definitions, so let’s break it down & simplify it.
The Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders defines trauma as:
- a psychological, emotional response
- to a deeply disturbing or distressing event or experience.
Looking at trauma basic points will help us understand what it is and be able to identify when it is happening.
3 Common Elements of Trauma:
- Unexpected= It is unexpected & frightening.
- Unprepared= The person is unprepared.
- Out of your control= If the trauma happens to you, there is nothing you can do to stop it from happening.
Tara Brach explains:
“Trauma is when we have encountered an out of control, frightening experience that has disconnected us from all sense of resourcefulness or safety or coping or love.”
Tara Brach, 2011
Simply put, traumatic events are:
- unexpected & frightening,
- beyond a person’s control (out of your control),
- and the person is unprepared when the trauma happens to them.
Related article:
What are the effects of Trauma?
How do you know when trauma happens or has happened? Looking at the signs of trauma can be helpful in determining if trauma has happened.
Signs of trauma can also be called symptoms; you could even call it wounds.
The effects from trauma can show up anytime after the event, from minutes to months afterwards. Sometimes, symptoms don’t start until years after the event.
Common Symptoms of Trauma:
- Bad dreams or nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Emotional numbness
- Intense guilt or worry
- Angry outbursts
- Feeling on ‘edge’
- Avoiding thoughts & situations that are reminders of traumatic event
Trauma effects mind-body-spirit
- Emotional distress: extreme fear, anxiety, anger, panic attacks, crying, survivor’s guilt, hopelessness
- Physical distress: tired, headaches, chronic pain, IBS, asthma, heart disease, substance abuse
- Behavioral distress: withdrawn, isolation, impatient, impulsive, self-injury, suicidal
- Relational distress: mistrusting, cold, detached, distant, difficulty with parenting, conflictual relationships
- Spiritual distress: life has little to no purpose or meaning, feeling disconnected, feel bad about self/race/culture
Related articles
- Feeling Stuck in Trauma? 4 Steps to Get Free from Trauma Fear
- 4 Ways of Calming Anxiety: 12 steps to calm mind, body, and spirit
How many people does Trauma effect?
About 6 out of 10 people have experienced at least one traumatic event in childhood.
70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives. This is about 223.4 million people in the U.S.
That’s 7 out of 10 people experiencing a traumatic event sometime in their lifetime.
How many people does PTSD effect?
When people experience trauma, not all of them experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
PTSDunited.org has statistics:
- About 20% of the people who experience trauma, develop PTSD. In the U.S., that’s about 44.7 million people who have or are suffering from PTSD.
Imagine how many people live in the state of Texas. Well, that’s how many people have PTSD at any given time, which is 8% of the general population.
- Women are almost twice as likely to develop PTSD when compared to men, that’s about 1 out of 9 women.
What is PTSD?
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is an anxiety response to a stressful event.
The most common group of people to experience were veterans in the military from war experiences. With recent research and science, there’s a new understanding. PTSD can develop with anyone at any age when they’ve experienced a stressful event.
To better understand PTSD, it can help to identify the symptoms of PTSD.
4 Common PTSD symptoms:
WebMD lists the most common symptoms of PTSD which lasts for a month or more.
- Re-living
- Bad dreams or nightmares
- Intense flashbacks
- Avoiding
- Avoiding thoughts & situations that are reminders of traumatic event
- Detachment, isolation, emotional numbness
- Increased Arousal
- Angry outbursts
- Easily startled
- Rapid breathing, nausea, diarrhea
- Fight-flight-freeze responses
- Negative Cognitions & Mood
- Intense guilt
- Blame
- Worry
Brain & Body Trauma Effects
There are actually changes in the brain and body when trauma happens, and for those who develop PTSD.
Trauma survivors’ brains and nervous system are:
- Stuck in high-alert and overdrive
- Flooded with hormones
- Effecting the body’s immune system
- Changes attention span, thinking & planning, and emotions
What are the types of Trauma?
According to SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and and Mental Health Services Administration), which is part of the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health, types of trauma & violence include:
- Sexual Abuse or Assault.
- Physical Abuse or Assault.
- Emotional Abuse or Psychological Maltreatment.
- Neglect.
- Serious Accident, Illness, or Medical Procedure.
- Victim or Witness to Domestic Violence.
- Victim or Witness to Community Violence.
- Historical Trauma.
What are examples of Trauma?
Trauma can be life-threatening experiences such as war, sexual assault, accidents, and natural disasters.
A doctor has been chronically sick for the last year after a car accident. A college age man has trouble sleeping and is easily startled soon after being mugged. A parent loses a child and can’t seem to function daily with basic life skills.
Each of these people has experienced a traumatic event and is suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Trauma can be big or small, one-time or multiple times, and can be direct and indirect.
Here’s some examples of trauma to help you get a bigger picture.
Examples of Trauma
- Violence = including domestic & family violence, dating violence, community violence such as shooting, mugging, burglary, assault, and bullying
- Abuse = verbal abuse such as yelling and cursing, physical abuse such as hitting and slapping, emotional abuse such as degrading insults and public humiliation, psychological abuse such as exploitation and cruel neglect
- Military and combat exposure
- Accidents = car accidents, plane crash, boating accident
- Natural Disasters = fire, flooding, tornado, hurricane
- Life-Threatening events = medical diagnosis or illness, terrorist attack, torture, kidnapping
Trauma Therapy Recovery
How do you recover from Trauma?
With support and resources, people can recover from trauma.
Now, this doesn’t mean that survivors miraculously have no symptoms or consequences from the trauma.
What is Recovery?
Recover is the ability to live in the present without being overwhelmed by the thoughts and feelings of the past.
Recovery = enhanced ability to cope
What is the treatment for Trauma?
Evidence-based and trauma-informed therapy treatments are essential for helping survivors recover from trauma.
Traditional and alternative types of trauma-informed therapies are recommended to help the whole person heal from traumatic events.
- Trauma-Informed Play Therapy
- Sandtray Therapy
- Psychotherapy (Talk Therapy)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Exposure Therapies
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing)
- Narrative Exposure Therapy
- Mindfulness techniques
- Mind-Body Therapies
These recommendations are gathered from experts such as: American Psychology Association (APA), and American Counseling Association (ACA).
Related article:
Trauma Triggers, Flashbacks & Dissociation
Identifying trauma triggers, flashbacks, and dissociation can help reduce the events and help build better coping skills.
Read this article about tips on identifying, reducing, and coping with triggers, flashbacks, and dissociation.
SUMMARY OF THIS ARTICLE:
- What is Trauma?
- The signs of Trauma
- What is PTSD?
- 4 Common PTSD Symptoms
- Brain & Body Changes with Trauma
- Types of Trauma
- Examples of Trauma
- How to recover from Trauma
- What is the treatment for Trauma?
RELATED ARTICLES:
Trauma & Intentional Transformations:
Trauma Therapy:
Safe Spaces
Dealing with Difficult Emotions
Calming Anxiety
Coping Skills
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