Trauma is the result of stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a perceived dangerous world. Trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people.
Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized.
Trauma can be caused by:
One-time events, such as an accident, injury, or a violent attack, especially if it was unexpected or happened in childhood.
Ongoing, relentless stress, such as living in a crime-ridden neighborhood, battling a life-threatening illness, or experiencing traumatic events that occur repeatedly, such as bullying, domestic violence, or childhood neglect.
Commonly overlooked causes, the sudden death of someone close, the breakup of a significant relationship, or a humiliating or deeply disappointing experience, especially if someone was deliberately cruel.
Coping with the trauma of a natural or manmade disaster can present unique challenges—even if you weren’t directly involved in the event. In fact, while it’s highly unlikely any of us will ever be the direct victims of a terrorist attack, plane crash, or mass shooting, for example, we’re all regularly bombarded by horrific images on social media and news sources of those people who have been. Viewing these images over and over can overwhelm your nervous system and create traumatic stress. Whatever the cause of your trauma, and whether it happened years ago or yesterday, you can make healing changes and move on with your life.
Childhood trauma and the risk of future trauma
While traumatic events can happen to anyone, you’re more likely to be traumatized by an event if you’re already under a heavy stress load, have recently suffered a series of losses, or have been traumatized before—especially if the earlier trauma occurred in childhood. Childhood trauma can result from anything that disrupts a child’s sense of safety, including:
An unstable or unsafe environment
Separation from a parent
Serious illness
Intrusive medical procedures
Sexual, physical, or verbal abuse
Domestic violence
Neglect
Being teased as a child
Having an overly critical parent
Living in a high-conflict family
Experiencing a lot of unpredictability
Moving a lot as a kid
Having an unsupportive parent
Losing a loved one or a pet
Having a parent who expects perfection
Experiencing trauma in childhood can result in severe and long-lasting effects. When childhood trauma is not resolved, a sense of fear and helplessness carries over into adulthood, setting the stage for further trauma.
Examples of Traumatic Events in Childhood | Possible Impacts in Adulthood |
Frequent moves | Difficulty building and maintaining relationships |
Being teased by peers | Fear of rejection and social anxiety |
Overly critical parent | Difficulty tolerating feedback from others |
People close to you leave | Fear of abandonment, |
Parent expects perfections | Irrational fear of making mistakes |
Living in a high-conflict family | Conflict avoidance, difficulty expressing your needs effectively |
Symptoms of trauma
We all react to trauma in different ways, experiencing a wide range of physical and emotional reactions. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to think, feel, or respond, so don’t judge your own reactions or those of other people. Your responses are NORMAL reactions to ABNORMAL events.
Emotional & psychological symptoms of trauma:
Shock, denial, or disbelief
Confusion, difficulty concentrating
Anger, irritability, mood swings
Anxiety and fear
Guilt, shame, self-blame
Withdrawing from others
Feeling sad or hopeless
Feeling disconnected or numb
Physical symptoms of trauma:
Insomnia or nightmares
Fatigue
Being startled easily
Difficulty concentrating
Racing heartbeat
Edginess and agitation
Aches and pains
Muscle tension
Healing from trauma
For some trauma symptoms can last a few days to a few months, gradually fading as you process the unsettling event. But even when you’re feeling better, you may be troubled from time to time by painful memories or emotions—especially in response to triggers such as an anniversary of the event or something that reminds you of the trauma.
If your trauma symptoms don’t ease up—or if they become even worse—and you find that you’re unable to move on from the event for a prolonged period of time, you may be experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). While trauma is a normal response to a disturbing event, it becomes PTSD when your nervous system gets “stuck” and you remain in a feeling of shock, unable to make sense of what happened or process your emotions.
Contact Us
Learn more about our approach to trauma treatment. If you or a loved one is interested in clearing unresolved trauma, please contact us. Our Certified Clinical Trauma Professionals would be happy to talk with you more about how we can support you in your healing journey.