About Trauma.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is actually not uncommon in the journey of a human life. The longer we live, the more inevitable it is that we will encounter this. Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing, or disturbing event that can at least temporarily overwhelm a person’s ability to cope. It often causes feelings of helplessness and fear, diminishes perceived safety in the world, and impacts people’s sense of identity and ability feel the full range of their emotions.
Types of Traumatic Experiences
Experiences that people typically associate with trauma are events like car accidents, sexual assaults, abuse, and other forms of violence, natural disasters, and surgery, or periods of life-threatening illness. These are sometimes called “big T” traumas, as they are thought to be a major threat to a person’s well-being. Witnessing such experiences can also be traumatic.
Another type of trauma actually happens more often, and is sometimes called “small t” trauma. These experiences are not always thought of as traumatizing, and include teasing, bullying, being publicly embarrassed, ongoing family conflict or arguing between parents, a sudden break-up, an affair of a partner or other betrayal, sudden job loss, or the death of a loved one.
These lists are not exhaustive. Experiences of trauma are individual, and personal. What may be easy for one person to move through and let go of may be harder for someone else.
Symptoms of Trauma
Although people’s reactions can vary, here is a list of common symptoms after a traumatic experience:
Feeling anxious, or experiencing panic attacks
Anxiety, or fear when reminded of the event
Avoiding situations, places, or people associated with the event
Reliving the event, such as in the form of a flashback
Feeling irritated, or having moments of rage
Intense emotions, and rapidly changing emotions
Feeling easily startled, or like you’re walking on eggshells
Sleep disruption, insomnia, or recurring nightmares
A sense of detachment, numbness, or checking out
Feeling depressed
Difficulty concentrating
Frequent feelings of guilt or shame
Problems with relationships (trusting others, being intimate)
Turning to substance abuse, or other addictive behaviours (examples: compulsive eating, shopping)
For many people, in the aftermath of a traumatic experience, these symptoms will diminish in a matter of weeks. The human mind and body are often able to re-establish equilibrium as a person moves through a process of recovering a sense of lost power and identity, and recognizing that the stressful event was a period of time that is in the past. In terms of our body’s nervous system response, physiological reactions like shaking and trembling can occur spontaneously, releasing traumatic energy from the body’s autonomic nervous system (which regulates certain body processes, such as blood pressure, and our rate of breathing). When trauma resolves and a balance, or homeostasis, is re-established people do not usually experience lingering symptoms that negatively impact their lives and functioning.
Why does Trauma not Resolve? What Happens that Interferes?
1. One reason that people can become stuck and unable to fully process a traumatic event has to do with the complexity of our brains. When something happens that is emotionally or physically painful we have the option of either facing it fully and feeling the experience, or trying in some way to block our awareness of it.
In the first case, the action of experiencing the event allows processing to complete. It’s almost as if the brain files the event in a filing cabinet with a “finished business” label. In the second case, the action of experiencing a trauma is blocked. This is a self-protective impulse against the overwhelming nature of a traumatic experience. This can occur if, for example, someone needs to push aside full experiencing in order to function in a crisis. A specific example might be a mother attending to her injured children after a car accident, pushing away her own pain in order to focus on caregiving. This blocking activity “works” to an extent, but can result in processing of a trauma to become stuck.
2. Another reason that the impact of trauma can continue is a previous history of trauma that has been unresolved. The more traumas a person has experienced, and the longer the duration and intensity of the experiences, the more likely it is that processing will get stuck. Traumatic events tend to stack upon one another, especially if they are unprocessed.
What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
When symptoms of a traumatic experience (like those listed above) last more than a month and seriously affect a person’s ability to function, a person may be suffering from PTSD. Essentially, what has occurred is that the brain and body have become stuck in the trauma, as if it were still happening. The trauma has become “unfinished business.” Some traumatic experiences, like those experienced in childhood, may also be delayed and will arise later in life. This is thought to be as a result of the blocking activity that is self-protective, especially for a young person who is more vulnerable to becoming overwhelmed by a traumatic event, or series of events.
What can be Done to Heal Trauma?
Even though experiencing the lingering effects of unprocessed trauma is painful and difficult, the good news is that recovery is possible. What we know is that the human brain, body, and nervous system is inherently self-corrective, meaning that within you already are innate mechanisms capable of healing, and self-righting what is imbalanced. And, with the development of therapies that go beyond traditional talk-therapy, to access and promote healing on a deeper level of our brains and bodies, people are finding that they are able to emerge from the shadow cast by trauma. They are stepping into their lives with renewed hope, lightness, and strength.
I am trained in modalities that promote deep healing, and have had the pleasure to witness many people move through profound change into a lighter, brighter future. If you’re ready to take the next step, reach out to send me a message, or give me a call. Let’s talk about how I can help you in your healing journey.
If you would like to learn more about some of the specific approaches I use, please click here.