Psychological trauma defines the distress experienced by the psyche after any traumatic event. What defines these traumatic events?
Essentially, if one goes through an extremely stressful event, they usually experience trauma afterward. It’s important to remember that all trauma is valid. Whether that stressful event caused trauma in a person or not depends on the person themselves, not how “bad” the event was. Any event can be traumatic to a person if they experience trauma afterward- this is crucial to remember.
A person who has experienced a traumatic event might experience symptoms such as guilt, hopelessness, fear, sadness, and shame. Some physical symptoms include a racing heart, breathlessness, digestive symptoms, and fatigue. They would also have flashbacks of the sudden event, and experience emotional outbursts.
There are numerous events that can be traumatic. Like I mentioned before, whether that event is traumatic to a person depends on the person who actually went through the event. But, in general, trauma can be grouped into three categories:
Acute trauma- results from a single event
Chronic trauma- results from repeated or prolonged exposure to an event
Complex trauma- results from multiple events
Some common traumatic events include bullying, assault, abuse, harassment, and childbirth. However, the list doesn’t end there.
There are numerous factors which define how traumatic an event is, such as:
Background
Approach to handling trauma and emotions
Characteristics of a person
There is a way to treat trauma. That method is therapy. The most effective type of therapy against PTSD is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). During a course of CBT, one learns about the problems they’re facing, changes their mindset to a more positive one, identifies any automatic negative thoughts, faces their fears, and much more. They learn about this through role-plays, discussions, etc. Along with therapy, self-care is incredibly helpful. Self-care includes exercise, 7-9 hours of sleep, drinking sufficient water, and eating a balanced diet. These methods play a key role in maintaining mental health.
Most people experience a traumatic event in their lives. It is crucial to not let this go ignored. Although the development of PTSD is rare, trauma can still have deleterious effects on a person. Treatment methods like therapy can go a long way by improving a person’s life and mindset.
Cover image credits: https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Brain-Scan-Image.jpg
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