The Impact of Trauma: Understanding its Prevalence
Around 70% of Americans encounter some form of trauma during their lifetime, ranging from personal loss to distressing events like natural disasters or personal assault. While not everyone develops post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma can have significant repercussions on both physical and mental health.
Defining Trauma: Recognizing Emotional Responses
Trauma is the emotional response to a distressing or dangerous event, which can vary widely in its nature and intensity. While traumatic events like active shooter situations or personal assault are commonly associated with trauma, experiences such as loss, divorce, or childhood abandonment can also leave lasting emotional scars.
Coping with Trauma: Immediate and Long-Term Effects
Navigating Traumatic Responses
In the aftermath of a traumatic event, individuals may experience a range of emotions, including anger, denial, or depression. While these feelings may diminish over time for some, others may find their emotional distress worsening, potentially leading to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Understanding PTSD: A Closer Look at Anxiety Disorders
What is PTSD?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can emerge following exposure to a traumatic event. Unlike immediate emotional responses, PTSD symptoms typically manifest over time, with triggers often exacerbating the intensity of symptoms. Understanding the symptoms and triggers of PTSD is crucial for effective management and treatment.
What are the symptoms of trauma?
Trauma and PTSD cause four distinct types of symptoms: intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors, negative thoughts, and heightened arousal.
Flashbacks and nightmares are prevalent types of intrusive thoughts. They’re often so realistic that you feel like you’re reliving the traumatic event. You might find that certain people, places, or situations trigger your memories, which can lead to avoidance behaviors. For example, if you were involved in an automobile collision, you might drive a different route to avoid the location of your accident, or you might avoid driving at all.
It’s also common to be plagued by negative thoughts about yourself or others after a trauma. You might think that other people are bad or can’t be trusted. You might also live with constant feelings of shame, horror, or guilt.
Trauma can also increase your reactive symptoms. You might become more irritable and have angry outbursts, or you could start to behave recklessly.
What happens during trauma therapy?
We will explore your memories, feelings, and thoughts surrounding your trauma. Using psychodynamic therapy, with the inclusion of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness practices, we will unpack the painful feelings and find solutions to find relief. Through this process, we will gradually expose you to memories and situations that trigger the traumatic memories. We will process the memories and feelings, using mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques that will help you stay rooted in the present instead of dwelling on your memories or worrying about the future.
Seeking Support: Navigating Trauma and PTSD
Finding Help and Healing
If you’re struggling with the aftermath of trauma or experiencing symptoms of PTSD, know that support is available. Seeking therapy and professional guidance can provide valuable tools and coping mechanisms for navigating trauma-related challenges and fostering healing and resilience.