Trauma Related Disorders
People often go through things in life that they didn’t deserve to experience and were no fault of their own. Sometimes things happen when one is young and defenseless, and those who were supposed to protect them did not. Other times as an adult, you’ve made the best decisions you know how to make, and always with the best intentions, but still find yourself in painful situations that leave a lasting impact on how you see the world and relate to those around you. Sometimes tragedy strikes, and things happen that there’s no way one could have ever anticipated or prepared for. The good news is – while trauma is never fully erased, healing is available to you, and your trauma does not have to define your life. We would love to help. Trauma can put us in survival mode, but give yourself permission to take your life back. While it’s normal for someone who has experienced trauma, you don’t have to live life questioning the intentions of those who love you, feeling the need to constantly watch over your shoulder or scan the room for any potential danger, or listening to the voice in your brain telling you that you are unworthy or deserve anything bad that happens to you. Let’s first quiet that voice, and then give it a brand new script. You didn’t deserve what happened to you, but it’s not who you are – you deserve to feel empowered, proud of everything you’ve overcome, and optimistic toward the future.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Someone who develops PTSD has been exposed to a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence either directly, as a witness, by learning that it happened to someone close to them, or by indirect exposure to details of the trauma such as a paramedic responding to the scene. PTSD involves symptoms from each of four categories:
Intrusion Symptoms
-
- Recurrent, distressing memories, nightmares, or flashbacks related to the traumatic event
- Intense psychological distress or physiological reactions when exposed to reminders of the event
- Avoidance Symptoms
- Avoids or attempts to avoid distressing memories, thoughts, or external reminders of the traumatic event including places, activities, or people that remind them of the event
- Diminished interest or participation in previously enjoyed activities.
- Negative Alterations in Cognition and Mood
- Negative changes in their thoughts and emotions following the traumatic event. This may include persistent negative beliefs or expectations, distorted blame of self or others, feelings of detachment from others
- Diminished ability to experience positive emotions
- A sense of foreshortened future
- Alterations in Arousal and Reactivity
- Irritable or aggressive behavior
- Reckless or self-destructive behavior
- Hypervigilance
- Exaggerated startle response
- Difficulties concentrating
- Sleep disturbances.
Acute Stress Disorder
Acute Stress Disorder consists of symptoms that are similar to PTSD, but they present sooner after the traumatic event and are more short term, lasting from a few days to a month, whereas PTSD can develop at any point within the first three months following the traumatic event and can last indefinitely (without treatment).
Though the symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder do not last as long as those of PTSD, they can still be severely distressing and affect every aspect of one’s life.
A note on trauma:
Trauma related disorders can account for far more of our symptoms than a lot of us realize. There are also so many of us who have experienced trauma, but either don’t realize it or don’t believe that it was “traumatic enough” to count – but it does. Have you ever found yourself saying, “it wasn’t that bad, I know other people have it much worse than I did.” Trauma does not have to be a sexual assault or experiencing an IED explosion, it can be parents who were neglectful or unable to meet your needs as a child, or a romantic relationship with a partner who was controlling and manipulative. There is no need for trauma olympics – one trauma does not trump another. Trauma is trauma, the most important part is recognizing it, working on understanding how it affects you in your current life, and seeking appropriate treatment. Even trauma symptoms that do not meet the threshold for PTSD can often benefit from some form of treatment.