What Is Trauma?
Trauma refers to experiences that cause intense feelings of fear for a person’s physical, emotional, or psychological safety. People may experience trauma from a single event or from repetitive or prolonged exposure to distressing situations, often referred to as complex trauma. Both types of trauma can have lasting emotional and functional impacts.
Types of Traumatic Experiences
While early trauma research primarily focused on military service and combat, we now understand that trauma can result from many different types of events. These include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, natural disasters, war, military conflict, forced displacement, community violence, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, medical trauma, terrorism, human trafficking, bullying, traumatic grief, and secondary or vicarious trauma.
Impacts of Trauma
Psychological trauma describes the lasting effects that traumatic experiences can have on mental and emotional wellbeing. Exposure to traumatic events activates the fight, flight, or freeze response—a natural reaction to perceived threats. When exposure is ongoing or severe, this response can become ingrained, leading to reactions even when there is no real danger. This can result in conditions like panic attacks or PTSD, with various internal and external symptoms.
Physical reactions to trauma may include changes in appetite, digestive issues, sleep disturbances, headaches, fatigue, rapid heartbeat, sweating, shakiness, and restlessness. Emotional responses often involve dysregulation, fear, worry, anger, anxiety, depression, irritability, hopelessness, and apathy. Cognitive impacts can manifest as self-blame, self-doubt, body image concerns, overthinking, difficulty concentrating, memory issues, dissociation, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and cognitive distortions.
Behaviorally, trauma can lead to social withdrawal, agitation, interpersonal conflict, distrust or overtrust of others, unhealthy use of sexuality to connect, attention-seeking behaviors, hypervigilance, poor self-care, risk-taking behaviors, substance abuse, tearfulness, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
What Can I Do?
If you or someone you know has experienced trauma or is struggling with trauma-related reactions, reach out for support. Our office offers resources and guidance to help individuals understand trauma and its effects, along with strategies for healing and recovery.
If you feel like you or somebody you care about is in need of additional support, CFSC is here for you. Please call us at 248-851-5437 to get started with supportive services.