TRAUMA, WHAT IS IT?
Trauma has been defined as an inescapable stressful event that overwhelms a person’s coping abilities resulting in the person feeling helpless, hopeless, trapped or having no power or choices. As Judith V. Jordan points out, “I would like to suggest that we live in a traumatized and traumatizing society today,” page 42, in “The Complexity of Connection” 2004.
Research has concluded that mental or emotional problems often result from a combination of an individual's genetics with traumatic or difficult experiences. One person’s response to trauma will differ from another person's response. Although some people are naturally resilient, others can learn coping skills to increase their resiliency.
Trauma can be a one time or continuing event. Witnessing violence or being abandoned can result in symptoms of trauma. People who experience totalitarian control or shame often have PTSD. Sexual abuse, rape, criminal assault and physical abuse automatically traumatize the victim. Parental "discipline" in which physical means are used can be traumatizing. If a parent also tells the child that physical means are necessary because the child is "hardheaded," the child is also emotionally traumatized. Psychologists call this "victim blame".
Although some people respond to being traumatized during their childhood by improving their approach to raising their children, others become numb and deny that they were traumatized. Abuse and trauma are, often, passed from one generation to the next. Unresolved childhood trauma does not go away.
Many symptoms of trauma are similar to symptoms of other disorders such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and others. They include impulsive or obsessive behaviors, hyper-vigilance, hyperactivity, withdrawal, depression, anxiety, difficulty focusing, extreme defensiveness, sleep or eating disorders, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and feelings and many others. Substance abuse and other addictive behaviors are expected symptoms of PTSD.
In the past, PTSD was associated with combat veterans. Recently, it has been recognized in all ages and sexes. People who experience domestic abuse have PTSD. More than 70% of adults have experienced at least one major trauma in their lives, at least 90% of people with a mental health diagnoses have a history of trauma. Women are twice as likely to have PTSD as men. The Child Trauma Academy reports, "By the time a child reaches the age of 18, the probability that he/she will have been touched directly by interpersonal or community violence is approximately 1 in 4.
Treatment of PTSD includes (1) naming the problem, telling the story in a safe context, with safe people; developing a healing theory; making a safety plan and increasing control. (2) Psychoeducation about the impact of trauma on an individual's growth, development and ability; to decrease feelings of powerlessness; to increase empowerment and assertiveness; and to repair the feelings about the trauma. (3) Ongoing treatment includes individual therapy and groups such as dialectical behavioral; creative therapies; grief groups and important people in the individual's life who can listen to and believe him/her and give genuine, sincere support.
