Trauma has no boundaries. It doesn’t discriminate your age, gender, race, sexual orientation, nor your socioeconomic status. But some of those factors could increase your risk of being exposed to trauma. Living in a crime-ridden neighbourhood with no financial stability will undoubtedly increase your odds of facing trauma. Exposure to trauma leaves you with emotional baggage that could impact your ability to care for yourself. How we respond to a traumatic event varies. The same type of traumatic event will elicit different responses from people, even if experienced at the same time and place. We are all wired differently. Our past influences how we perceive the present. Our self care toolkit can help us prepare for future challenges, including traumatic events, by developing strong coping mechanisms. Having a good support team, including medical professionals will also be key to dealing with trauma.
What Does Trauma Do?
Trauma activates the limbic system in your brain. The amygdala signals an alarm, setting off the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The former drives our fight-or-flight response, the latter is responsible for freezing. Have you ever been paralyzed on the spot out of sheer terror? Sympathetic helps us detect the danger and parasympathetic helps us return to a relaxed state.
These responses in our bodies are involuntary changes in our physiology that happen when we are exposed to a threat, whether it be real or perceived. It is intended as a defence mechanism, and normally in our day-to-day lives, it keeps us safe and helps us handle challenges. But for trauma victims, the signal can get amplified or doesn’t stop. It can become a hinderance to move past the traumatic experience, often reliving it as if for the first time.
When your alarm is going off, all non-essential systems shut down. These include digestion, sleep, and logic. You get flooded with stress hormones. You experience a change in heart rate, your breathing changes, your peripheral vision increases so you can see more of your surroundings, your hearing becomes sharper, among others. I always think of this as my amygdala being the captain of a vessel on a movie or television show. When their vessel is under attack, they order all non-essential systems be shut-down, in order to re-route all available energy to life-support systems. Not realizing the battle is over is often what trauma symptoms mimic. We stay on red alert, each subsequent attack reinforces this behaviour, and it can lead to catastrophizing thoughts.
Types of Trauma
Trauma is difficult to understand as everyone is affected differently and the types of trauma vary. The three main types of trauma are explained below, but this is not an exhaustive list of what situations would be considered traumatic:
- Acute trauma. This is attributed to a singular event that is brief in time, and is a specific, easily identifiable situation. This could be a vehicular accident, a physical or sexual assault, a house fire, or a natural disaster.
- Chronic trauma. This refers to prolonged and/or repeated traumatic incidents. This could be ongoing domestic abuse, bullying (in school or the workplace), ongoing war (inclusive of combat for soldiers on the frontlines), chronic illness (especially if invasive medical treatments are needed), and homelessness.
- Complex trauma. This is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events, and they are often invasive and interpersonal in nature. Any myriad of previously listed traumas and more could be the cause.
Trauma is subjective. Even witnessing an act of violence can cause one to experience trauma. Even hearing someone recount their traumatic experience can trigger a reaction. Neglect can also cause trauma, especially in childhood. It encompasses the failure of parents (or other caregivers) to respond to basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter. It also covers emotional needs which can include supporting children during a difficult situation or illness, withholding or not showing affection, or exposure to abuse.
Impact of Trauma
We see severe impacts on children that suffer trauma in the early years. They struggle with emotion regulation, they have developmental and cognitive delays, and they struggle with relationships. They are also at risk of substance abuse as they start to get into their teen years. If untreated, the challenges experienced in childhood don’t disappear when they become adults. Furthermore, as grown-ups they tend to have low self-worth and this can result in an inability to create proper boundaries with people in their lives, and trust is difficult to establish. Concurrently, low-self-esteem can lead to a lack of self-compassion, self-respect, and self-love. This in turn can lead to increased behaviours that put them at risk for further trauma.
Emotional
Trauma has a range of emotional reactions. Fear, anxiety, panic, and shock. They can happen in the moment, or later once the dust settles. Emotion regulation can be difficult. Depression and anxiety are commonplace. Sometimes it is hard to believe that what happened actually did. Some people become numb and detached. Others are just confused. Sometimes people feel shame, guilt, or anger. You see this a lot with survivors of a catastrophe. Why did I live and someone else had to die?
Behavioural
Oftentimes you will also see avoidance behaviours towards people, places, or situations that can trigger a reaction. This could be conscious or not. Increased addictive behaviour is not out of the ordinary. From drugs and alcohol, to overspending, binging, indulging in unsafe sex, and even overworking or exercising to an extreme. These are all signs of behavioural changes and sometimes a crutch to deal with underlying emotions and thoughts.
Mind
During waking hours, hypervigilance keeps people that have experienced trauma in an elevated state of alert which can affect the ability to focus. There tends to be heightened negative thoughts about the self and other people. Severe trauma symptoms can include flashbacks and lapses in memory. This is often referenced when someone is identified as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nightmares can also accompany this, as well as general sleep disturbances. Not being able to get restorative sleep only exacerbates the situation, and over time, augments other symptoms too. Furthermore, there is more research being conducted that shows there is a potential for permanent brain damage. This is critical because altered brain functionality can have unfavourable impacts on your personality.
Somatic
Somatic symptoms can pop-up with complex trauma. The chronic stress the body undergoes leads to headaches, upset digestive systems, and reduced immune capacity which makes individuals more vulnerable to infections and at risk for developing a chronic condition. If someone is already dealing with a pre-existing disease, flare-ups will most likely crop up or there could be a turn for the worse.
Healing from Trauma
Basics
Acknowledging that one is impacted from trauma is sometimes easier said than done, but essential to heal. At times, we are not aware that we are displaying symptoms of trauma. This is where listening to those around us can help. This is especially the case when we are used to dealing with chaos in our lives and we assume it’s just the way that it is. Living in a chronic state of survival isn’t good for us, physically, mentally, or spiritually.
Number one priority is to get core self care pillars into your daily routine. Food, sleep, exercise, and connection. Building self care habits is key to maintaining a balanced lifestyle. By prioritizing you, you can arm yourself to slay the dragons that come to attack in future. You can also take a look back and unpack any trauma you haven’t dealt with from the past.
Mindfulness activities or meditation are great tools to use when dealing with trauma. They help you be more present in the moment, and help you take the focus away from the negative past. Do something fun and creative each day. Start journaling, it can be very cathartic to write down your feelings, and it can provide you insight into how you are processing the trauma. Spend time in nature. Use affirmations to boost your motivation and remind yourself of your accomplishments. And be grateful for what you have. By focusing on positives, it can help you re-write your script.
Reach out to the experts
Trauma never completely goes away, but your response to it will change over time. If you are dealing with trauma symptoms, I urge you to seek medical advice and focus on your self care. If you are continually exposed to trauma, removing yourself from the situation and seeking help is a great first step. There are resources available to help you through these challenging times: from medical practitioners, to support groups, and services that can give you a hand to start over.
There are many treatments available for trauma, the best combination for you can only be figured out by you with the aid of your support team. Medications may be required to treat some of the symptoms until you can develop proper coping mechanisms. Additionally, you may need to address any medical conditions that have arisen or have been exacerbated by the trauma. Psychological treatment could range from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, and more. And the final piece is you. You have to face your trauma in order to move past it. It’s hard, but getting your life back is worth it.
Trauma affects us all differently.
We never know when we will be exposed to trauma, but we can mitigate the impact by having good coping strategies. Asking for help when the time comes from loved ones and professionals trained in trauma is also key to recovery. Ongoing adversity, such as repeated traumatic experiences, leads people to stay in survival mode. The emergency signal never shuts down completely in the brain. This can lead to major physical and mental problems down the road, so the sooner you can identify you are in trouble, the better.
Recovery from trauma is one of the hardest things you may have to do in self care. Not only do you need to build an arsenal of tools and daily practice, you will also need to get support from friends, family, colleagues, and your health care team. Finding a counsellor that specializes in trauma is also one of the best things you can do for yourself if you are dealing with complex trauma. Trauma work is hard, but you are a survivor. You can do it.
IMAGE CREDIT: Unsplash | Gabriel.