What Exactly is trauma
Terms such as "trauma," "PTSD," and "triggered" have become common words in our vocabulary recently. While it's beneficial that trauma is being talked about, there are many misconceptions about what trauma truly is and the significant impact it, along with PTSD, can have on mental health. What Exactly is Trauma?
In simplest terms, trauma can be described as a response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms a person's normal ability to cope. It often results in feelings of helplessness, a diminished sense of self, and can severely impact one's ability to experience a full range of emotions. The effects of trauma can be long-lasting and have profound implications for an individual's mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Trauma is often categorized into Big T Trauma and Little T Trauma.Big T Trauma
Big T Traumas are significant, life-altering events that cause intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Common examples include natural disasters, severe accidents, terrorist attacks, physical or sexual assault, experiencing or witnessing domestic violence in any form or life-threatening illnesses or injuries. These types of traumas can lead to conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a mental health condition brought on by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.Little T Trauma
Little T Traumas are distressing events that, while not life-threatening, significantly impact a person's emotional well-being. These can include the loss of a pet, relationship issues such as infidelity and breakups, financial stress such as job loss or layoffs, living in poverty, or moving to a new city or school, being bullied or harassed, and many many more. Though these situations may seem minor when compared to Big T Traumas, they can still profoundly affect an individual's emotional health. Little T Traumas can accumulate over time, creating a cumulative effect that can be just as damaging as a single Big T Trauma, especially if not addressed or acknowledged.The Importance of Recognition and Healing
It's crucial to recognize both types of trauma. Understanding that trauma isn't limited to extreme scenarios can help individuals acknowledge their own experiences and seek help. Healing from trauma often requires professional support, such as therapy, to process and overcome the effects of these events.PTSD
Two or more people can experience the same event but not everyone will develop PTSD. Who develops PTSD depends on several different factors. Genetics and biology can play a role in whether or not a person develops PTSD. Some people may have a genetic predisposition to PTSD. Having past trauma, especially if that trauma has not been fully processed and healed from can make someone more susceptible. Having a strong social support system can help mitigate the impact of trauma as can having a multitude of health coping strategies prior to the trauma. How the person interprets and processes the event also plays a role.PTSD is a diagnosable mental health issue. There are different types of PTSD symptoms, intrusive memories, Avoidance, Negative changes in thinking and mood, and Hyperarousal related symptoms. Intrusive thoughts/memories related symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, nightmares (that may or may not include aspects of the trauma), and thoughts about the trauma that won’t go away. Avoidance related symptoms include actions taken by an individual to avoid any reminders of the trauma such as avoiding people, places, or things that remind them of the event. Negative changes in thinking and mood are also seen in people who have PTSD. These symptoms include feelings of hopelessness, memory problems, and withdrawing from family and friends. Hyperarousal symptoms commonly seen are being easily startled, feeling tense or "on edge," and experiencing difficulty sleeping or concentrating. PTSD can significantly impact a person’s quality of life, but treatments like therapy and medication can help manage and alleviate symptoms.People who experience a single incident like a Big T trauma can experience these symptoms and may be diagnosed with PTSD. However, people who have experienced multiple Little T traumas can also lead to a diagnosis of PTSD as well. Sometimes when a person has experienced several Little T traumas develop more severe PTSD symptoms following a Big T trauma.To explain more simply, we all have a bucket (our ability to cope with negative events) that we can place things that are stressful and or damaging to our emotional wellbeing in while we process and cope with those things. Big T traumas take up more room in our buckets so their ability to overwhelm our ability to cope happens a lot sooner, much like placing a watermelon in our bucket. Little T traumas are more like oranges or cantaloupes depending on the overall impact they have on us. Placing an orange or a cantaloupe in our bucket most likely will not over fill our bucket and they definitely don’t take the same amount of room as gigantic watermelon. Things like genetics determine the size of our bucket. Having an orange or cantaloupe in our bucket and placing a watermelon on top of one or more of those may cause our bucket to overfill or even break. However, if we try to place too many oranges and or cantaloupes in our bucket we may end up with the same outcome and have our bucket either break or overfill. When our buckets break or overfill we can develop PTSD.
