What is Trauma
March 5th, 2009 |
By Susanne M. Dillmann, Psy.D.
Click here to contact Susanne and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile
Being exposed to a psychological trauma is a common experience in the life of an American: roughly 25 – 50% of all Americans (around 74 million to 148 million people) will be exposed to a psychological trauma at some point within their lives (Bremner, 2002). However, what exactly is meant by this term? What is a psychological trauma?
A basic definition of trauma is being in a situation in which one is exposed to great danger and is rendered powerless . This great danger can be due to natural or man-made forces. Examples of natural disasters are hurricanes, floods, forest fires, etc… while examples of man-made disasters are car accidents, war, violent crime, or abusive interpersonal relationships, etc…. Being rendered powerless can apply to one’s physical or psychological power. One way of lacking physical power is when one is incapable of fighting back or fleeing the situation, while another way to lack physical power occurs when the body, in an attempt to protect itself, freezes, making physical movement impossible. If choosing to engage in a physical response places one in more or different physical danger, then one is also physically powerless. For example if the only way out of a burning car is to break through the front window, the physical danger of this plan renders this method of escape implausible. Becoming psychologically powerless can occur when an individual is stripped of his or her individuality and humanity: “[T]he individual does not feel like a valuable person with the right to safety, happiness, and health. At that moment, one is more like a thing, a vulnerable object subject to the will of a power or force greater than oneself” (Matsakis, 1994, p. 29). Entrapment also destroys psychological power and arises when every potential means of escape or protection is too dangerous, risky or too costly, either morally, emotionally, economically, spiritually, etc….
Some events will be traumatic for any and every human being while others will be traumatic for some but not for all. The meaning the event has for the individual experiencing it as well as her or his cultural and spiritual beliefs factor into whether the event is experienced as traumatic. The length of time that one is exposed to the event does not necessarily dictate whether or not it is traumatic or how the individual will react.
Events that occur after the initial traumatic event can be just as traumatizing or even more so. These events are called secondary wounding experiences. Common secondary wounding experiences are the reactions of loved ones or societal systems that are in-place to help the victim. For example imagine that a concert violinist survived a severe car accident and was told in the hospital that three of her fingers would be amputated. The violinist responds to this news with significant emotional distress and is told by a, well-meaning, nurse to be grateful since several of the other victims had it worse. For the violinist these supposed words of encouragement do just the opposite and minimize what for her, given her profession and passion, is a life-altering and potentially traumatizing event.
To summarize, an event is traumatic when in the face of severe danger, “action is of no avail [and] when neither resistance nor escape is possible” (Herman, 1997, p. 34). Whether an event is experienced as traumatic demands only in part on the life history and coping skills an individual brings to the dangerous situation. It is imperative to remember that certain events will be experienced as traumatic for any and every individual who experiences it. Most importantly, experiencing a traumatic event has nothing to do with weakness and is never the fault of the individual who has to life through and learn to heal from the experience. I hope this article helped you gain an understanding of what psychological trauma is. If reading this material stirred up painful memories or difficult emotions, please use healthy means to calm this pain. If you have experienced a traumatic event in your life and would like to work with a professional to help you heal from this experience. Reach out to a licensed, trained and competent therapist in your community.
©Copyright 2009 by Susanne M. Dillmann, Psy.D. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry. Click here to contact Susanne and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile
12 comments so far
Thank you for this informative post. With so many Americans having to deal with trauma at some point in their lives it really helps if they understand at the very root what it is they are facing.
I was a college student in Charleston SC when Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989 and that was one of the worst experiences of my life. We evacuated and got out of the downtown area which took a hard hit but after going through that I had a hard time even going back to school. I felt as if another big storm was going to strike at any time. I now live in the Midwest but am still afraid when I hear about a hurricane nearing the coast.
My brother and his family were victims of the tsunami. The only surviving member has been his 7 year old son. We are his foster parents and everyday that I see this child, I know his fear is so deep that its going to take all his inner strength and our efforts to get over it. He is with a good therapist but even the therapist appraised us that it’s going to take a lot of time.
I have an allergy since childhood. The doctors recently told me it is psychosomatic in nature. My mother was a victim of a violent marriage and my siblings and I grew up watching this everyday. We feared for our lives and her’s. Today i.e behind us but whenever I have any kind of emotional stress, worry or fear I still break into a rash. I think this has something to do with my childhood trauma
There have been so many people over the globe who have experienced traumatic events in their lives. It is great to see that there are people who are trained to help them through this and to help them hopefully overcome those experiences.
thanks for the great article. There are many who face traumas like you said sometime in their life and one really does not know what they will do until faced with it. It is great that we have people who are willing to help those deal with it.
Thank you for sharing this insightful information.
Sometimes you have no idea of the many ways that a traumatic event will affect you until potentially years later. I have heard stories especially of soldiers coming home from war and thinking everything was just fine and then bam! It finally hits them like a ton of bricks all of the horrible things they have seen and this may not happen until years down the road. It is funny how the brain works that way sometimes. I guess that just goes to show you that you really do always have to be prepared for anything to happen because you just never know when things from the past might just sneak back in and get ya all over again.
My uncle had PTSD until finally it consumed him and he committed suicide. He was never able to get the help that he needed to overcome his issues and ultimately that caused him to take his own life. Traumatic experiences should never be overlooked because like so mnay others have said here you just can never be sure when they may come back to rear their ugly heads.
I think it can be useful to make a distinction between PTSD, which often involves discrete trauma or a discrete traumatic event from Complex Trauma which involves chronic early maltreatment within a caregiving relationship. Complex trauma may often cause impairment in several domains such as attachment, biology, emotional regulation, behavioral regulation, dissociation, cognition, and self-esteem. As such it can be quite damaging to the developing child. One of the factors that can mitigate the effects of trauma and “prevent” PTSD is a broad and deep social network and a secure pattern of attachment. This is not available to the person experiencing Complex Trauma since the trauma is caused by and is occurring within the attachment relationship.
Thanks for that insight, Dr. Arthur. Trauma, I agree, is a terrible thing to have to go thru and I know many people have gone or will go through this. What I consider trauma is when my brother died, although I know it was natural causes, and when my died died of a heart attack. I can remember those so clearly and when my dad died, it took me a long time to get over it.
Dear Lysa,
The loss of a loved one is a trauma and the bigger/more significant the loss the larger the trauma experienced. I am sorry for your losses.