Exposure to a single traumatic event, and certainly repeated exposure to trauma, can create serious mental health challenges. Trauma-specialized care is linked to improved mental health and quality of life.
Key points
→ Trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) tend to respond well to treatment.
→ PTSD describes a long-term condition characterized by significant distress.
→ Untreated trauma can have long-term effects on your mental and physical health.
→ Trauma therapy for children, teens, and adults.
Overview
Trauma occurs from experiencing something unbearable and feeling unsupported or unequipped to deal with the experience. Trauma can result from a terrifying one-time event such as an assault, vehicle accident, or natural disaster; or it can result from repetitive “minor” offenses, such as frequent verbal mistreatment by primary caregivers early on and in other life experiences.
Trauma affects different people in different ways, and what one person might barely consider to be traumatic might affect someone else for years to come. Rather than casting judgment on how traumatic a particular event or experience is, it’s more helpful to consider trauma in the context of your individual experience and how it affects your life today.
Some issues that can often be traced back to trauma (although might also be caused by something else) include mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, rumination and compulsive overthinking, difficulty making decisions, sleep disturbances, low energy, low motivation in life, feeling easily irritated, difficulty forming healthy relationships or maintaining employment, or an overarching sense of struggling in life without understanding what’s wrong or how to resolve it.
Trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
Exposure to a traumatic event, such as a sexual and other assault, abuse, betrayal, or abandonment, can have long-term effects on your well-being, and it can result in PTSD. PTSD describes a long-term condition characterized by significant distress, impairment, flashbacks, and re-experiencing the traumatic event or events.
Symptoms
Diminished ability to function in everyday life
Trauma disrupts your capacity to learn and process information, as you instinctively switch to survival mode when your sense of safety is threatened. While you’re trying to survive, it’s a good thing that your thought process shifts gears to ensure your safety. But when you’re finally out of harm’s way, it can be hard to heal the neurological rift that’s been created by the trauma and to continue functioning effectively in the world.
Mental health challenges
Trauma is also strongly correlated with mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, phobias, and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The effects of trauma interfere with executive functioning skills, such as your ability to prioritize, manage your time effectively, stick to a healthy routine, and maintain professional employment.
Trauma encourages unhealthy behaviors
Broad-reaching psychoanalytic research confirms the association between exposure to trauma and the development of dysfunctional and uncontrolled behaviors.
“Dysfunctional avoidance” refers to the attempt to avoid having to deal with unpleasant and discomforting experiences associated with numerous types of interpersonal trauma. This leads to an increased propensity to engage in substance abuse and problematic or self-injurious behaviors (including suicidal ideation and sexual risk-taking), while reducing the capacity to self-regulate injurious behaviors.
If you struggle with unhealthy compulsions or behaviors relating to food, sex, substances, or technology, unresolved trauma might play a significant role in your struggle. Fortunately, working to heal your trauma very often also heals the source of your behaviors, which makes it drastically easier to start changing your behaviors.
Physical health ramifications of trauma
In addition to lifestyle and behavioral challenges, poor physical health is often a result of trauma. Interpersonal trauma exposure is strongly associated with poorer physical health.
Children exposed to trauma are at increased risk of developing cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular issues, obesity, stroke, and substance use disorders, in addition to mental health issues.
Causes and risk factors
The chances of developing PTSD or other problematic responses to trauma may be affected by:
Hereditary and environmental variables.
Repeated exposure to traumatic events.
Feeling helpless during traumatic events.
Treatment for trauma
Fortunately, there are multiple effective treatments for trauma available for adults and for children. Trauma-aware therapy can be an important part of recovery. A therapist who can help needs to be trained specifically in trauma therapy.
Don’t wait to reach out if you feel concerned, contact me so we can get started on your healing journey.
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Related information
Briere, J., Hodges, M., & Godbout, N. (2010). Traumatic stress, affect dysregulation and dysfunctional avoidance: a structural equation model. Journal of traumatic stress, 23 6, 767-74
Dimopoulou, I., Anthi, A., Mastora, Z., Theodorakopoulou, M., Konstandinidis, A., Evangelou, E., Mandragos, K.E., & Roussos, C. (2004). Health-Related Quality of Life and Disability in Survivors of Multiple Trauma One Year After Intensive Care Unit Discharge. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 83, 171-176.
López-Martínez, A., Serrano-Ibáñez, E.R., Ruíz-Párraga, G.T., Gómez-Pérez, L., Ramírez‐Maestre, C., & Esteve, R. (2018). Physical Health Consequences of Interpersonal Trauma: A Systematic Review of the Role of Psychological Variables. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 19, 305 – 322.
Sanderud, K., Murphy, S., & Elklit, A. (2016). Child maltreatment and ADHD symptoms in a sample of young adults. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 7.
Schnurr, P.P., & Green, B.L. (2004). Understanding relationships among trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and health outcomes. Advances in mind-body medicine, 20 1, 18-29