Trauma

Trauma is sadly more common than many of us realise. Anyone can be impacted by a traumatic event. Everyone will experience events differently. Equally, we all respond differently to traumatic events, so symptoms will vary person to person. It is just as possible to be traumatised by witnessing an event as much as being involved in an event. Trauma can be caused by a single or repeated experience. It leaves us distressed and often with a feeling of being unsafe. Ongoing trauma symptoms can create ongoing issues in a person's life such as; acute and ongoing physical issues, stress, loss of sleep, relationship difficulties and isolation.

Trauma often can come with a diagnosis of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or C-PTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Types of trauma:

Adverse Childhood Experiences
All forms of abuse including Bullying, Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Sexual Assault, Coercive Control
Experiencing or witnessing violence
Complicated or sudden bereavement
Combat experiences
Being the victim of a crime
Being involved in an accident
Unexpected change in circumstance; such as loss of job, home, finances or becoming homeless
Experiencing a Natural Disaster

Symptoms you might experiences include:

Feeling extreme anxiety, having high levels of alertness and/or feeling jumpy.
Feeling irritable or angry at self or others, maybe finding emotions sudden and hard to manage.
Feeling easily overwhelmed, this can often lead to coping by isolating or distancing from others.
Feeling numb or shut-down, this can sometimes feel like you are in a vacuum.
Intrusive thoughts, unable to stop many overwhelming thoughts, waking up with intrusive thoughts in the early hours.
Intrusive images or intrusive dreams - these might or might not be related to your traumatic experience.
Flashbacks - you feel as though you are reliving the traumatic situation.
Feeling like you would like the pain to go away and this may lead to feelings of suicidal ideation.
Avoiding situations that make you feel triggered, often increasingly so over time and increasing isolation.
Co-morbid conditions occurring that may affect mental or physical health such as major depressive disorder, addictions, eating disorders, panic disorder, hypertension, gastritis and chronic pain.

Note: All trauma needs additional support of your GP in addition to any therapeutic support. In certain cases such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) the GP may be able to support a multi-disciplinary team to help you. The therapist will guide you through and refer you if necessary.