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86-782: The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) is an American organization whose "mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families, and communities throughout the United States ". According to its website, the NCTSN "offers training, support, and resources to providers who work with children and families exposed to a wide range of traumatic experiences, including physical and sexual abuse ; domestic , school , and community violence; natural disasters , terrorism , or military family challenges; and life-threatening injury and illness." NCTSN supports trauma-informed care with

172-598: A terrorist attack . Short-term reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typically followed. Long-term reactions and effects include bipolar disorder , uncontrollable flashbacks , panic attacks , insomnia , nightmare disorder, difficulties with interpersonal relationships , and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Physical symptoms including migraines , hyperventilation, hyperhidrosis, and nausea are often developed. As subjective experiences differ between individuals, people react to similar events differently. Most people who experience

258-602: A 2021 study, 355 undergraduate students from four universities read a passage describing incidents of both physical and sexual assault. Longitudinal measures of subjective distress, PTSD symptoms, and emotional reactivity were measured. Greater than 96% of participants read the triggering passage even when given a non-triggering alternative to read. Of those who read the triggering passage, those with triggering traumas did not report more distress although those with higher PTSD scores did. Two weeks later, those with trigger traumas and/or PTSD did not report an increase in trauma symptoms as

344-441: A broader view of health problems than biomedical models. Evidence suggests that a minority of people who experience severe trauma in adulthood will experience enduring personality change. Personality changes include guilt, distrust, impulsiveness, aggression, avoidance, obsessive behaviour, emotional numbness, loss of interest, hopelessness and altered self-perception. A number of psychotherapy approaches have been designed with

430-501: A client to experience and process through their trauma safely and effectively. As "trauma" adopted a more widely defined scope, traumatology as a field developed a more interdisciplinary approach. This is in part due to the field's diverse professional representation including: psychologists, medical professionals, and lawyers. As a result, findings in this field are adapted for various applications, from individual psychiatric treatments to sociological large-scale trauma management. While

516-904: A few common aspects. There is frequently a violation of the person's core assumptions about the world and their human rights , putting the person in a state of extreme confusion and insecurity. This is seen when institutions depended upon for survival violate, humiliate, betray , or cause major losses or separations instead of evoking aspects like positive self worth, safe boundaries and personal freedom. Psychologically traumatic experiences often involve physical trauma that threatens one's survival and sense of security. Typical causes and dangers of psychological trauma include harassment ; embarrassment ; abandonment; abusive relationships; rejection; co-dependence; physical assault; sexual abuse ; partner battery; employment discrimination ; police brutality ; judicial corruption and misconduct ; bullying ; paternalism ; domestic violence ; indoctrination ; being

602-421: A general description of Freud's understanding of trauma, which varied significantly over the course of Freud's career: "An event in the subject's life, defined by its intensity, by the subject's incapacity to respond adequately to it and by the upheaval and long-lasting effects that it brings about in the psychical organization". The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan claimed that what he called " The Real " had

688-459: A greater sense of belongingness. These outcomes are protective against the devastating impacts of psychological trauma. All psychological traumas originate from stress, a physiological response to an unpleasant stimulus. Long-term stress increases the risk of poor mental health and mental disorders, which can be attributed to secretion of glucocorticoids for a long period of time. Such prolonged exposure causes many physiological dysfunctions such as

774-453: A hostage or being kidnapped can also cause psychological trauma. Long-term exposure to situations such as extreme poverty or other forms of abuse , such as verbal abuse , exist independently of physical trauma but still generate psychological trauma. Some theories suggest childhood trauma can increase one's risk for mental disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance abuse. Childhood adversity

860-539: A person with a traumatic disorder to engage in disruptive behaviors or self-destructive coping mechanisms, often without being fully aware of the nature or causes of their own actions. Panic attacks are an example of a psychosomatic response to such emotional triggers. Consequently, intense feelings of anger may frequently surface, sometimes in inappropriate or unexpected situations, as danger may always seem to be present due to re-experiencing past events. Upsetting memories such as images, thoughts, or flashbacks may haunt

946-414: A pioneer of modern psychodynamic perspective, also argues that social relations can help people recover from trauma, but specifically refers to attachment theory and the attachment dynamic of the therapeutic relationship. Fosha argues that the sense of emotional safety and co-regulation that occurs in a psychodynamically oriented therapeutic relationship acts as the secure attachment that is necessary to allow

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1032-477: A posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis, or for participants who qualified for probable PTSD, trigger warnings had little statistically significant effect. Effect sizes on feelings of avoidance, decreased resilience, or other negative outcomes have been "trivial" in controlled research environments. While trigger warnings have garnered significant debate, few studies have investigated how students typically respond to potentially triggering material. In

1118-480: A potentially traumatic event do not become psychologically traumatized, though they may be distressed and experience suffering. Some will develop PTSD after exposure to a traumatic event, or series of events. This discrepancy in risk rate can be attributed to protective factors some individuals have, that enable them to cope with difficult events, including temperamental and environmental factors, such as resilience and willingness to seek help. Psychotraumatology

1204-439: A recording of an event, even if distressing, does not cause trauma; however, an exception is made to the diagnostic criteria for work-related exposures. Vicarious trauma affects workers who witness their clients' trauma. It is more likely to occur in situations where trauma-related work is the norm rather than the exception. Listening with empathy to the clients generates feeling, and seeing oneself in clients' trauma may compound

1290-412: A show includes content that some families may find inappropriate for their children. The term trigger warning , with its trauma-specific context, originated at feminist websites that were discussing violence against women , and then spread to other areas, such as print media and university courses. Although it is widely recognized that any sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, feeling or sensation could be

1376-435: A trauma reminder, also called a trauma trigger . These can produce uncomfortable and even painful feelings. Re-experiencing can damage people's sense of safety, self, self-efficacy , as well as their ability to regulate emotions and navigate relationships. They may turn to psychoactive drugs , including alcohol , to try to escape or dampen the feelings. These triggers cause flashbacks, which are dissociative experiences where

1462-426: A traumatic quality external to symbolization. As an object of anxiety, Lacan maintained that The Real is "the essential object which isn't an object any longer, but this something faced with which all words cease and all categories fail, the object of anxiety par excellence ". Fred Alford, citing the work of object relations theorist Donald Winnicott , uses the concept of inner other, and internal representation of

1548-437: A treatable and usually temporary condition in which people sometimes experience overwhelming emotional or physical symptoms when something reminds them of, or "triggers" the memory of, a traumatic event . Long-term avoidance of triggers increases the likelihood that the affected person will develop a disabling level of PTSD. Identifying and addressing trauma triggers is an important part of treating PTSD. A trigger warning

1634-444: A trigger, trigger warnings are most commonly presented on a relatively narrow range of material, especially content about sexual abuse and mental illness (such as suicide , eating disorders , and self-injury ). In the case of non-fiction books and online videos, only specific chapters or segments may have trigger warnings, providing timestamps and page numbers that allow the audience to easily skip only certain parts, rather than

1720-544: A triggering mechanism resulting in an individual's inability to cope with the stress of certain events." Often, psychological aspects of trauma are overlooked even by health professionals: "If clinicians fail to look through a trauma lens and to conceptualize client problems as related possibly to current or past trauma, they may fail to see that trauma victims, young and old, organize much of their lives around repetitive patterns of reliving and warding off traumatic memories, reminders, and affects." Biopsychosocial models offer

1806-645: A violent event or that an upcoming ballistic pendulum demonstration will produce loud sounds. In 2014, the American Association of University Professors criticized the use of general content warnings in university contexts, stating, "The presumption that students need to be protected rather than challenged in a classroom is at once infantilizing and anti-intellectual. It makes comfort a higher priority than intellectual engagement and...it singles out politically controversial topics like sex, race, class, capitalism, and colonialism for attention." This view

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1892-596: A well-regarded program called the Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit. The NCTSN is coordinated by the UCLA -Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, and is a collaboration that as of 2012 has 60 members and a network of more than 150 centers and thousands of partners throughout the US. It was named in honor of Yale physician Donald J. Cohen , and was established in 2000 by

1978-425: Is "triggered", the involuntary response goes far beyond feeling uncomfortable and can feel overwhelming and uncontrollable, such as a panic attack , a flashback , or a strong impulse to flee to a safe place. Avoiding a trauma trigger, and therefore the potentially extreme reaction it provokes, is a common behavioral symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED),

2064-415: Is a message presented to an audience about the contents of a piece of media, to warn them that it contains potentially distressing content. A more generic term, which is not directly focused on PTSD, is content warning . The trigger can be anything that provokes fear or distressing memories in the affected person, and which the affected person associates with a previous traumatic experience. Just as trauma

2150-464: Is aimed more at correcting or minimizing the damage of a stressful event. A passive response is often characterized by an emotional numbness or ignorance of a stressor. There is also a distinction between trauma induced by recent situations and long-term trauma which may have been buried in the unconscious from past situations such as child abuse . Trauma is sometimes overcome through healing; in some cases this can be achieved by recreating or revisiting

2236-611: Is another mental health disorder with symptoms similar to that of psychological trauma, such as hyper-vigilance and intrusive thoughts . Research has indicated that individuals who have experienced a traumatic event have been known to use symptoms of obsessive- compulsive disorder, such as compulsive checking of safety, as a way to mitigate the symptoms associated with trauma. In time, emotional exhaustion may set in, leading to distraction, and clear thinking may be difficult or impossible. Emotional detachment , as well as dissociation or "numbing out" can frequently occur. Dissociating from

2322-492: Is another type of cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on learning safe coping skills for co-occurring PTSD and substance use problems. While some sources highlight Seeking Safety as effective with strong research support, others have suggested that it did not lead to improvements beyond usual treatment. A review from 2014 showed that a combination of treatments involving dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), often used for borderline personality disorder, and exposure therapy

2408-482: Is associated with neuroticism during adulthood. Parts of the brain in a growing child are developing in a sequential and hierarchical order, from least complex to most complex. The brain's neurons change in response to the constant external signals and stimulation, receiving and storing new information. This allows the brain to continually respond to its surroundings and promote survival. The five traditional signals (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch) contribute to

2494-403: Is effective in reducing PTSD and depression symptoms, and it increases the likelihood of patients no longer meeting the criteria for PTSD. There is a large body of empirical support for the use of cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of trauma-related symptoms, including post-traumatic stress disorder . Institute of Medicine guidelines identify cognitive behavioral therapies as

2580-495: Is highly effective in treating psychological trauma. If, however, psychological trauma has caused dissociative disorders or complex PTSD , the trauma model approach (also known as phase-oriented treatment of structural dissociation) has been proven to work better than the simple cognitive approach. Studies funded by pharmaceuticals have also shown that medications such as the new anti-depressants are effective when used in combination with other psychological approaches. At present,

2666-690: Is important to note the presence of possible avoidance responses. Avoidance responses may involve the absence of expected activation or emotional reactivity as well as the use of avoidance mechanisms (e.g., substance use, effortful avoidance of cues associated with the event, dissociation). In addition to monitoring activation and avoidance responses, clinicians carefully observe the individual's strengths or difficulties with affect regulation (i.e., affect tolerance and affect modulation). Such difficulties may be evidenced by mood swings, brief yet intense depressive episodes , or self-mutilation . The information gathered through observation of affect regulation will guide

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2752-458: Is in the best interests of both the child and the parent(s). Trauma is hard to speak of by those that experience it. The event in question might recur to them in a dream or another medium, but it is rare for them to speak of it. Trauma can be caused by human-made, technological and natural disasters, including war, abuse, violence, vehicle collisions, or medical emergencies. An individual's response to psychological trauma can be varied based on

2838-423: Is no significant dispute over providing reasonable accommodations to the small number of students (usually current and former military personnel and sexual assault survivors) who qualify as having a disabling level of post-traumatic stress disorder and whose ability to learn the normal curriculum can be improved, for example, by mentioning in advance that the next reading assignment contains a detailed description of

2924-485: Is not merely an unpleasant or adverse experience, a trauma trigger is not merely something that makes a person feel uncomfortable or offended. Some common triggers are: The trigger is usually personal and specific. However, it need not be closely related to the actual experience. For example, after the Gulf War , some Israelis experienced the sound of an accelerating motorbike as a trigger, which they associated with

3010-541: Is supported by some professors such as Richard McNally , professor of psychology at Harvard, and some psychiatric medical practitioners, such as Metin Basoglu and Edna Foa. They believe that trigger warnings increase avoidance behaviors by those with PTSD which makes it harder to overcome the PTSD, create a culture that decreases resilience, and more geared towards political virtue signaling , and are "counterproductive to

3096-420: Is the study of psychological trauma. People who experience trauma often have problems and difficulties afterwards. The severity of these symptoms depends on the person, the types of trauma involved, and the support and treatment they receive from others. The range of reactions to trauma can be wide and varied, and differ in severity from person to person. After a traumatic experience, a person may re-experience

3182-546: The US Congress . The NCTSN is a resource for dealing with tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting . Traumatized Psychological trauma (also known as mental trauma , psychiatric trauma , emotional damage , or psychotrauma ) is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events that are outside the normal range of human experiences. It must be understood by

3268-450: The 1890s that psychological trauma was the origin of all instances of the mental illness known as hysteria . Charcot's "traumatic hysteria" often manifested as paralysis that followed a physical trauma, typically years later after what Charcot described as a period of "incubation". Sigmund Freud , Charcot's student and the father of psychoanalysis , examined the concept of psychological trauma throughout his career. Jean Laplanche has given

3354-460: The activities are play genogram, sand worlds, coloring feelings, self and kinetic family drawing, symbol work, dramatic-puppet play, story telling, Briere's TSCC, etc. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) defines trauma as the symptoms that occur following exposure to an event (i.e., traumatic event) that involves actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. This exposure could come in

3440-552: The actual efficacy of yoga in reducing the effects of trauma needs more exploration. In health and social care settings, a trauma informed approach means that care is underpinned by understandings of trauma and its far-reaching implications. Trauma is widespread. For example, 26% of participants in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study were survivors of one ACE and 12.5% were survivors of four or more ACEs. A trauma-informed approach acknowledges

3526-430: The affected person as directly threatening the affected person or their loved ones generally with death , severe bodily injury , or sexual violence ; indirect exposure, such as from watching television news, may be extremely distressing and can produce an involuntary and possibly overwhelming physiological stress response , but does not produce trauma per se . Examples of distressing events include violence , rape , or

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3612-483: The assessing clinician may proceed by inquiring about both the traumatic event and the outcomes experienced (e.g., post-traumatic symptoms, dissociation, substance abuse , somatic symptoms, psychotic reactions). Such inquiry occurs within the context of established rapport and is completed in an empathic, sensitive, and supportive manner. The clinician may also inquire about possible relational disturbance, such as alertness to interpersonal danger, abandonment issues , and

3698-696: The clinician's decisions regarding the individual's readiness to partake in various therapeutic activities. Though assessment of psychological trauma may be conducted in an unstructured manner, assessment may also involve the use of a structured interview. Such interviews might include the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale , Acute Stress Disorder Interview, Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders - Revised, and Brief Interview for post-traumatic Disorders. Lastly, assessment of psychological trauma might include

3784-411: The complexity of the interaction between traumatic event occurrence and trauma symptomatology, a person's distress response to aversive details of a traumatic event may involve intense fear or helplessness, but ranges according to the context. In children, trauma symptoms can be manifested in the form of disorganized or agitative behaviors. Trauma can be caused by a wide variety of events, but there are

3870-410: The developing brain structure and its function. Infants and children begin to create internal representations of their external environment, and in particular, key attachment relationships, shortly after birth. Violent and victimizing attachment figures impact infants' and young children's internal representations. The more frequently a specific pattern of brain neurons is activated, the more permanent

3956-572: The educational process". Since the publication of the American Association of University Professors' report, other professors, such as Angus Johnston, have supported trigger warnings as a part of "sound pedagogy ". Other supportive professors have stated that "the purpose of trigger warnings is not to cause students to avoid traumatic content, but to prepare them for it, and in extreme circumstances to provide alternate modes of learning." Universities have taken different stances on

4042-439: The entire work. This may be more difficult to employ in works of fiction, where skipping certain parts disrupts the narrative flow. The idea of giving content warnings to university students about their coursework has been disputed and politicized. Much of the dispute centers around content warnings given to all students about the presence of generally uncomfortable subjects in the curriculum, such as racism and misogyny. There

4128-481: The environment for danger). Research shows that about 60% of the US population reported as having experienced at least one traumatic symptom in their lives, but only a small proportion actually develops PTSD. There is a correlation between the risk of PTSD and whether or not the act was inflicted deliberately by the offender. Psychological trauma is treated with therapy and, if indicated, psychotropic medications. The term continuous posttraumatic stress disorder (CTSD)

4214-437: The event. Because individuals may not yet be capable of managing this distress, it is necessary to determine how the event can be discussed in such a way that will not "retraumatize" the individual. It is also important to take note of such responses, as these responses may aid the clinician in determining the intensity and severity of possible post traumatic stress as well as the ease with which responses are triggered. Further, it

4300-509: The field has adopted a number of diverse methodological approaches, many pose their own limitations in practical application. The experience and outcomes of psychological trauma can be assessed in a number of ways. Within the context of a clinical interview, the risk of imminent danger to the self or others is important to address but is not the focus of assessment. In most cases, it will not be necessary to involve contacting emergency services (e.g., medical, psychiatric, law enforcement) to ensure

4386-451: The form of experiencing the event or witnessing the event, or learning that an extreme violent or accidental event was experienced by a loved one. Trauma symptoms may come in the form of intrusive memories, dreams, or flashbacks; avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event; negative thoughts and feelings; or increased alertness or reactivity. Memories associated with trauma are typically explicit, coherent, and difficult to forget. Due to

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4472-400: The high rates of trauma and means that care providers treat every person as if they might be a survivor of trauma. Measurement of the effectiveness of a universal trauma informed approach is in early stages and is largely based in theory and epidemiology. Trauma trigger The process of connecting a traumatic experience to a trauma trigger is called traumatic coupling . When trauma

4558-528: The hippocampus, cognitive and affective impairment. This is significant in brain scan studies done regarding higher-order function assessment with children and youth who were in vulnerable environments. Some traumatized people may feel permanently damaged when trauma symptoms do not go away and they do not believe their situation will improve. This can lead to feelings of despair, transient paranoid ideation, loss of self-esteem , profound emptiness , suicidality, and frequently, depression . If important aspects of

4644-418: The individual is less likely to resort to self harm. In these situations it is best to provide a supportive, caring environment and to communicate to the individual that no matter the circumstance, the individual will be taken seriously rather than being treated as delusional. It is vital for the assessor to understand that what is going on in the traumatized person's head is valid and real. If deemed appropriate,

4730-469: The individual to integrate upsetting-distressing material (thoughts, feelings and memories) and to resolve these internally. It also aids in the growth of personal skills like resilience, ego regulation, empathy, etc. Processes involved in trauma therapy are: A number of complementary approaches to trauma treatment have been implicated as well, including yoga and meditation. There has been recent interest in developing trauma-sensitive yoga practices, but

4816-429: The individuals safety; members of the individual's social support network are much more critical. Understanding and accepting the psychological state of an individual is paramount. There are many misconceptions of what it means for a traumatized individual to be in psychological crisis. These are times when an individual is in inordinate amounts of pain and incapable of self-comfort. If treated humanely and respectfully,

4902-629: The internal representation associated with the pattern becomes. This causes sensitization in the brain towards the specific neural network. Because of this sensitization, the neural pattern can be activated by decreasingly less external stimuli. Child abuse tends to have the most complications, with long-term effects out of all forms of trauma, because it occurs during the most sensitive and critical stages of psychological development. It could lead to violent behavior, possibly as extreme as serial murder. For example, Hickey's Trauma-Control Model suggests that " childhood trauma for serial murderers may serve as

4988-489: The issue of trigger warnings. In a letter welcoming new undergraduates, the University of Chicago wrote that the college's "commitment to academic freedom means we do not support so-called 'trigger warnings'," do not cancel controversial speakers, and do not "condone the creation of intellectual 'safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from thoughts and ideas at odds with their own". Students at UC Santa Barbara took

5074-533: The label for this condition after the Vietnam War in which many veterans returned to their respective countries demoralized, and sometimes, addicted to psychoactive substances. The symptoms of PTSD must persist for at least one month for diagnosis to be made. The main symptoms of PTSD consist of four main categories: trauma (i.e. intense fear), reliving (i.e. flashbacks), avoidance behavior (i.e. emotional numbing), and hypervigilance (i.e. continuous scanning of

5160-464: The lives of children who have undergone a traumatic event. Moral injury is distress such as guilt or shame following a moral transgression. There are many other definitions some based on different models of causality. Moral injury is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder but is distinguished from it. Moral injury is associated with guilt and shame while PTSD is correlated with fear and anxiety . Normally, hearing about or seeing

5246-524: The most effective treatments for PTSD. Two of these cognitive behavioral therapies, prolonged exposure and cognitive processing therapy , are being disseminated nationally by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the treatment of PTSD. A 2010 Cochrane review found that trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy was effective for individuals with acute traumatic stress symptoms when compared to waiting list and supportive counseling. Seeking Safety

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5332-420: The need for self-protection via interpersonal control. Through discussion of interpersonal relationships, the clinician is better able to assess the individual's ability to enter and sustain a clinical relationship. During assessment, individuals may exhibit activation responses in which reminders of the traumatic event trigger sudden feelings (e.g., distress , anxiety, anger ), memories, or thoughts relating to

5418-431: The next generation, thus making genetics one of the components of psychological trauma. However, some people are born with or later develop protective factors such as genetics that help lower their risk of psychological trauma. The person may not remember what actually happened, while emotions experienced during the trauma may be re-experienced without the person understanding why (see Repressed memory ). This can lead to

5504-515: The noise of fireworks may seem unbearable to a combat veteran whose trauma is coupled with sudden, loud noises as the trigger. Trigger warnings, sometimes called content warnings , are warnings that a work contains writing, images, or concepts that may be distressing to some people. Content warnings have been widely used in mass media without any connection to trauma, such as the US TV Parental Guidelines , which indicate that

5590-770: The opposite position in 2014, passing a non-binding resolution in support of mandatory trigger warnings for classes that could contain potentially upsetting material. Professors were encouraged to make students aware of such material and allow them to skip classes that could make them feel uncomfortable. Although the subject has generated political controversy, research suggests that trigger warnings are neither harmful nor especially helpful. Among people without traumatic experiences, "trigger warnings did not affect anxiety responses to potentially distressing material in general." Furthermore, studies disagree on whether trigger warnings cause transient increases in anxiety in those without traumatic experiences. For participants who self-reported

5676-485: The origin of the trauma under more psychologically safe circumstances, such as with a therapist . More recently, awareness of the consequences of climate change is seen as a source of trauma as individuals contemplate future events as well as experience climate change related disasters. Emotional experiences within these contexts are increasing, and collective processing and engagement with these emotions can lead to increased resilience and post-traumatic growth , as well as

5762-400: The painful emotion includes numbing all emotion, and the person may seem emotionally flat, preoccupied, distant, or cold. Dissociation includes depersonalisation disorder, dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, dissociative identity disorder, etc. Exposure to and re-experiencing trauma can cause neurophysiological changes like slowed myelination, abnormalities in synaptic pruning, shrinking of

5848-491: The person feels as though the events are recurring. Flashbacks can range from distraction to complete dissociation or loss of awareness of the current context. Re-experiencing of symptoms is a sign that the body and mind are actively struggling to cope with the traumatic experience. Triggers and cues act as reminders of the trauma and can cause anxiety and other associated emotions. Often the person can be completely unaware of what these triggers are. In many cases, this may lead

5934-470: The person's self and world understanding have been violated, the person may call their own identity into question. Often despite their best efforts, traumatized parents may have difficulty assisting their child with emotion regulation, attribution of meaning, and containment of post-traumatic fear in the wake of the child's traumatization, leading to adverse consequences for the child. In such instances, seeking counselling in appropriate mental health services

6020-426: The person, and nightmares may be frequent. Insomnia may occur as lurking fears and insecurity keep the person vigilant and on the lookout for danger, both day and night. A messy personal financial scene, as well as debt, are common features in trauma-affected people. Trauma does not only cause changes in one's daily functions, but could also lead to morphological changes. Such epigenetic changes can be passed on to

6106-411: The processes of treatment, confrontation with their sources of trauma plays a crucial role. While debriefing people immediately after a critical incident has not been shown to reduce incidence of PTSD, coming alongside people experiencing trauma in a supportive way has become standard practice. The impact of PTSD on children is to a degree unknown, but education on coping mechanisms have shown to improve

6192-536: The risk for developing trauma symptoms. Trauma may also result if workers witness situations that happen in the course of their work (e.g. violence in the workplace, reviewing violent video tapes.) Risk increases with exposure and with the absence of help-seeking protective factors and pre-preparation of preventive strategies. Individuals who have a personal history of trauma are also at increased risk for developing vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma can lead workers to develop more negative views of themselves, others, and

6278-730: The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil) are the only medications that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States to treat PTSD. Other options for pharmacotherapy include serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressants and anti-psychotic medications, though none have been FDA approved. Trauma therapy allows processing trauma-related memories and allows growth towards more adaptive psychological functioning. It helps to develop positive coping instead of negative coping and allows

6364-551: The social world, with which one converses internally and which is generated through interactions with others. He posits that the inner other is damaged by trauma but can be repaired by conversations with others such as therapists. He relates the concept of the inner other to the work of Albert Camus viewing the inner other as that which removes the absurd . Alford notes how trauma damages trust in social relations due to fear of exploitation and argues that culture and social relations can help people recover from trauma. Diana Fosha ,

6450-423: The sound of sirens they heard during the war, even though the resemblance between the two sounds is limited. The realistic portrayal of graphic violence in visual media may expose some affected people to triggers while watching movies or television. People who have experienced trauma and who have developed trauma triggers may panic when the trigger is experienced, especially if it is unexpected. For example,

6536-658: The suppression of the immune system and increase in blood pressure. Not only does it affect the body physiologically, but a morphological change in the hippocampus also takes place. Studies showed that extreme stress early in life can disrupt normal development of hippocampus and impact its functions in adulthood. Studies surely show a correlation between the size of hippocampus and one's susceptibility to stress disorders. In times of war, psychological trauma has been known as shell shock or combat stress reaction . Psychological trauma may cause an acute stress reaction which may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD emerged as

6622-420: The trauma mentally and physically. For example, the sound of a motorcycle engine may cause intrusive thoughts or a sense of re-experiencing a traumatic experience that involved a similar sound e.g. gunfire. Sometimes a benign stimulus (e.g. noise from a motorcycle) may get connected in the mind with the traumatic experience. This process is called traumatic coupling. In this process, the benign stimulus becomes

6708-567: The traumatic events being constantly experienced as if they were happening in the present, preventing the subject from gaining perspective on the experience. This can produce a pattern of prolonged periods of acute arousal punctuated by periods of physical and mental exhaustion . This can lead to mental health disorders like acute stress and anxiety disorder, prolonged grief disorder , somatic symptom disorder , conversion disorders , brief psychotic disorder , borderline personality disorder , adjustment disorder, etc. Obsessive- compulsive disorder

6794-466: The treatment of trauma in mind— EMDR , progressive counting , somatic experiencing , biofeedback , Internal Family Systems Therapy , and sensorimotor psychotherapy, and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) etc. Trauma informed care provides a framework for any person in any discipline or context to promote healing, or at least not re-traumatizing. A 2018 systematic review provided moderate evidence that Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

6880-403: The type of trauma, as well as socio-demographic and background factors. There are several behavioral responses commonly used towards stressors including the proactive, reactive, and passive responses. Proactive responses include attempts to address and correct a stressor before it has a noticeable effect on lifestyle. Reactive responses occur after the stress and possible trauma has occurred and

6966-485: The use of self-administered psychological tests. Individual scores on such tests are compared to normative data in order to determine how the individual's level of functioning compares to others in a sample representative of the general population. Psychological testing might include the use of generic tests (e.g., MMPI-2 , MCMI-III , SCL-90-R) to assess non-trauma-specific symptoms as well as difficulties related to personality. In addition, psychological testing might include

7052-431: The use of trauma-specific tests to assess post-traumatic outcomes. Such tests might include the post-traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, Davidson Trauma Scale, Detailed Assessment of post-traumatic Stress, Trauma Symptom Inventory, Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children, Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire, and Trauma-related Guilt Inventory. Children are assessed through activities and therapeutic relationship, some of

7138-470: The victim of an alcoholic parent; the threat or the witnessing of violence (particularly in childhood ); life-threatening medical conditions ; and medication-induced trauma. Catastrophic natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions ; large scale transportation accidents; house or domestic fire ; motor collision ; mass interpersonal violence like war ; terrorist attacks or other mass victimization like sex trafficking ; being taken as

7224-548: The world and ourself. Once one has experienced such trauma, it is necessary for an individual to create new assumptions or modify their old ones to recover from the traumatic experience. Therefore, the negative effects of the trauma are simply related to our worldviews, and if we repair these views, we will recover from the trauma. Psychodynamic viewpoints are controversial, but have been shown to have utility therapeutically. French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot argued in

7310-495: The world as a whole, which can compromise their quality of life and ability to work effectively. Janoff-Bulman, theorises that people generally hold three fundamental assumptions about the world that are built and confirmed over years of experience: the world is benevolent, the world is meaningful, and I am worthy. According to the shattered assumption theory, there are some extreme events that "shatter" an individual's worldviews by severely challenging and breaking assumptions about

7396-511: Was introduced into the trauma literature by Gill Straker (1987). It was originally used by South African clinicians to describe the effects of exposure to frequent, high levels of violence usually associated with civil conflict and political repression. The term is also applicable to the effects of exposure to contexts in which gang violence and crime are endemic as well as to the effects of ongoing exposure to life threats in high-risk occupations such as police, fire, and emergency services. As one of

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