What is Trauma?
The word trauma is used to describe negative events that are emotionally painful and that overwhelm a person’s ability to cope. Examples of such events include experiencing an earthquake or hurricane, industrial accident or vehicular accident, physical or sexual assault, and various forms of abuse experienced during childhood. The types of trauma that tend to have the greatest adverse psychological consequences are those related to interpersonal or intentional trauma. These include childhood abuse and neglect. Experiencing trauma in childhood can have a severe and long-lasting effect. Generally the more severe the trauma and the earlier it happens to a child, the greater the long-term effects. There is evidence that early childhood experiences can have lasting impacts on the brain. The first stage of dealing with traumatic stress, often called the Fight-or-Flight Response, which causes a person to be ready for a physical activity. We all have an alarm system in our body and brain that helps us to recognize danger and threats. People who live with Complex Trauma often develop very sensitive alarms. Sometimes this can help to keep them safe. Other times the alarm goes off when something reminds them of bad things that happened in the past, even when they aren’t actually happening. We call that a false alarm. Even a false alarm, however, can sound and feel as loud and scary as a real one. (Our bodies and brains have a hard time telling the difference between real and false alarms). When youth grow up in situations where they are in danger or are mistreated or neglected a lot, they develop ways of dealing with things that help them survive. Sometimes we refer to this as our “survival system” or “survival brain.” Youth can become good at knowing what other people are feeling, at being able to completely ignore their feelings, or at being ready to fight in a split second. Although these abilities make it possible for youth to get through very difficult, scary, or lonely times, these survival skills can cause problems once they become habits or when you use them when you don’t really need them. There are many ways to cope with stressful experiences, and many things people can do to relieve stress, decrease tension and anxiety, and make their bodies feel more calm and in control. Perceived stress can cause the same results in the body as actual stress (such as increased hormonal activity and increased heart rate). There are three stages are Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion. If the first two are prolonged, then so is the third. The Exhaustion stage is the result of prolonged or chronic stress. Struggling with stress for long periods can drain your physical, emotional, and mental resources to the point where your body no longer has strength to fight stress. You may give up or feel your situation is hopeless. Some signs of exhaustion include: fatigue, burnout, depression, anxiety, Insomnia, nausea, increase sweating, headache, indigestion, increased irritability, poor concentration and anxiety, and decreased stress tolerance. The physical effects of this stage also weaken your immune system and put you at risk for stress-related illnesses. Childhood trauma may cause permanent changes in the brain and some of these may heritable. Complex Trauma or child abuse may even shrink regions in the brain's hippocampus which is the region of the brain that is associated primarily with memory. It not only assists with the storage of long term memories, but is also responsible for the memory of the location of objects or people. The basic human motivation is approach or avoid and much of it is unconscious. Sometimes people very intentionally use strategies to cope: they practice specific skills and actively work at reducing their distress and shifting their energy to a more comfortable level. Other times people do things more instinctively: impulsively or automatically taking steps to change the way they feel, often without even realizing it. Stressed people often tend to avoid social interactions and may also suffer from loneliness. Whether done on purpose or not, some coping skills are going to be very helpful for some people, and not so much for others. What’s more, some strategies people use to manage overwhelming feelings or release energy can be very powerful and effective in the moment, but also very destructive, addictive, or significantly increase risk of negative outcomes over time. Since it’s not possible to eliminate every stressor, it’s important to find ways to cope with stress. Regular exercise can help you cope and maintain a healthy stress level. Other techniques for stress management include meditation and deep-breathing exercises.
|
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Trauma and Stress
