On the Road to Recovery: Understanding Trauma (Part I)

My Understanding of Trauma

My first post ("A Final Attempt to Find the Self") concluded with the assumption that "Self-reflection and self-discovery seem to be the the first steps on the road to recovery." For reflection to be meaningful, it is important to understand the cause(s) of our suffering. Let's presume pain (regardless of the nature, whether physical and/or emotional) is something inflicted on us as a result of being exposed to some sort of harmful experience. The implication of this reasoning is then to accept the existence of a malicious force which is primarily responsible for all forms of harm. The monster we are describing here, is what is known to us as "trauma." 

According to Quinn, "[...] trauma is an event or circumstance that results in physical, emotional, or life-threatening harm" (2023). The American Psychological Association defines trauma as "[...] an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, crime, natural disaster, physical or emotional abuse, neglect, experiencing or witnessing violence, death of a loved one, war, and more" (2024). In my opinion, trauma neither refers to a specific event, nor the response to such an event. Instead, trauma is a descriptive term defining the nature of the mentioned event and relevant response. 

Types & Causes of Trauma

Quinn (2023) differentiates between three main types of trauma, each with its respective causes: 

1) Acute trauma, resulting from a single incident of being exposed to a specific event or circumstance. Since trauma is experienced subjectively, it is important to consider that the involved subject experienced this particular event as overwhelming to the extend of being traumatic. Examples of acute trauma include a car accident, natural disaster, violent crime, etc. 

2) Chronic trauma, due to continued exposure to certain distressing experiences. Chronic trauma often occurs in scenarios where a subject had to endure unbearable suffering over a period of time. Examples of chronic trauma could be a subject involved in domestic violence, suffering from a chronic illness, or battling homelessness.   

3) Complex trauma, developed during long-term exposure to a series of various events which were traumatic in nature. An example of complex trauma would be that of a subject who experienced childhood trauma, involving abuse and witnessing domestic violence.  

Responding to Trauma

According to the article "Beyond Fight or Flight: Discover The Six Trauma Responses" (2023), the different ways we respond to trauma are:

1) Confronting the trauma (physically and/or verbally) by means of attack and defense.

2) Attempting to escape and/or avoid the threat (both physically and emotionally).

3) Becoming temporarily unresponsive (we literally fail to respond as a result of being overwhelmed). 

4) Appeasing and accommodating the traumatic stimuli (as an attempt to make it stop).  

5) Denying the impact of the trauma (by downplaying the reality and pretending contentment).

6) Fainting (we literally lose consciousness as a result of being overwhelmed).

To be Continued...

References

American Psychological Association. (2024). Trauma. https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma#:~:text=Trauma%20is%20an%20emotional%20response,shock%20and%20denial%20are%20typical.

Family Psychiatery & Therapy. (2023, July 21). Beyond fight or flight: Discover the six trauma responses. https://familypsychnj.com/2023/07/beyond-fight-or-flight-discover-the-six-trauma-responses/#:~:text=In%20this%20article%2C%20we%20will,better%20support%20our%20mental%20health.

Quinn, Deborah. (2023, August 3). Types of trauma: The 7 most common types and their impacts. Sandstone Care. https://www.sandstonecare.com/blog/types-of-trauma/