Trauma

What is trauma?

Trauma is a condition that results from a set of circumstances, a series of events, or a harmful or threatening event that an individual experiences emotionally or physically. This event can have long-lasting adverse effects on the individual's social, emotional, physical functioning and well-being.

What are its main signs and symptoms?

Mental responses to a traumatic event include:

• Reduced memory and concentration
• Disturbed thoughts about the event
• Confusion
• Parts of the event repetitively playing in the mind

Physical responses to a traumatic event include:

• Disturbed sleeping patterns
• Dizziness, nausea and vomiting
• Headaches
• Sweating profusely
• Increased heart rate

Behavioural responses to a traumatic event include:

• Changes in appetite
• Drifting away from regular routines
• Sleeping issues
• Getting engrossed in tasks related to recovery
• Developing habits of cigarette, alcohol and coffee consumption
• Inability to stop thinking about the event
• Avoiding any memories associated with the event

Emotional responses to a traumatic event include:

• Panic, anxiety, and fear
• Feeling emotionless
• State of shock
• Feeling confused and detached
• Moving away from people and not wanting to connect with them
• Feeling like the event is still happening and that there’s danger around
• Feeling of exhaustion after the event is over
• Feeling let down after the event is over
• Experiencing feelings of guilt, depression, avoidance, and oversensitivity during the let-down phase

What are the main causes?

Experiencing the following events could trigger a traumatic response in a person:

• Loss
• Physical and sexual abuse
• Community, domestic, workplace violence
• Crime
• Natural calamity
• Feeling of deprivation
• Traumatic sorrow
• Medical procedures, injury or illness

How is it diagnosed and treated?

Trauma is diagnosed when an adult has all of these symptoms for more than at least a period of one month:

• At least two reactivity and arousal symptoms
• At least one of the re-experiencing symptoms
• At least two mood and cognition symptoms
• At least one of the avoidance symptoms

Trauma is treated using:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy
• Exposure therapy
• Cognitive restructuring
• Systematic desensitisation
• Anxiety management
• Stress reduction therapy
• Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing
• Antidepressants and other medications.

1. Missouri Department of Mental Health [Internet]: Missouri State; What is Trauma?
2. Better health channel. Department of Health and Human Services [internet]. State government of Victoria; Trauma - reaction and recovery.
3. National Institute of Mental Health [Internet] Bethesda, MD; Models of Trauma Treatment. National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland, United States
4. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US). Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2014. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57.) Chapter 3, Understanding the Impact of Trauma.
5. Center for Disease Control and Prevention [internet], Atlanta (GA): US Department of Health and Human Services; Helping Patients Cope With A Traumatic Event .