Exploring Trauma
This is a quick guide to the different elements and impacts of trauma
What is Trauma?
Trauma is anything that overwhelm's the body's natural ability to restore balance in the nervous system. Our nervous system responds naturally both to threat and to safety. Threat will cause the nervous system to activate a host of survival responses such as an increase in heart rate, shallow breathing, or a shot of adrenaline that you might feel in the chest. Once the threat has passed, the 'other side' of the nervous system gently puts the brake on and we return to a state of balance. Trauma is simply something that overwhelms this system because it comes at as in a way that doesn't allow us to respond effectively or return to the balance described above.
PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Continuing the description of trauma, PTSD occurs when the nervous system is activated to such an extent that it gets stuck in the extreme state of activation or shutdown. Unaware that the body has survived the trauma, the event(s) are replayed physiologically and psychologically in the form of panic attacks, nightmares, hyper-arousal (eg. anxiety), or hypo-arousal (eg depression or dissociation), among other things. For a list of PTSD symptoms read my Trauma Guide.
Developmental Trauma
Developmental trauma is defined by prolonged exposure to an overwhelming situation that happens during the developmental stage of life. It often occurs in the context of close relationship.