Trauma and Mental Health: Understanding the Psychological Impact of Trauma
With the proper tools and help to deal with the psychological impact of trauma, individuals can fully recover from the negative effects of trauma. Continue reading to learn about how trauma and mental health are related and how the trauma recovery process works.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is an emotional response to a distressing event that can have lasting negative effects on a person’s mental, physical, and emotional health. While it affects everyone differently, a traumatic event can happen to anyone at any point in their lives.
Even if you experienced the same traumatic event as someone else, your reaction could be different. Traumatic events are typically circumstances where you or someone close to you is at risk of serious harm or death, or a perceived threat of such. However, because everyone is unique, an event that is traumatic to you may not be seen as traumatic to someone else.
A crucial element to understanding why and how people react to traumatic events comes from learning about the connection between trauma and mental health. Our bodies and minds can react in different ways during a traumatic event. Often, these reactions fall somewhere within the five main trauma responses.
- Fight- protesting, being defensive, fighting, etc.
- Flight- running away, escaping, avoidance behaviors, etc.
- Freeze- being unable to move or make decisions
- Fawn- trying to please or win over someone hurting you
- Flop- becoming overwhelmed and unresponsive, feeling disconnected from your body (dissociating), sometimes fainting or shutting down
The way someone handles trauma is dependent on various factors, including if they’ve experienced previous traumatic events, other stressors, and the support they receive after. In addition to our mental and emotional reactions, our bodies will often react physically to trauma as it’s happening as a way to tell us we’re in danger. These may include:
- Racing heartbeat
- Quick or shallow breathing
- Hypervigilance
- Nausea
- Cold hands
- Shaking or dizziness
Typically, the symptoms mentioned above will gradually decrease or go away within half an hour of the event, however, in some cases, they continue to occur long after the initial event. When our bodies and minds can’t move on from trauma, we can feel stuck in a sense of danger.
Physical and Emotional Effects of Trauma
When talking about trauma and mental health, it’s important to discuss the physical and emotional effects someone may encounter. Like the initial responses, the long-term effects of trauma will also vary depending on the individual, some of these could include:
Flashbacks. Reliving aspects of the traumatic event or feeling as if it’s happening in real-time. This could include seeing images of what happened or experiencing it through sound, taste, or physical sensations in your body.
Panic attacks. A sudden episode of intense fear and discomfort that includes both physical and mental symptoms including a sense of dread, feeling of losing control, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, shortness of breath, trembling, and more.
Dissociation. Feeling numb, disconnected, or detached from your body. You may also experience a sensation or feeling that the world around you isn’t real.
Sleep problems. Finding it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep, feeling unsafe at night, or having nightmares.
Alcohol and substance misuse. Using alcohol or other substances to cope with difficult emotions or memories.
Self-neglect. Not being able to take care of yourself or practice basic lifestyle habits like eating, personal hygiene, or keeping your home safe.
Self-harm. Hurting yourself as a way to deal with difficult feelings, painful memories, or overwhelming situations and experiences.
Suicidal thoughts, urges/intentions, or actions. Being preoccupied with thoughts of ending your life, thinking about methods of suicide, or making plans to take your life. Some individuals may experience suicidal symptoms more frequently while others face them only occasionally. For example, this could be when they are faced with a trigger or if they are in a more vulnerable state.
It’s important to remember, that no matter how frequent or infrequent, anyone experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide should seek help immediately.
Note: If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of self-harm, call 610-480-8919, or visit our website for immediate help.
Experiencing some physical and emotional effects of trauma is normal, however, when someone is showing multiple symptoms over a long period, it could mean they have developed a type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we’ll discuss more about this below.
When Does Trauma Become PTSD?
As we mentioned before, trauma and mental health are connected in many ways. Since the symptoms of trauma are intense and overwhelming, dealing with them can significantly affect someone’s daily life.
These symptoms tend to subside in time, but if they don’t it can lead to additional mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Unlike anxiety or depression, PTSD only develops after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. There are many subtypes of PTSD, all of which can cause a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms.
Arousal and Reactivity Symptoms
- Being easily startled
- Feeling tense, on guard, or edge
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
- Feeling irritable and having angry or aggressive outbursts
- Engaging in risky, reckless, or destructive behavior
Avoidance Symptoms
- Staying away from places, events, or objects that remind you of the experience
- Avoiding thoughts or feelings related to the traumatic event
Cognition and Mood Symptoms
- Trouble remembering key features of the traumatic event
- Negative thoughts about oneself or the world
- Exaggerated feelings of blame directed toward oneself or others
- Ongoing negative emotions such as fear, anger, guilt, or shame
- Loss of interest in precious activities
- Feelings of social isolation
- Difficulty feeling positive emotions such as happiness or satisfaction
Re-Experiencing Symptoms
- Flashbacks
- Recurring memories or dreams related to the event
- Distressing thoughts
- Physical signs of stress
It’s important to note that not everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD. However, understanding PTSD symptoms can help identify signs of unresolved trauma.
Trauma and Mental Health Among College Students
When it comes to addressing trauma and mental health, a key demographic affected is young adults and college students. Over the past few years, mental health conditions like PTSD and anxiety have increased among college students specifically.
One study showed that the number of college students diagnosed with PTSD doubled between 2017 and 2022. These increases are a result of many different factors including societal stressors, campus shootings, physical violence, sexual assault, and natural disasters. Another study found that nearly half of students who attend college counseling sessions say they have experienced a traumatic event.
As concern for college students’ mental health and well-being grows, campuses have taken steps to ensure students feel and remain safe. This includes on-campus counseling, security, and prevention programs to assist educators, administrators, and students.
Trauma Recovery Process
Anyone can experience trauma, and when they do, their reactions will vary. The trauma recovery process will differ for everyone; it’s important to remember that what works for one individual may not. That being said, there are typically three stages of the trauma recovery process.
1. Safety and Stabilization
During the first stage of recovery, mental health professionals will help you identify and understand difficult emotions associated with your trauma. After this, you can begin to learn coping skills and tools for managing trauma triggers.
2. Mourning and Remembrance
Finding answers is a key part of moving on from traumatic experiences. This means processing and making meaning of the trauma. Mental health professionals can assist you in grieving the losses resulting from the traumatic event as well as releasing painful feelings and thoughts.
3. Integration and Reconnection
The final stage of the trauma recovery process is about cultivating a new sense of self, building upon healthy experiences, and planning for the future. This stage often includes reconnecting with others and redefining meaningful relationships. Rather than ignoring or obsessing over your trauma, you learn to accept it as a chapter in your life without letting it define you.
Coping with Trauma
As we mentioned above, healing from trauma will look different for everyone. Coping with trauma can be difficult, but with the proper resources and tools, you can fully recover. At Malvern Behavioral Health, our staff is not only trained in trauma-informed care but also in creating a recovery-focused environment that’s safe and welcoming for all. As a whole, our treatment approach includes various practices and skills including:
- Seeking Safety. An evidence-based treatment approach that assists in establishing safety from trauma and substance abuse by teaching coping skills and focusing on present-day behaviors to manage triggers and achieve mood stability.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). One of the most common types of talk therapies, CBT helps individuals become aware of inaccurate or negative thoughts so they can view challenging emotional situations from a different perspective and respond in a more effective way.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). A type of talking therapy based on CBT but is specifically adapted for individuals who feel emotions intensely. DBT focuses on helping individuals understand and accept their feelings, learn skills to manage those feelings and make positive changes in their lives.
Some common mental health treatments professionals may also recommend include:
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
In addition to professional help, there are also various self-care and healthy lifestyle habits for coping with trauma, such as:
- Minimize media use and exposure
- Practice mindfulness and meditation
- Schedule time for activities you enjoy
- Use downtime for relaxation
- Exercise regularly
- Establish a healthy sleeping and eating routine
- Limit or cut out alcohol and substance use
Understanding the connection between trauma and mental health allows us to provide the proper care for those who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. This means ensuring they feel safe and supported. We provide trauma-informed care for individuals dealing with mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mood disorders.
If you or someone you know has experienced a traumatic event, contact us today to see how we can help you through the recovery process.
