Trauma

Trauma is a complex response to stressful, tragic, or life-threatening events. It's generally associated with physical or sexual assault, violence, or fatal and life-threatening accidents, though everyone experiences different reactions to events like these. Trauma can also develop after experiences like the loss of a loved one, or neglect and emotional abuse. Traumatic events usually make an impact on mental health, especially when the traumatic event is severe.

Experiencing a stressful event doesn't always result in trauma or lead to long-lasting effects. But about 1 in 3 people who experience a traumatic event develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)¹, a mental health disorder that includes symptoms like avoidance and changes in arousal lasting a month or more. 

Trauma doesn't just manifest emotionally, though it's normal to feel many emotions including sadness, fear, shock, and more. Trauma also manifests physically in many ways, including head and body aches that come seemingly out of nowhere.

Identifying the source of your trauma and how it impacts your mental health is a challenging but important step. You may not feel like talking about it right away, and that’s OK. There are other ways to move forward that may be right for you.

Trauma is complex, and caused by many different events and experiences, but it is usually linked to something tragic, violent, unexpected, and/or devastating. Depending on the traumatic event, the impact on your mental health can look totally different. Some commonly known types of trauma include:

• Acute Trauma: This refers to trauma in reaction to a one-time, one-off event—for example: getting in a car crash, or unexpectedly losing someone you love.
• Chronic Trauma: This is trauma that develops in response to a dangerous situation that repeats over a longer period of time. This includes things like constant bullying, neglect, or any kind of ongoing abuse.
• Complex Trauma: Distinct from chronic trauma, complex trauma is trauma that develops in response to prolonged, interpersonal neglect and abuse in childhood and adolescence (ACEs). Complex trauma is associated with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a diagnosis related to PTSD that also includes emotional regulation, relationship issues, and identity crises.
• Secondary Trauma: This is a reaction to witnessing other people’s hardships or acute trauma. It’s a kind of trauma that’s common for first responders, such as firefighters, EMTs, and social workers.
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE): This refers to traumatic childhood events that can affect you later in life. Experiences like the loss of a parent, parental neglect, abuse or family conflict are common ACEs.

The impact of trauma on the LGBTQ+ community is great. Shame and discrimination are sources of trauma for many--experiences with rejection, emotional harm, even physical and sexual violence for simply being who you are can leave deep emotional scars.

Trauma related to your gender identity or sexuality can cause shame, the feeling that you are inherently bad because of who you are. 

No one deserves to feel ashamed of themselves because they survived a traumatic experience. That’s why it’s so important to seek out mental health care that is trauma-informed and sensitive to your experiences and struggles.

Sometimes we protect ourselves from the feelings associated with trauma by dissociation, feeling detached from reality, or intellectualization, focusing on facts over feelings. This can often help us in the moment, but in the long run can prevent us from truly coping.

Recognizing the effects of past trauma and exploring ways to work on it is one of the greatest and bravest forms of self-compassion. It can be challenging to find the time and energy to prioritize mental health, but the rewards for doing so are countless. 

1. National Health Service UK. Causes - Post-traumatic stress disorder