Trauma

What is Trauma?

Trauma is the effect of any occurrence outside a person’s usual experience that is highly distressing. There is a very real fear for their emotional or physical safety.

How is Trauma Caused?

Trauma is the normal reaction of a person’s mind and body to abnormal situations such as:

  • natural disasters
  • accidents
  • robbery
  • violence
  • terrorism
  • suicide
  • kidnapping or hostage situations
  • murder

Trauma also results from negative or Traumatic events that occur to others who are emotionally and/or physically near to the person who is Traumatised.

What are the Reactions to Trauma?

Trauma effects can appear as negative symptoms impacting on the Emotional, Cognitive, Physical and Interpersonal domains (a)

Trauma can result in Acute Stress Disorder or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which are associated with the following symptoms (b)

  • severe dissociation (unreality)
  • severe intrusive re-experiencing
  • extreme avoidance
  • panic
  • severe hyper-arousal
  • debilitating anxiety
  • severe depression
  • problematic substance use
  • psychotic symptoms

What Are the Costs of Trauma?

Individuals can have life quality degraded by reduced earnings as well as the emotional and physical impact of Trauma.

Relationship quality with spouse, children, extended family and friends can suffer.

Employers can be affected by loss of valued staff while stretching resources to cover the incident impact. Insurance premiums may also increase.

The potential for long-term illness raises a societal burden of social security support and use of limited health resources.

What Can We Do About Trauma?

During the initial phase after a traumatic event there is a period of confusion especially amongst those unfamiliar with traumatic event processes. Having knowledge of, and access to, a professional experienced in what does and does not work, eases the fallout of this phase. (c)

Later, if trauma symptoms emerge, consult experienced professionals for assistance to ‘normalise’ the experience and provide psychological treatment for the symptoms which are causing discomfort.

Why seek early intervention and assistance from a Professional? (d)

  • lessen early trauma impact
  • prevent / lessen accumulation of
  • stress and trauma.
  • facilitate coping skills
  • gain indication of future problems
  • return people to work
  • economically cost effective
  • duty of care
  • It is the right thing to do, both morally and ethically

Acknowledgements
(a). Lifeline, Gold Coast (April, 2000). Trauma Recovery Training Course. Gold Coast: Author.
(b). National Center on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD) (2001). Effects of traumatic stress in a disaster situation. NCPTSD Executive Division, VA Medical Center (116D), White River Junction, VT 05009 www.ncptsd.org
(c). Paul Stevenson Seminar (August 2003). Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: How to Make it work. Brisbane: Author.
(d). Critical Incident Stress Management Foundation Australia Inc. (2002). Critical incident stress management: Basic group processes course. Melbourne: Author.

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