Responses to trauma can be considered quite ordinary reactions to extraordinary situations. The bottom line is that your reaction to trauma, no matter how confusing it may seem to you, is not unusual. Although the human response to trauma is complex, it includes common reactions of the body and the mind.
A word of caution: Do not assume that because something is described below as an effect of trauma and you are a trauma survivor, that you must have it and just don’t know it. That’s not the case. These are potential effects, but as we noted above under myths, we are all different and respond differently to trauma.
Acute Stress Disorder
Acute stress disorder, or ASD (APA 1994), is a diagnostic label that is given to stress reactions of individuals within the first month of experiencing a trauma. The symptoms of ASD overlap with those of
trauma. The symptoms of ASD overlap with those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, see below). ASD can occur after experiencing or witnessing a threatening event and the response involves intense fear, helplessness, or horror. The symptoms of ASD include:
Numbness or detachment: After trauma, some people have the sense that they do not feel their emotions very strongly or no longer have loving feelings toward other people.
Reduced awareness of your surroundings: Some people report that they feel out of it or in a daze in certain situations.
Derealization: After trauma, the world around you may feel different or unfamiliar, or you may have a sense of detachment from your surroundings.
Depersonalization: Trauma survivors sometimes experience a sense of change in their self- awareness, feeling detached from themselves, their experience, or their body.
Dissociative amnesia: Sometimes people are unable to remember parts of or important details of the traumatic event.
People who develop ASD within the month after the trauma are also more likely to later meet criteria for PTSD. However, it is also possible that someone may experience very few ASD symptoms and still later develop PTSD. [Notice what shows up for you right now, as you read the above.]
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Not everyone will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (APA 1994), the label for a cluster of distressing problems or symptoms that may continue to occur for at least a month following a traumatic experience. However, it is one of the most well-known
experience. However, it is one of the most well-known problems associated with experiencing a traumatic event. For some people, these symptoms may not get better on their own or may even get worse over time.
Re-experiencing Symptoms
People who develop PTSD will tend to re- experience the ordeal in the form of:
Upsetting memories or recollections of the event, such as images or thoughts about the traumatic event
Recurrent and distressing dreams or nightmares related to the event
Flashback episodes (acting as if the events were reoccurring in the present moment) and frightening thoughts
Feeling upset by certain scents, sounds, places, or people that can trigger these intrusive experiences Physiological reactivity, such as increased heart rate, or the danger or survival response, which typically is the experience of needing to defend oneself even when there is no imminent danger, triggered by reminders of the traumatic experience A common response is to experience more of these symptoms around anniversaries of the event (even decades after the traumatic event occurred).
Avoidance Symptoms
People with PTSD also tend to avoid reminders, places (for example, the scene of the trauma), or people (for instance, individuals who know about the trauma) that are associated with the traumatic event and may thus trigger responses to the trauma. Usually trauma survivors avoid these things in order to avoid experiencing general distress or emotional numbness. It is not uncommon for people to experience:
Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or memories about the event
Efforts to avoid activities, places, or conversations about the traumatic event
Difficulties and inabilities recalling important pieces of the trauma
A noticeable loss of interest in formerly important or pleasurable activities
Feelings of detachment or estrangement from other people
Restricted range of emotions, such as blunted emotions or difficulties having loving feelings toward other people or things
A sense of shortened future and changes in the way they might think about or plan for the future
[Notice any thoughts, feelings, or bodily reactions coming up.]
Symptoms of Increased Anxious Arousal People with PTSD will experience physiological symptoms of arousal that were not present before the traumatic experience. Increased arousal symptoms can include:
Difficulties falling or staying asleep
Increased physiological responses, such as increased heart rate and feeling shaky or sweaty Difficulties concentrating or thinking clearly Hypervigilance, or feeling particularly agitated and on the lookout for danger
Exaggerated startle response, such as getting startled by sudden noises or by people unexpectedly coming up from behind It may be the case that you are experiencing some of these symptoms from time to time. The above symptoms are very common after people experience
symptoms are very common after people experience trauma because the mind and body are trying to cope with the previous traumatic experience and help keep you safe in the future. These symptoms become automatic responses to reminders of the trauma, even when you aren’t in any real danger. Studies suggest that about 8 percent of the general population will develop PTSD (Kessler et al. 1995). Therefore, it is very important to note that many people who experience trauma will not develop PTSD. In fact, the majority of individuals who experience trauma will not develop severe psychological problems at all (Breslau and Kessler 2001; Resnick et al. 1993).