What to know if you've experienced trauma (and especially if you haven't)
By Alia E. Dastagir
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
As mental health language continues to creep into our everyday lives, the concept of trauma appears to have gone mainstream.
Trauma is both what happens to a person and their reaction to it.
WHAT IS TRAUMA?
It generally refers to intense and overwhelming experiences that involve serious loss, threat or harm to a person’s physical and/or emotional well being.
During a trauma, the body's emergency response system releases chemicals to keep it safe.
WHAT TRAUMA DOES:
Trauma impacts memory and emotionally changes our understanding of the world and our relationships.
Trauma produces a bio-psycho-social response that can change how we react to things in the long-term.
— clinical psychologist Seth Gillihan
Trauma writes itself on our experience, on our hearts, on our minds, on our bodies.
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All experts agree a person's healing and opportunity for transformation is closely connected to their environment, how the people around them respond and whether support is accessible.