Trauma can look different in each individual. We take a broad understanding of traumatic responses, rather than one specific mental disorder or syndrome (for example, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD). Instead we focus on a range of symptoms, adaptations and difficulties that are often present in individuals who have been traumatized – and, specifically, those who have experienced interpersonal forms of trauma. We understand that interpersonal forms of trauma can impact many aspects of a woman’s life, identity, relationships, feelings, thoughts and behaviours. Common reactions, adaptations and difficulties include:
Women who have experienced trauma can develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There are three categories of PTSD symptoms:
Changes in thinking due to trauma
Traumatic events can lead to changes in one’s thinking. Core beliefs about one’s self, others and the world are formed out of one’s early experiences with caregivers. When someone’s early experiences are characterized by abuse or neglect, she is likely to try to make sense of the abuse by adapting her thinking and her beliefs. There are five important areas of belief that are most likely to be disrupted by trauma: safety; trust; esteem; intimacy and connection; and power and control. Here are some examples of these trauma-disrupted beliefs:
Trauma impacts one’s mood and feelings. In fact, anxiety and depressive disorders are common conditions for people who have experienced trauma. Common feelings associated with trauma include:
Body-related (“somatic”) impacts of trauma
Trauma impacts the body. Research has shown a relationship between a history of trauma and physical complaints (e.g. chronic pelvic pain, genitourinary problems, gastrointestinal distress). Survivors of trauma also have higher rates of somatization disorder.
Somatization disorder is characterized by a combination of pain, gastrointestinal, sexual and neurological symptoms, lasting for a number of years and with no known medical cause.
One study found that over 90 per cent of women with somatization disorder reported a history of abuse.
Common physical symptoms of trauma include:
There is also strong evidence supporting the relationship between a history of childhood trauma and health problems in adulthood. Adverse experiences in childhood increase the risk for:
Problems in relationships with others
Trauma that is interpersonal in nature can affect how you experience other relationships later in life. Abused children will often come to believe that what is happening to them is their fault. They may feel that there is something wrong with them and that they are inherently “bad.” This distorted view can persist into adulthood, affecting how the survivor feels about herself. Survivors of abuse can be plagued with feelings of self-hate, self-blame, shame and guilt.
A child who has been abused is likely to struggle with trusting others. After all, when your caregivers do not take good care of you, it is difficult to believe anyone else will. These feelings of distrust can last into adulthood and affect a woman’s relationships, including intimate relationships. She may long for connection and intimacy and yet be afraid to let someone get close to her. Women who have experienced abuse can be sensitive to rejection, fear abandonment and can often find themselves in unstable or chaotic relationships.
Being able to tolerate strong emotions and soothe yourself when distressed are skills called affect regulation. These skills are learned early in life through relationships with caring and attuned attachment figures.
Affect regulation is the ability to experience, tolerate and manage one’s feelings.
Self-soothing means strategies used to calm oneself when upset.
Attachment figures are, typically, the primary caregivers of the infant, such as parents. The attachment relationship influences the development of the core aspects of the individual – identity, feelings, core beliefs, and relationships.
A child who is abused by her primary caregiver, or attachment figure, is often left scared and unsoothed.
Difficulties self-soothing and managing feelings as a child can persist into adulthood, and leave someone feeling as if she goes from being totally overwhelmed (hyperaroused) to completely numb (hypoaroused).When overwhelmed, a woman may feel as if her feelings are intolerable or scary. She may feel as if she is continually on the verge of being overwhelmed or “losing it.” This is a chronic state of hyperarousal. The other extreme is hypoarousal. In this state, a woman may feel disconnected or numb. This state is a protective strategy to manage overwhelming emotions.
Avoidance behaviours and responses
Trauma survivors often engage in avoidance behaviours as a way to cope with difficult feelings, sensations, thoughts and memories. Avoidance behaviours are especially useful when someone feels overwhelmed or does not know how to self-soothe. Some examples of avoidance behaviours and responses are tension reducing behaviours and dissociation.
Tension-reducing behaviours
In order to avoid intolerable or uncomfortable feelings, people who have experienced trauma may use different behavioural strategies. These behaviours are called “tension-reducing behaviours” because they help reduce the level of distress or tension the person is feeling. Tension-reducing behaviours include:
While these behaviours may appear unhealthy or problematic, it is important to understand their adaptive and coping function. These tension-reducing behaviours are often used to avoid or cope with the intolerable effects of trauma. Ideally, over time and with help, those who have experienced trauma will learn alternative self-care strategies that offer more choice and are less self-harming in nature.
Dissociation
Dissociation is a coping strategy to manage overwhelming experiences. In the absence of stress, the mind is able to collect all the information around us – sensations, feelings, thoughts, behaviours and identity – and use it to make sense of one’s experience. This means that at any given moment we know who we are, where we are, what we are thinking and feeling, and so on. However, in an overwhelming or unbearable situation, a person may dissociate, or protect herself by disconnecting from aspects of what she is experiencing. This makes the situation momentarily tolerable. For example, a rape victim might feel as though she has left her body and is on the ceiling looking down at what is happening to her. Or, she might not be able to feel her emotions, but feels numb instead.
When one dissociates, one or more of these pieces of information is cut off from the self, resulting in a fragmented or confusing sense of oneself or of the experience. When this happens the person might:
This information and these memories may or may not be recalled later in life. When there is chronic traumatization, dissociation may become a well-practiced strategy that can lead to problems in daily life and/or increase one’s vulnerability to additional harm. For example, individuals who dissociate regularly may:
Revictimization
People who have experienced trauma are at an increased risk for being revictimized in the future. In fact, it is reported that approximately two out of every three people who are sexually victimized are revictimized later in life. Also, when someone who experienced childhood trauma is victimized again later in life, they may have more severe and complicated responses to the new trauma.
People who have been traumatized repeatedly throughout their lives may wonder why it continues to happen to them. This is a complex issue that we will continue to address on this website. For now, here are some theories about why traumatized people are vulnerable to being revictimized:
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