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Psychotrauma

Psychological trauma is a form of harm to the state of mind which occurs due to a traumatic event.

A traumatic event is characterized by an overwhelming amount of stress that exceeds one's ability to cope, or integrate the emotions involved with that experience. If not attended, it could lead to serious and long-lasting harm to mental health and social environment. This could be a result of bullying, an accident, drug abuse, sexual assault, physical abuse and death. The most common form of trauma is PTSD, which is a a psychological syndrome that can develop after exposure to a horrific event (such as combat, rape, or natural disaster); the symptoms include reexperiencing the event (through intrusive recollections, flashbacks, or nightmares), avoidance of reminders of the trauma, and heightened anxiety. It should be noted that the extent and amplitude of the trauma is variable, according to the subjective experience. Not everybody who was exposed to a possible traumatic event actually experiences it as such. The sensitivity level differs between individuals and the nature of the trigger also plays into account.

Background

In general the feelings of fear and anger are an important feature for the surviving of a human living. Ordinarily, these feelings are a natural survival instinct and prepare the body to react appropriately to a threatening situation. The most common symptoms of a “flight – or fight” response are an increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, the emergence of sweat or trepidation. Patients suffering from PTSD demonstrate an excessive and inappropriate state or arousal and sometimes their response is not even evoked by a real threat. The PTSD is in general considered to be a relatively new concept and appeared first in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM – III), which was published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Areas of Psychotraumatology

Psychotraumatology is interdisciplinary, with theory and practice closely linked. Both of the realms can in turn be divided into the following different subject areas:

Theory and research:

• Classification classification of traumatic disorders by means of diagnosis and screening methods

• Epidemiology deals with the diverse disease patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in different populations

• Etiology/Cause deals with the causes of the emergence of diseases and traumatic disorders

• Salutogenesis deals with factors that could prevent the emergence of trauma disorders

• High-risk groups, such as soldiers and firefighter who are prone to experience traumas conditioned by their jobs

• Effectiveness evaluation of the efficacy of used interventions, therapies and provisions

Practice:

• Intervention urgent psychological assistance and prevention of mental disorders immediately after the traumatic event

• Therapies of trauma treatment and elimination of traumatic disorders and symptoms

• Rehabilitation and reintegration Concepts to reintegrate traumatic diseased people in their original life

• Mental health protection of the health by professional worker, who are in contact with traumatic diseased people

Self-help with a mental trauma

There are many traumas and cruel personal strokes of fate, which can fundamentally distress someone and change their lives. Then these persons are faced with the task of finding new ways after the trauma and to re-shape their lives.

Not all of the affected persons need psychotherapy after a disaster of medium severity, only about a third of the affected persons. For a third, psychotraumatological expert advice is recommended. The others overcome the traumatic influence without professional help.

It is recommended to ensure a regular daily rhythm to stabilize the psyche and to learn distancing techniques like the 'safe-technique' that makes it possible to distance oneself from trying pictures by keeping them in a safe and lockable container, so that they no longer cross everyday life.

Moreover this is important to escape a Flashback.

Furthermore distracting activities like sport, walking through nature and contact with close relatives or even animals can help to overcome the consequences of a traumatization.

In addition, self-help in groups have an important role in trauma overcoming and can make a big contribution to the recovery of those affected. However, these self-help groups must be limited to practical mutual assistance for those affected and should not be a mutual psychotherapy.

Causes of complex trauma

There are several factors which contributes to the development of a trauma:

1. Repetitive exposure to a violence Continuous exposure to different kind of violence such as; maltreatment, sexual abuse, torture or war can easily lead to several mental disorders like complex trauma.

2. Violence by another human versus by nature Violence caused by another human being has a greater negative affect than one caused by nature. Since people tend to associate those with the fate or a higher power. Meanwhile interpersonal violence in all cases results the lack of trust of others.

3. Victim’s social support People who experience traumatic events during a war rarely get sufficient support from their surroundings. Simply due to the usual conditions of a war, like flee or emigration. Furthermore soldiers on the field might encounter such a shocking experience that they are able to talk about immediately after they return. Although later they seem to show symptoms of a trauma. Additionally people who were abused by someone who they know may do not search for help. In this case the emotional bonding between the victim and the perpetrator plays a role. The victim’s feeling to the perpetrator, like loyalty can hold back him to talk about certain issues in public or even within the family.

4. Effects of a traumatic experiences regarding life stages Experience of a trauma differently impact the people in different life stages. There are three major groups: Childhood exposure Adult exposure Childhood and adult exposure

What is a trauma?

The word trauma is used to describe ‘experiences or situations that are emotionally painful and distressing’. People suffering from trauma feel exhausted and powerless. Most of the time trauma occurs regularly and can therefore become part of people’s everyday life.

Possible causes and short term effects of trauma?

A trauma is due to a negative event that could either be physical or psychological. Such an event can be, the death of a loved person, abuse in any kind or physical pain/injury. Every stimulus that is solely associated with the trauma can trigger an emotional response in the patient. Patients with trauma are especially anxious (which can lead to panic attacks), sad, angry or deny the trauma. Further symptoms are mood swings, poor concentration or irritability. Nevertheless, the reaction to such negative events differs from individual to individual, so it might also be possible that some people that suffer from a trauma are very good at suppressing it and never show any symptoms at all; this indicates the importance of talking after a trauma.

Long term Effects of trauma and recovery

If the trauma is diagnosed early enough, there is a good chance that the patient will recover quickly with the support of family and friends. Thus, if a trauma is not diagnosed early it can have severe long-term consequences, such as a posttraumatic stress disorder, depression or drug addiction. Concerning the recovery, it is most important that the patients are willing to talk about it. Further important aspects and suggestions that should be taken into consideration are: 1. Exercising, because our nervous system is ‘frozen’ and by exercising we produce adrenaline and endorphins which are capable of “relaxing” the nervous system, 2. Have social contacts to talk and not be isolated, 3. Lastly, to care about one’s mental health by living healthy.

References

Hochspringen ↑ Grenzen der Selbsthilfe bei Psychotrauma. Abgerufen am 23. Mai 2017 (deutsch). Hochspringen ↑ Hilfe, Selbsthilfe, Traumatherapie > Frauenberatungsstelle bei sexueller Gewalt Steiermark, Beratungsstelle TARA. Abgerufen am 23. Mai 2017 (de-de). Hochspringen ↑ Ellen Spangenberg: Selbsthilfe. Abgerufen am 23. Mai 2017.