What is trauma?

Psychological trauma refers to the emotional consequences of living through a highly stressful situation or traumatic event.

There is no strict definition for traumatic events, but they’re usually situations in which you experience strong feelings of distress, fear, loss of control, or being trapped.

Traumatic events can be:

• Things that happen to you.
• Things you see and/or hear happen to someone else.

They can be one-time events (like an assault) or long-term patterns (like abuse or repeated exposure to danger).

What are the consequences of trauma?

Psychological trauma is just like physical injury: it can result in symptoms that vary in severity, intensity, and duration.

Emotional symptoms	Physical symptoms	Cognitive symptoms	Behavioural symptoms
Numbness and/or detachment Fear and/or anxiety Guilt and/or shame Anger and/or irritability Sadness and/or hopelessness Difficulty experiencing positive emotions	Fatigue and/or exhaustion Nausea, digestive problems, or changes in appetite Difficulty sleeping Increased heart rate, startle response, and/or feeling “on edge” Increased muscle tension	Difficulty concentrating and/or making decisions Intrusive thoughts and/or memories relating to trauma Changes in the way you think about yourself, others, and/or the world Difficulty trusting yourself and/or others	Social withdrawal Disengagement from your typical responsibilities and activities Increase in unhelpful coping strategies, such as avoidance and alcohol or substance use

Although these symptoms can be hard to live with, they are normal responses to traumatic events. When you have a physical injury like a broken ankle, you notice the bruising, swelling, and pain. These indicators, while unpleasant, signal that your body has begun to heal.

Recovering from psychological trauma takes time and effort. When the nature of a traumatic event is particularly severe or long lasting, your symptoms may take longer to heal. You may develop a posttraumatic stress injury (PTSI).

What is PTSD?

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a diagnosable mental health condition that may develop in those who have experienced a traumatic event or events. 

Not everyone who goes through trauma will develop PTSD, and there’s no way to know for certain who will. However, these factors can make you more vulnerable:

• The traumatic event included a threat to your safety
• You experienced intense helplessness and/or fear during the event
• You have feelings of guilt, shame, or responsibility about the event and/or its outcomes
• More stressful experiences followed the original event
• You received inadequate social support after the event

Many people who live through trauma go on to experience posttraumatic stress. You may never get a diagnosis of PTSD. You may continue to function from day to day while enduring some or all of these symptoms:

• Nightmares, flashbacks, and/or intrusive memories
• Feeling unable to connect with yourself, others, and/or the world around you
• Feeling unable to have positive emotions like joy, pleasure, and/or love
• High irritability and/or angry outbursts
• Increased tension, fear, and/or hypervigilance
• Anxiety and/or worry about your future

A note about terms: We use the term posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to refer to the diagnosable mental health condition. We use the term posttraumatic stress injury (PTSI) to refer to the psychological hurt you may experience after a traumatic event.

The impact of stigma

Stigma refers to a societal disapproval or misunderstanding. It can include shaming and/or blaming people who live with a mental illness.

Stigma can be harmful to someone who has experienced trauma, with impacts including:

• Feelings of fear or shame
• Withdrawal and/or hiding from support systems
• Attempts to suppress, ignore, or avoid painful symptoms

Activities

Share your stress with a loved one

It can be hard to bear the weight of your stress on your own. Ask a loved one to take time to listen without having to offer advice or try to solve your problems for you.

Identify your triggers

Make a list of the people, places, situations, and/or memories that you struggle to cope with. This list might include a person who reminds you of someone you’ve lost or a location where your stress gets agitated.

Writing prompts

Letter to a loved one

Write a letter to a loved one (which you may or may not send) about the traumatic event you experienced and how it has impacted you since.

Next, pretend you are the person receiving that letter and write a reply to yourself. Respond how you would if someone you love had been through the event instead of you.

Listing

Write down the unhelpful thoughts you’ve had about yourself since the traumatic event. Next, for each item on the list, write one or two pieces of counter evidence. For example, if one of your unhelpful thoughts is “I’m not good enough,” then write down two ways or times when you’ve felt useful or important to counter it.