There are varying opinions in society regarding what trauma actually is and what events "qualify" as trauma. I'm sure we've all observed someone who struggled with an incident they felt was frightening, overwhelming and difficult to sort through. Some of us may have wondered "why was that such a big deal?" and thought "if that happened to me, it wouldn't have affected me like that" or maybe, you HAVE had something similar happen to you and you didn't experience the same level of fear and confusion as the person you know did. I can certainly look back at events I've experienced and didn't think much of, and when someone is relating a similar experience and a exhibits a heightened emotional reaction or verbalizes their struggle with dealing with the incident, I find myself wondering why they may have experienced those events so differently.
For example, someone can experience a car wreck, maybe have some injuries, and go on about life without thinking about it much, viewing the incident as one of life's unfortunate events a lot of people go through. Someone else can experience the same situation, maybe suffer less injuries and they proceed to have difficulty getting back into a vehicle to drive, experience nightmares, or while they are driving, they have bouts of anxiety, flinching when a car approaches in a similar manner or even seeing a car that simply looks like the one that hit them.
For whatever reasons, we will all experience it in our own, unique way. Trauma is, in a nut shell, anything we find is disturbing us to the point its interfering with our happiness. Its an intense emotional AND physical reaction to what happened.
We are all affected differently and that is okay, we are all certainly different, but when those of us who can't seem to sort through the events without impacting various areas of life and feeling anxious, on edge or depressed, it is time to seek help from an experienced professional. There are multiple strategies to assist you in achieving emotional freedom from the trauma, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Exposure Therapy and Hypnotherapy to name a few. There is no cookie cutter approach, the therapies are as unique as you and your situation. They are appropriate for adults, teens and children. I encourage you to find a therapist to work with who can help you achieve freedom from the chains of trauma and break its power. Good luck and be blessed in your endeavors!
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