Trauma related disorders include an extensive array of psychological challenges. Difficulty with intimacy and relationships. Anxiety and depression. Substance and Alcohol abuse. Eating disorders. It is not surprising that trauma can have such a wide range of impacts on us.
What is surprising? The frequency of trauma both in the US and the world.
And the degree to which trauma heightens risks to both our physical and mental health.
What percentage of the population has experienced trauma? How significant are the elevated risks?
The statistics about trauma and the answers to these questions will probably shock you.
What Is Trauma?
What is traumatic to us varies depending on our personality characteristics as well as our age.
Something that is traumatic to a toddler may not be traumatic to an older child who can understand verbal communication and explanations better.
Similarly, what is traumatic to a pre-teen or adolescent may not be traumatic to an adult.
Something that may sound minor to an adult can have long term and even devastating impact to a child.
In addition, an experience that happens to a person with anxiety or a phobia may inflict a much higher level of distress than the same event happening to a person without that sensitivity.
Although there are some experiences that we would regard as universally traumatic, there are many others that may have psychological repercussions that may be surprising.
Learn More About TraumaCommon Traumatic Experiences
Some frequent traumatic experiences that children encounter relate to bullying, teasing, or other emotional abuse. This may occur at school, on-line or in the home.
Unfortunately, the source of such abuse may be and often is a parent, sibling, friend, teacher, or coach.
Many times, unbeknownst to them, the very people who should comprise a child’s support system may often be inflicting the kind of pain that may last a lifetime.
How can you tell what may devastate a child? It’s not as hard as it sounds.
The easiest approach is to consider the golden rule. When delivering feedback or seeking to motivate a child, it’s essential to maintain positive messaging. To avoid labels and name-calling. Raised voices and condescending speech patterns. Or any other behavior that we would not want inflicted on ourselves.
Physical, Sexual and Verbal Abuse
Another category of experiences that may cause distress in children and young adults is physical, sexual, or verbal abuse.
These situations are often unknown to others in the child’s life. Because of the shame and fear involved, a child may not tell others about the situation.
As a result, secrecy and loneliness may compound their trauma. Often, counseling is required for victims to process their emotions effectively.
Learn More About Recovery from AbusePhysical or Emotional Loss of a Loved One
Other childhood events that may cause distress include the physical or emotional loss of a parent, sibling or loved one.
Also, relocations or changes in household, as a child might experience in foster care.
These events are difficult at any age, but they are especially traumatic for children.
This is because a young person’s early understanding of safety and security is still developing.
These experiences have the worst repercussions when a child does not have an emotional support system available.
This is essential in order for them to safely process their emotions.
Learn More About Recovery from LossOther Traumatic Experiences
As adults, we may also experience a wide variety of traumatic experiences.
The same type of abuses described above may occur in our adult relationships.
People may be on the receiving end of verbal and emotional abuse at work, at home or within other dysfunctional adult relationships.
Adults may be the victims of other crimes which threaten their sense of security.
Home invasions, muggings, physical assaults and car-jackings are just a few examples of situations that may have life-long emotional impacts, if the person is unable to process their experiences properly.
Natural or other disasters, such as earthquakes, extreme weather events, or flooding may also have traumatic effects.
Man-made disasters such as car accidents, trainwrecks, airplane crashes, bombings, and terrorist attacks are also likely to cause distress, no matter what age we are when we experience them.
Last, but certainly not least, our military members often return home from combat having suffered unspeakable challenges. These experiences may have long ranging effects.
The impact upon our military is often referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), however, PTSD may include reactions to experiences of many different varieties.
Long Term Effects of Trauma
Humans of all ages are incredibly resilient.
It is truly remarkable how many people live through unspeakable challenges and go on to be well-adjusted and have healthy, fulfilling lives.
The keys to getting beyond our own distress are several.
The first is to be willing to work through the difficult experience of processing our experiences effectively. Second, we need to have the appropriate resources, including a healthy support system in place, to partner with us through the experience.
Learn More About How to Process TraumaSymptoms of Trauma
Some symptoms are not unexpected, but some may surprise you.
In addition to anxiety and stress related disorders, those who have unresolved trauma may exhibit other seemingly unrelated behaviors:
- Difficult with intimacy.
- Distrust of other people.
- Fear avoidance if their distress is focused on a specific situation such as being in a hospital, on a boat, or in a car.
- Persistent fear and anxiety including panic attacks.
- Avoidance of social interaction.
- Abuse of alcohol, drugs, or prescription medication in an attempt to find relief for psychological pain.
- Addictive and risky behaviors such as self-harming, smoking, over-eating, and use of injected drugs may also occur.
How to Cope with Unresolved Trauma
Most people who suffer from unresolved trauma will benefit from professional support.
Seek out a medical and mental health professional for an assessment to understand not only what you can do to resolve it, but also what illnesses or health risks you may be experiencing as a result of heightened stress.
Other remedies you may find helpful include physical exercise, and attention to basic aspects of your diet and health.
Getting adequate, quality sleep is also key, and another topic to openly discuss with your health care providers.
You may also find it helpful to explore mindfulness and meditation techniques, especially those that focus on breathing, which can help calm you when your anxiety or stress becomes difficult to manage.
Trauma Creates Elevated Health Risks
We started this article with a comment regarding the astounding frequency of unresolved issues in our general population.
What percentage of the population did you guess have experienced traumatic events?
According to Psychology Today, 90% of the US population will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, and 7-8% of the population will develop PTSD.
A separate study states that traumatic experiences are now a “near ubiquitous event” and cites the worldwide frequency at 70% of the population.
So, most of us have experienced it. And, chances are, life being what it is, we haven’t all processed it fully or properly.
Whether or not we feel the burden of this in our lives, it’s important that we figure out what may be lurking in our subconscious.
Why?
Because it puts us at risk for a huge array of healthy issues, beyond the emotional and psychological issues described so far.
This is in part due to the fact that unresolved issues, especially those that stem from childhood, lead to an increased likelihood of developing unhealthy behaviors.
For example, those of us who experienced 4 or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are:
- 2 times more likely to smoke;
- 7 times more likely to abuse alcohol, and
- 10 times more likely to inject drugs.
But even in the absence of unhealthy behaviors, trauma, especially unresolved childhood issues, present other health risks.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, these include but are not limited to elevated risks for all these conditions:
- mood and personality disorders,
- depression, anxiety, PTSD, self-harming,
- cardiovascular issues such as high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attacks,
- gastrointestinal disease,
- schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, and
- eating disorders.
If you believe you may be a victim, it’s essential to find help to effectively process your emotions and experiences.
If you found this article useful, please also read:
How to Uncover Wounds: 5 Questions Childhood Trauma Test
How to Recognize Unresolved Trauma in Adults
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Joan Senio is the founder of KindCompassCoach. Her career includes 20+ years as a health care executive and 15 years (and counting) as a consultant. The common thread through Joan’s professional life has been a commitment to lead, mentor and coach current and future leaders, and women from all walks of life. KindCompassCoach provides information and advice grounded in Joan’s personal experience; however, all articles are backed by research and provide facts and advice from a wide variety of experts. Joan also serves as a thought-leader for KuelLife.com and is a regular contributor to PsychReg and Sixty and Me.
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