Mental Health, Self-Care, Trauma
You Are Probably Traumatized, And Here’s Why.
What you may not know about trauma and why it is important.
Most people think of trauma as a major event such as war, physical or sexual abuse, or natural disasters. These events are horrific and will likely lead to traumatization, but major violent events like this aren’t the only things that cause people to be traumatized. Trauma is subjective. This means that the event itself is not what is traumatizing, but it is the person’s subjective interpretation of the event determining if someone becomes traumatized.
Two people can have the same experience but have very different interpretations of what happened. For example, if you are driving and suddenly see a car swerve in your lane, you may think, “I’m going to die,” whereas someone else in that same situation may have the thought, “I can protect myself by steering out of their way.” The person who thinks they are going to die will have a stronger emotional and physiological response to the danger. They may get terrified and have a severe anxiety response both during and after the event. Even if the swerving car does not hit theirs, their brains and bodies have been highly activated in response to the threat, and it may take time before they can calm themselves down. In contrast, the other person may be able to continue their day without being fueled by anxiety.
The physiological response that our bodies undergo in response to a threat is called the “fight or flight response.” When our brains detect danger, it sends signals to the rest of the body to prepare for survival. Our heart rate goes up, our breathing gets rapid and shallow, and our muscles get tight. All of these changes are designed to increase our rate of survival. The problem is that the fight or flight response can be activated by lower-level stressors as well. These lower-level stressors are called “little-t traumas.”
Trauma is defined as a powerful emotional response that continues to cause significant impairment and distress over time. This means that while major traumatic events (like those described above) can be traumatizing, small events can be traumatizing as well. Little-t traumas can range from being bullied, not feeling emotionally supported in childhood, or feeling like your siblings were better than you growing up. Research has shown that little-T traumas are just as distressing, if not more, than big-T traumas. This means that if you experience daily anxiety, you likely have been traumatized.
Trauma needs to be normalized. We’ve all been through something, and we need to stop making people feel like they are abnormal for feeling the way they feel. The symptoms of trauma are a normal reaction to an abnormal situation, yet society places stigma on those who struggle with anxiety and depression.
There are organic causes of anxiety and depression, such as a chemical imbalance due to your genetic makeup. But in my experience, most anxiety and depression symptoms are a result of trauma. The good news is, the treatment of trauma has grown exponentially over the years. This is partly due to the advent of PET, CT, and MRI scans, allowing us to study the brain in motion. We now know more than ever about how the brain responds to trauma. Most importantly, there are evidence-based treatments that have been scientifically proven to help.
If you have experienced trauma or struggle with anxiety and depression, please seek help. You deserve to heal.
