The concept of "psychological trauma" is often used in place and out of place, but few people understand what a real post-traumatic stress syndrome looks like and what a person who has to experience it should do. How do the delayed consequences of severe events manifest themselves and what will help to deal with them?


What is psychological trauma

In a broad sense, psychological trauma means any acute emotional impact that disrupts the normal functioning of the psyche. But we all differ in the degree of sensitivity, so an event that knocks down one person will not prevent another from adapting to reality and enjoying himself. In popular psychology, it is fashionable to talk about childhood traumas that affect a person’s behavior in adulthood (for example, “I had a cold father, so I don’t have relationships with the opposite sex”), but many experts are of the opinion that endlessly returning to the past and shifting all the responsibility to parental mistakes in education is not a very productive way and it is better to concentrate on changing your behavior for the better in the present. Unless, of course, we are not talking about really acute experiences that radically change the worldview.


Does any injury cause PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops in people who have experienced a catastrophic or life-threatening event, from a natural disaster or war to sexual assault. Here in the first place is the loss of basic trust and a sense of security. Sometimes a person gives out acute reactions immediately after traumatization, but it happens that the symptoms appear within a few months or even years later. The repercussions of the stressful experience can cause serious problems in relationships, at work and in social life. Often, people who have experienced this have suicidal tendencies, eating disorders, or alcohol and drug abuse.


At the same time, not all the troubles with the psyche https://cheatingbuster.com/ptsd-from-cheating/ that you can get after a trauma are precisely post-traumatic disorder: emotional shock can become a trigger for almost any mental illness, such as depression or schizophrenia. Also, not all victims of traumatic events get PTSD - this requires a combination of a genetic predisposition to mental disorders and a certain set of external factors. What matters is the duration of the stressful situation and the age at which a person experienced it (childhood injuries “heal” worse), whether there were people nearby who could provide support.