What is trauma?

Trauma and PTSD. What’s the Difference?

Trauma is a word that is being used more and more frequently. For many, the word trauma is associated with things like war or a major natural disaster while PTSD is something that often reminds us of combat soldiers. But, can other people experience trauma? Can other people get PTSD?

Absolutely. Trauma can happen to anyone.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) says trauma “results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being…. Traumas can affect individuals, families, groups, communities, specific cultures, and generations.”

Trauma is something you live with as a result of traumatic life events, and is not the event itself. Trauma is the wound whether it is emotional, psychological, physical, or spiritual caused by the event, and it manifests differently in every person. The impact of trauma can vary based on the age you were when the trauma occurred, if it was a single incident or chronic, the context within which the trauma happened, the amount of social support you either did or did not get after the trauma, the coping strategies used in the aftermath, and how healthy you were prior to the trauma.

According the the CDC, folks who have suffered childhood trauma have a higher risk of chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance misuse in adulthood. Childhood trauma has also been linked to worse education and employment outcomes. Because of the findings of the CDC, we now know that trauma is a public health crisis that impacts our society in a myriad of ways. We use the word trauma as an umbrella term for the impact traumatic life events have on people.

What is PTSD?

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a mental health condition listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) that some people may develop as a result of a traumatic experience. In order to be diagnosed with PTSD one must have been exposed to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. This exposure can be directly experienced, witnessed, one can learn about it happening to someone close to them like a family member, or can happen through one’s work such as police officer or doctor who is repeatedly exposed to others traumas. About 3.5% of Americans will develop PTSD at some point in their adult life.

The symptoms of PTSD are intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in thoughts and mood, and increased arousal and reactivity. People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience. They may experience flashbacks or nightmares (intrusion); they may feel sadness, fear, guilt, or anger (negative mood); they may feel detached or estranged from other people, and have a hard time trusting others (negative cognitions). People with PTSD may avoid people, places, or things that remind them of the traumatic event (avoidance). They may also have strong physical and emotional reactions to reminders of the traumatic event, as well as have a hard time sleeping, concentrating, or be easily startled (arousal/reactivity).

Many who experience a traumatic life event will experience PTSD symptoms immediately after, but with social support, proper rest and nutrition, and healthy coping many recover. When these symptoms persist longer than one month after the event then one can be diagnosed with PTSD.

PTSD is not a perfect diagnosis, and many who have experienced trauma have responses that vary from the traditional PTSD diagnosis. Other disorders that are common in those who have experienced trauma are depression, anxiety, bipolar, and borderline personality disorder. Some in the field of traumatic stress have called for additional diagnoses to be added to the DSM that better capture the symptoms associated with early childhood trauma. These diagnoses would be called Complex PTSD and Developmental Trauma Disorder. As of the most recent update to the DSM they have not been added.

PTSD as a diagnosis also centers around intense life threatening incidents, and does not recognize the trauma many live with every day due to racism, discrimination, and oppression. To live as a part of a marginalized group means to live with ongoing chronic stress which results in psychological and physical distress and symptoms of PTSD as well.

Trauma is common in our society, and no two survivors will be the exact same. For some a PTSD diagnosis is helpful as it allows them to give a name to their distress and a framework for understanding how trauma has impacted them. For others, this diagnosis doesn’t fit or can feel like an unhelpful label.

Above all, we need to recognize and support all survivors of trauma, because trauma is more pervasive than we often realize.