A traumatic event is a shocking, scary, or dangerous experience that can affect someone emotionally and physically. Experiences like natural disasters (such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods), acts of violence (such as assault, abuse, terrorist attacks, and mass shootings), as well as car crashes and other accidents can all be traumatic. Researchers are investigating the factors that help people cope or that increase their risk for other physical or mental health problems following a traumatic event.

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Trauma is an event that’s life-threatening or makes you feel unsafe. Trauma can stem from something that happens directly to you, or you may witness an event that’s traumatic. Trauma affects the brain and how you process the world.

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Two of the trauma-related disorders are acute stress disorder,  posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and adjustment disorder. Acute stress disorder and PTSD are similar except that acute stress disorder typically begins immediately after the trauma and lasts from 3 days to 1 month, whereas PTSD lasts for > 1 month, either as a continuation of acute stress disorder or as a separate occurrence that begins up to 6 months after the trauma. Adjustment disorder is a psychiatric condition in which inappropriate or maladaptive emotional or behavioral changes occur in response to a psychosocial stressor. Symptoms resolve within 3–6 months following resolution of the stressor. 

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Types of trauma may include:

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Sexual assault — Sexual assault is the most frequent type of trauma experienced by women with PTSD . In a nationally representative sample of 4008 women in the United States, the lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 12.3 percent. Of the women who had a history of PTSD, 32 percent had been raped and 31 percent experienced a sexual assault other than rape.

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Mass conflict and displacement — A meta-analysis of 145 studies of 64,332 refugees and other conflict-affected individuals internationally found a mean PTSD prevalence rate of 30.6 percent. Factors associated with higher PTSD rates included reported torture, cumulative exposure to potentially traumatic events, shorter time since conflict, and the assessed level of political terror.

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Combat — PTSD occurring after combat injury appears to be strongly correlated with the extent of injury and with the occurrence and severity of traumatic brain injury

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Characteristic symptoms of all other trauma- and stressor-related disorders can be placed into four broad categories:

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Intrusive Symptoms

Intrusion symptoms include recurrent, involuntary and distressing memories, thoughts, and dreams of the traumatic event. The individual may also experience flashbacks, a dissociative experience in which they feel or act as if the traumatic event is reoccurring.

 

Avoidance Symptoms

Avoidance symptoms are efforts to avoid internal (memories, thoughts, feelings) and/or external (people, places, situations) reminders of the traumatic event. Preoccupation with avoiding trauma-related feelings and stimuli can become a central focus of the individual’s life.

 

Negative Symptoms

Negative alterations in cognition and mood include problems remembering important aspects of the traumatic event, depression, fear, guilt, shame, and feelings of isolation from others.

 

Hyper-Arousal Symptoms

Hyper-arousal symptoms include being jumpy and easily startled, irritability, angry outbursts, self-destructive behavior, problems concentrating, and difficulty sleeping.

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Resources: 

uptodate.com

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