Understanding Trauma and Mental Health
While the impact of trauma on mental health is a huge subject and can be different for each individual, gaining a basic understanding of this is a great way to start to work on any issues trauma may have caused.
Problems in childhood, an accident, loss and abuse are all forms of trauma that may have occurred in the past, and can continue to affect many of us in the present. Here’s how trauma can impact mental health, and what to do if you have experienced trauma...
Clinically there is a difference when we describe someone as experiencing trauma and someone who has PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. For the purposes of this blog post, we are referring to trauma and not PTSD.
How Past Trauma Effects Mental and Physical Health in the Present
In psychological terms, an accident, abuse, serious illness, childhood struggles and loss are all traumatic events that make you believe you are in danger of being seriously injured or losing your life. Studies show that all of these events and other significant difficulties in your life trigger emotional and physical reactions in the mind and body.
Trauma in child hood
Traumatic events could be anything from sexual assault, mental abuse or cancer diagnosis. Trauma in childhood is more likely to have a profound effect on your adult life, because it happens at a time when the brain is vulnerable.
Not only can this make you more prone to a number of health conditions, such as stroke, obesity, diabetes and heart attack, trauma also makes you more likely to experience mental health problems too. Around one in three adults have reported experiencing at least one traumatic event, making trauma not uncommon.
Traumatic events could be anything from sexual assault, mental abuse or cancer diagnosis. Trauma in childhood is more likely to have a profound effect on your adult life, because it happens at a time when the brain is vulnerable.
What Happens When you Experience Trauma?
When you experience a traumatic event your body’s fight or flight response is triggered. Initially, this can cause physical reactions, such as an increased heart rate, raised blood pressure and sweating. Once the initial threat has passed, you may then go on to experience denial or shock, followed by strong emotions such as anger, sadness and guilt. Unless the trauma is on-going, many people will slowly start to feel better and may recover.
“One in three children and young people are exposed to at least one potentially traumatic event by the time they are 18”
If the trauma or the feelings as a result of the trauma persist, this can lead to serious mental health problems, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression.
How to Manage Trauma & Mental Health Problems Caused by Trauma
If you experience a traumatic event, the first thing to do is to reach out for help. Dealing with the feelings and emotions that are caused by the event early on can help you ensure the event does not go on to cause a mental health issue, essentially addressing the problem before it becomes an even bigger problem. This is easier said than done as one of the most common responses to trauma is avoidance. Many people do not wish to face the trauma, instead ignoring it. This is why it often becomes an issue many years later, when the thoughts and feelings resurface and can no longer be ignored.
Where possible, start talking to someone you trust, such as a friend or family member. This is a great place to start and may help to alleviate some of your worries and concerns. This can be helpful both for recent and past trauma.
It’s important to also seek professional help. If you have recently experienced a traumatic event, speaking to a professional can help you ensure this event doesn’t go on to cause issues later in life. If you are struggling with a past trauma, speaking to a professional will help you deal with any thoughts or feelings, and the damage caused by that trauma, allowing you to move forward.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) made recommendations for how to support someone with PTSD. Therapies such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) or Trauma Focused CBT are recommended for clients with diagnosed PTSD. They can, however, can be equally as effective for those who still have unresolved trauma to process but don’t meet the clinical criteria for PTSD.
Our Consultant and HCPC registered Psychologist, Katherine Goodsell has over 12 years’ experience working with individuals with trauma and PTSD and has been successfully delivering EMDR to support clients.
If you or someone you know is experiencing trauma and would like to know more about the options available for support please contact us.
For many, trauma can dictate their lives, with a single event going on to cause debilitating problems for many years. Those that work through the trauma can however be free from the mental health issues that trauma can bring. Trauma doesn’t have to dictate your life.
About the author
Dominic Goodsell is the Practice Manager of the Family Practice Group and is often the first point of contact for clients who reach out for support.
