Is There Only One Way To React?
Written by Sukanya Chandrasekaran
Edited by Chloe Chou
September 26th, 2023
Edited by Chloe Chou
September 26th, 2023
Health and Wellness
Trauma can have lasting effects and significantly impact someone’s life. Most people tend to have an acute reaction to trauma, with impacts lessening over time. Only a very small percentage of people experience impacts that are lifelong and diagnosed as anxiety/mood disorders. The different ways in which trauma response can fall under various categories that are related to singular, multiple or enduring traumatic experiences.
Emotional
Responses under this category are often influenced by one's social setting. Emotions such as anger, sadness, anxiety, and shame often occur after the traumatic event. Those who have a better background in terms of working positively with their feelings are more likely to realize that they are having a trauma related response than those who have been neglected of their emotions since childhood.
Numbing
Numbing is a process where one's reactions to things or even the act of displaying emotions is almost negligible. It can also be a process where one doesn’t associate emotion with thoughts and memories.People often use this method to avoid facing the problem that might be causing them to react and is sort of neglected and pushed deep down in their minds. This type of response or reaction often impairs their ability to interact and function in social settings.
Physical
Physical symptoms are shown along with or after stress or traumatic responses. Some forms of physical disorders and symptoms include somatic ( gamete cells that undergo division to form the body of the organism) complaints; sleep disturbances; gastrointestinal, cardiovascular; neurological;musculoskeletal; respiratory;and dermatological disorders; urological problems; and substance use disorders.
Somatization
Somatization is a form of bodily dysfunction to express emotions and to be able to correlate physical symptoms to emotional distress. Patients from ethnic and cultural groups where emotions are not openly expressed are more likely to fall under this category. But a point to keep in mind is that those exhibiting somatization are not always using it as a way to express emotional distress. It could be indicative of other disorders, so it is important that the medical counselor conducts necessary tests.
The treatment and practices that can be applied to make one’s experience better during such events/episodes is considered very specific to the individual experiencing it. It is important to consult a professional to find what suits one’s interest best. And beyond the mentioned ways of responding to trauma, the understanding we have of trauma and the biology behind it is expanding on a daily basis. So we cannot limit or restrict these to be the only ways and consider it to be complex and more personal/specific to a person.
Source: Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US). Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2014. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57.) Chapter 3, Understanding the Impact of Trauma. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/