Trauma
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress is characterized by not recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event.
The condition can last months or years, with triggers that can bring back memories of the trauma as well as intense emotional and physical reactions. Symptoms may include nightmares or flashbacks, avoidance of situations that bring back memories of the original trauma incident such as, a heightened reactivity to external or internal stimuli, anxiety, thought intrusions or a depressed mood. Behavioral symptoms may include agitation, irritability, hostility, hypervigilance, self-destructive behavior, or social isolation. Flashbacks of the event or physical reactivity, fear, severe anxiety, or mistrust can be overwhelming at times. Mood may include A heightened reactivity to stimuli, anxiety, or depressed mood’ loss of interest or pleasure in activities, guilt, or loneliness. Sleep disruptions can include insomnia or nightmares, emotional detachment and sometimes, feelings of disconnection to self and others.
Complex Trauma
Type II-Complex trauma is defined as multiple and chronic traumatic experience that is prolonged in one’s early development (van der Kolk et al., 2005). This trauma forms patterns that effect one’s development. These patterns affect somatic, physiological, neurophysiological, motoric, and medical aspects of development. In van der Kolk’s research, patterns of complex trauma are not limited to behavioral reenactment, but also cognitive thinking processes, in that, the trauma is reoccurring, creating confusion, dissociative experiences, and depersonalization, which is the sense that things are not quite real. These responses include relational affect patterns, which may create a need for clinging, oppositional stances of distrust, or a tendency for overcompliance. This type of traumatic experience may be the origins of self-hate, culpability, or responsibility for the trauma and acceptance of self-blame, and they alter expectations concerning others, such as a loss of a feeling of safety in the world. The expectations concerning loss of trust include expectations regarding social agencies and a sense of unfairness and lack of recourse in social justice reckoning. There is often functional impairment, educational difficulty, and other challenges including insecure related patterns to others.
