Medical trauma refers to traumatic experiences that happen in medical settings. The major reactions to medical trauma are re-experiencing avoidance and hyperarousal. There's a growing body of research on medical trauma and its connection to the mind, body, and other conditions, such as PTSD.
When loosely applied, this trauma definition can refer to something upsetting, such as being involved in an accident, having an illness or injury, losing a loved one, or going through a divorce. However, it can also encompass the far extreme and include experiences that are severely damaging, such as rape or torture.
Trauma is defined as “a psychological, emotional response to an event or an experience that is deeply distressing or disturbing.” In reality, trauma can come from any experience that makes us feel unsafe, physically or emotionally, and that disrupts the way we cope or function.
Intrusive memories
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
Ultimately, any event or ongoing situation that causes distress, fear, and a sense of helplessness qualifies as trauma. And trauma can have serious mental, physical, and emotional impacts on young people, negatively influencing daily functioning and relationships.
Physical injuries are among the most prevalent individual traumas.
Complex trauma describes both children's exposure to multiple traumatic events—often of an invasive, interpersonal nature—and the wide-ranging, long-term effects of this exposure. These events are severe and pervasive, such as abuse or profound neglect.
Complex Trauma. Complex trauma refers to experiencing chronic trauma with long-term emotional and physical symptoms. This kind of trauma may be the most severe- it can ultimately affect someone's development and sense of safety in the world.
The responses are usually referred to as the 4Fs – Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn and have evolved as a survival mechanism to help us react quickly to life-threatening situations.
PTSD can develop even without memory of the trauma, psychologists report. Adults can develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder even if they have no explicit memory of an early childhood trauma, according to research by UCLA psychologists.
Psychological, or emotional trauma, is damage or injury to the psyche after living through an extremely frightening or distressing event and may result in challenges in functioning or coping normally after the event.
Emotional abuse can be a form of psychological trauma that can have a similar impact on the nervous system as physical trauma.
Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited.
At times, anxiety may trigger traumatic situations. For example, you may experience a panic attack in a public place. Perhaps you felt like you were suffocating or dying, and nobody came to help you. That experience can be traumatic.
Cognitive Signs of Unhealed Trauma
You may experience nightmares or flashbacks that take you back to the traumatic event. Furthermore, you may struggle with mood swings, as well as disorientation and confusion, which can make it challenging to perform daily tasks.
Trauma centers range from the highest level designation, Level 1, to the lowest, Level 4. Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center's Level 1 Regional Resource Trauma Center has maintained the highest level of designation since 2002.