September 28, 2020
Many of you, like we who support in various ways the CPTSD Foundation, have survived one or more traumatic events. By traumatic events I offer the following definition I found on the Healthline website:
āA traumatic event is an incident that causes physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological harm. The person experiencing the distressing event may feel threatened, anxious, or frightened as a result.ā
In this series of articles, we are going to explore several topics vital to understanding the effect traumatic events have on survivors.
The Effects of Trauma on Adults
Trauma can occur at any age and to anyone.
In fact, there is no one alive who will escape having some trauma occur in their lifetime. All of us will experience the death of a loved one, a disappointment from a friend, or perhaps losing a job to layoffs.
While these are all valid traumatic events, they are commonplace and are not ordinarily life-long in their toxicity to the lives of those experiencing them.
However, traumatic events where we felt threatened and frightened with no escape leave us living with residual anxiety and fear. These events are highly toxic violations of our bodies, minds, and souls.
As adults, these traumatic occurrences may occur in the form of any of the following:
- Rape
- Domestic violence
- Being mugged or robbed
- Natural disasters
- Severe illness
- Serious injury in an accident
- Living in a war zone
- Participating in war
Unfortunately, adults often experience not one traumatic event but several concurrently. Clearly, horrific and highly traumatizing events such as rape cause significant harm to the mental and physical health of their victims.
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