In recent decades, the concept of " psychological trauma"has become very fashionable. Childhood trauma in adults today explains everything from failures in their personal lives to bad habits. What is psychotrauma and how dangerous is it?
Psychological trauma or psycho-emotional trauma is the harm that is caused to a person’s psychological health as a result of the influence of stressful or acute emotional adverse factors on the psyche. That is, this is an experience that has had a lasting and adverse effect on the human psyche.
Psychological trauma is a relatively new concept in psychology. Psychologists first started talking about it at the end of the 19th century, but only in the 20th century was psychotrauma officially “recognized” by the scientific community. IN scientific work Reshetnikova M.M. “Mental trauma” examines in detail the history of the concept, its relevance and the main methods of treatment are substantiated.
Psychological trauma can occur due to physical impact, a situation in which a person’s life and health is in danger, or due to a strong, negative emotional experience. People who served in the army and/or visited a combat zone often develop combat mental trauma, which they cannot always cope with on their own.
Psychotrauma affecting the psyche healthy person, upsets her, disrupting the person's normal interaction with environment. As a result, a person experiences constant discomfort, which he may not be aware of, but it negatively affects his worldview, socialization, ability to adapt, relationships, and so on.
Psychological trauma is especially dangerous in children and adolescents. At this age, a negative experience can leave a deep mark on the psyche, which in the future will cause the development of various disorders. The request: how to get rid of childhood psychological trauma is one of the most popular today, but people do not always understand exactly what they need.
Thus, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of “mental” and “psychological” trauma. Mental is a more severe damage to the human psyche. Its results are usually immediately noticeable - a person cannot behave in the usual way, his psyche needs treatment and restoration. An example of such a state could be stupor, hysteria or neurosis, and subsequent - panic fear heights, fear of even temporarily losing sight loved one, stuttering and so on.
Psychological trauma is less traumatic and its consequences are less noticeable. Often such a person cannot say when and what exactly happened, what events caused the development of discomfort. So, if the child’s parents have filed for divorce, psychological trauma may only appear several decades later, when the person is unable to build strong relationships with anyone.
It is impossible to say exactly what exactly can cause psychological trauma in each specific case. The strength of the influence of certain factors on the psyche of a particular person depends on many factors: the type of psyche, his resistance to traumatic events, personal attitude to what is happening, and so on.
Psychological trauma in childhood can be experienced both much more acutely and much more simply. So, for one child, the cause of psychological trauma may be a severe thunderstorm, which he had to endure alone, in his room, while another will not even pay attention to it. Psychologically significant for different people May be large dog that passed nearby or a spider that fell on your head while walking in the park.
Therefore, it is impossible to predict in advance what exactly may cause injury in a child or adult. There are reasons that cause the development of psychological trauma in most cases and risk factors, the presence of which in a person increases the risk of developing such injuries.
Childhood psychological trauma can occur due to:
In adults, a similar condition can be caused by the same or similar factors:
Psychological trauma in childhood can become one of the risk factors for its development in the future. There is also an increased risk of emotional trauma neurological diseases, emotional instability, alcohol consumption, endocrine diseases, chronic diseases internal organs, constant stress and overwork.
Almost anyone can develop this condition in childhood and adulthood, so everyone needs to know how to overcome psychological trauma. This will help maintain your psychological health and the health of your loved ones.
It is quite difficult to determine that a person has a psychotrauma; he leads a normal life, is quite successful and satisfied with himself, and does not even want to change anything in his life. But at the same time, if you do not work with psychological trauma, then its consequences can greatly worsen a person’s quality of life, cause failures in his personal life, and provoke the development of neurosis or depression.
Psychological trauma manifests itself in two types of symptoms: emotional and physiological.
Emotional symptoms can manifest in different ways. Some people experience fear for the rest of their lives in certain circumstances, others cannot establish relationships with their family or are afraid to pursue a career without understanding why this happens.
The consequences of psychological trauma can appear immediately after it or after several months or even years.
In case of “acute” psychological trauma, the main emotional manifestations will be:
These symptoms are usually mistaken for fatigue or depression and are usually left to resolve on their own. But if a person has recently experienced a strong emotional shock, and his condition does not return to normal, it is better to consult a specialist who will accurately diagnose.
Physiological symptoms:
There are many classifications of psychological trauma. The most popular are:
Answer the question: “how to cope with psychological trauma?” quite difficult. Psychologists today offer a wide variety of methods - from finding out the cause and “returning” to the past in order to “work through” it, to methods correct behavior in situations in which a person experiences some difficulties. There are no universal techniques that help everyone and everything. Each specific case requires its own approach and its own methods of therapy. The type of treatment and its duration depend on the type of injury, for example, combat mental trauma requires more complex treatment, perhaps taking antidepressants or long-term observation with a psychotherapist.
The concept of mental and psychological trauma is often found in popular psychological literature. Experts interpret these terms differently, so before we start talking about traumatic events and their consequences for children and adults, it is worth paying attention to the meaning of the words “psychotrauma,” “mental trauma,” and “psychological trauma.”
This term has 2 different interpretations:
In essence, the concepts of “mental” and “psychological” trauma are largely similar and are often used to refer to the same phenomena.
A term from the field of popular psychology to denote mental trauma of moderate strength, which can cause neurotic reactions, activate mechanisms mental defenses and experienced as a painful experience. The concept of psychological trauma does not include psychogenic reactions with the development of severe mental illness.
This is a broad concept that implies any painful personal experience and includes both mental and psychological trauma.
In this article we will talk about psychotrauma in a broad sense, as the reaction of the psyche to any painful event.
Psychophysiologists describe the causes of psychological trauma as a type of body reaction to danger. The fact is that when danger appears, the body mobilizes, preparing for active actions– the hormones necessary for attack or flight are released into the blood, the muscular frame tenses in readiness for action, the heartbeat quickens, and so on.
However, modern reality and the very structure of the human psyche do not always provide an opportunity to directly respond to a dangerous situation. A child cannot attack an evil teacher, a woman cannot run away from a loved one who offends her, some traumatic situations have no material representation at all - there is certainly no way to escape from unhappy love.
But the energy charge, the impulse formed in the body as a reaction to stress, does not disappear. It transforms into a pathological reaction, providing negative impact on the human psyche.
Psychologists distinguish types of psychological trauma by the nature and duration of exposure to the traumatic event.
In addition to the duration of impact, mental trauma also differs in the depth of impact, the severity of the consequences and their content. Some authors identify types such as existential trauma, relational trauma, loss trauma, and irreparable mistake trauma.
Regardless of their severity, inflicted injuries leave a mark on the emotional state and in various aspects of a person’s behavior. Long-term consequences entail psychological trauma that affects the zone of deep emotional experiences. They can be associated with love experiences, with the loss of one’s calling, with an ideological crisis, and so on.
Such influences cause a person to experience a whole range of existential suffering, including loss of meaning in life, feelings of global guilt and inferiority, and inability to experience pleasure and enter into close relationships with people. Quite often, unrequited love turns out to be a serious trauma, especially for young people. Psychological trauma has such a powerful effect on the emotional state that it often provokes suicide.
Particularly dangerous are cases in which the shock turns out to be unbearable for the psyche. IN emergency situation The human psyche uses its “emergency” capabilities to adapt to the situation:
Such acute symptoms may accompany the experience of an extremely difficult event (for example, the sudden death of several family members). On the other hand, some people give a similar reaction to ordinary (at first glance) life difficulties - divorce, dismissal from work, and the like. The fact is that for people with a sensitive psyche, prone to mental illness, even relatively minor stress can cause significant harm and become a trigger for the development of the disease.
Psychological trauma affecting a narrow sphere of emotional experience has more local consequences. For example, people who have experienced betrayal experience trust problems in the future, expecting a repetition of the traumatic experience and trying to avoid it, consciously or not.
Those who have experienced the loss of a loved one tend to have a more pronounced fear of loss. Often, women who have survived rape experience problems sexually or in relationships with men in general. Psychological trauma in adults has moderate consequences and can be relatively easily corrected through psychotherapy or medication.
Childhood psychological traumas are more serious in this regard, since a person’s entire personality is formed in childhood, and every traumatic event leaves its mark on future personality. Childhood traumas often become the causes of psychological difficulties in adults, manifesting themselves in character traits, relationships with people, fears, phobias and neuroses.
The consequences of psychological trauma in children may not be obvious even to parents, since sometimes what is traumatic for a child is something that in the eyes of an adult does not deserve attention.
One of the most common types of mental trauma is separation trauma, or the loss of an attachment figure. In infancy, for a child, a mother is a person necessary for survival, and the loss of a mother is experienced by the infant as a threat to life (the same shock trauma). In this regard, a very impressive example is the so-called hospitalism syndrome - the development of severe somatic disorders(up to fatal outcome) in infants separated from their mothers and kept in medical institution without a specific caring adult who could replace the mother.
Typically, for a child of the first year of life, the period that he can live calmly and without loss without his mother lasts several hours - provided that instead of his mother, another significant adult (favorite nanny, dad or grandmother) will be with him.
As children grow older and are not traumatized by prolonged separation from their mother, the time for such calm autonomy gradually increases. For three year old child It's usually not a problem to spend most of the day without mom at daycare or with another adult.
But some children older than one year react very anxiously to the departure of their mother - they cry, do not let go, sob inconsolably after her departure and look forward to returning, and after the reunion they often behave aggressively or ignore the newly appeared mother. Such behavior indicates a history of psychological trauma. Almost all children raised in traditional Soviet families have this kind of psychological trauma. They were sent to a nursery or kindergarten long before they were ready to be without their mother for a long time.
Most modern adults experience certain difficulties in close relationships, which, according to psychologists, is directly related to childhood psychological trauma. Emotional addiction, pathological jealousy, fear of losing a loved one, fear of death, feelings of inferiority, an acute obsessive need for love and approval in adults are just some of the consequences of childhood trauma.
It is very important for all parents to realize the significance of children's experiences when parting with their mother. If a child of two or three years old, during “adaptation” to kindergarten becomes capricious and whiny, requires a lot of attention, is afraid to be left alone, actively resists going to kindergarten, if sleep or appetite is disturbed, if the child suddenly begins to get sick often - there is an extremely high probability that the child receives psychological trauma.
He can feel real panic and grieve deeply, remaining for a long time surrounded by children and almost unknown adults (not always empathic and able to console). If there is any possibility in this case, choose a garden with a milder adaptation or postpone entry into the garden for a year - this would be the optimal solution for mental health child.
Each child is unique due to his or her experience and constitutional characteristics, so you can never know exactly what event will be traumatic for a particular child. However, there are situations in which typical reaction there will be severe fear or other strong emotions that are difficult for the child’s psyche to cope with.
Listed below are some groups of situations in which parents should pay more attention to the mental state of the child.
How to protect a child from mental trauma? Can you imagine full life and growing up without encountering potentially dangerous situations?
Of course, each of us is faced with a large number of situations that frighten, shock, painfully experience and unsettle. This is a normal and integral part of life. It is important to pay attention to exactly how to cope with these situations and how to help your children with this.
People behave very differently in stressful situations, and the psychological effects can vary in severity depending on the emotional and behavioral response. When talking about how to get rid of the consequences of mental trauma, one should differentiate preventive measures and the treatment itself.
As a rule, the consequences of trauma manifest themselves several months after the traumatic event, but they may not show themselves for many years, organically intertwining themselves with the overall picture of the individual.
Professional therapy for the consequences of psychotrauma can only be provided by qualified specialist. However, knowing about the potential damage to the psyche of a particular event, certain “safety measures” can be taken to prevent the consequences of injuries.
With due attention to emotional state In stressful situations and support from others, the consequences of psychological trauma can be minimized.
Painful experience is an important part of any personality; with adequate processing, it does not destroy, but strengthens and develops the personality, acting as a life test. Moral damage caused by psychological trauma cannot always be adequately compensated, but you can always at least limit the area of its influence, and this is worth doing for the sake of improving the quality of life.
We think about how to heal mental trauma when we or our loved ones become very ill due to an accident or a serious problem. Psychological trauma can occur as a result of moving to a new city, losing a loved one, changing jobs, illness, financial problems, betrayal, etc.
Mental trauma prevents you from moving on with your life, fully building interpersonal relationships, achieving personal growth, making plans and implementing them. Even when it does not manifest itself openly, it can guide a person’s life and choices on a subconscious level.
Mental trauma must be worked through so that it ceases to control the present and goes into the past. It’s good if it is possible to do this together with a psychologist or psychotherapist. But if this is not possible, you can use these recommendations:
Healing soul traumas does not happen in a few days. Sometimes it takes about a year for the pain to subside and stop tormenting the consciousness. The desire to cope with mental trauma is the first step towards getting rid of it.
Many academic minds do not perceive such a concept as psychological trauma, which people everywhere use to explain certain deviations in the development of the psyche and human behavior. Symptoms of psychological trauma are not clear, the types depend on the factors and consequences. Treatment is possible both independently and psychologically.
The online magazine site calls psychological trauma (or psychotrauma) the altered state of a person who is anxious, fearful and inadequate condition. Main feature The condition in question is that it does not cause fundamental changes in a person’s personality. continues to remain healthy, capable, there is an opportunity to adapt to society. However, there are some negative factors external or internal nature that psychologically or emotionally hurt a person so much that it throws him off balance.
Psychological trauma involves the influence of certain factors of various nature on the individual, which deprives him of mental balance and psychological health. In this case, the person is considered absolutely healthy, ordinary, normal. There are simply circumstances that are unpleasant to him, traumatizing, disturbing him so much that they force him to fixate on them, experiencing severe mental suffering.
Psychological trauma should be distinguished from mental trauma, which is confirmed real harm caused by someone or something. In this case, the person becomes not only mentally, but also physiologically unhealthy. Various losses are possible in the form of decreased memory, intelligence, etc.
With psychological trauma, a person continues to remain healthy. Decreased attention and apathy are just a consequence of the depressed state in which a person lives, concentrating his thoughts on circumstances that are unpleasant to him.
A person can be affected by constant factors, as well as isolated cases that disturb his mental balance. However, what longer person is in psychological trauma, the higher the likelihood of developing various borderline states or neurotic disorders, for example:
Psychotrauma has become most popular in situations that cause post-traumatic disorders personalities. When a person finds himself in situations that cause him shock, panic, and severe fear, then he develops PTSD, the inability to adequately look at the world and a lack of spiritual harmony.
It should be noted that psychological trauma is a consequence of a strong emotional experience in which strong pressure on the psyche, which was emotionally difficult for a person to bear.
Psychological trauma (also known as psychotrauma) implies the impact of severe stress on the emotional and psychological spheres of a person, which he could not calmly endure and which caused him some harm. Often, psychotrauma develops in situations that threaten a person with death or give him a feeling of persistent insecurity. In other words, a person feels that his life is in danger, he cannot turn anywhere, no one can help him, he himself is unable to do anything about the situation, while all circumstances indicate that he will lose something valuable ( life, health, freedom, etc.).
As a result of psychological trauma, a person’s thinking changes. While he is in stressful situation, he begins to think about the things that are dear to him. He quickly begins to form new views on life, taking into account the circumstances that cause him psychological trauma.
Can be called this state as a situation that leaves a scar on a person’s body. On the one hand, everything has healed, the wound is no longer there, as are the circumstances that caused it. On the other hand, a scar remains on the body, which reminds a person of the conditions under which it arose.
It should be noted that than more people plunges into his own suffering, the more his physical health(immunity drops).
There is a wide range of reasons that cause psychological trauma. It is quite difficult to list them all, so they are grouped into groups:
Psychological trauma leads a person to constantly return memories to the past, which becomes intrusive for him. He evaluates real life through the prism of those experiences that are present in him, and looks at the world negatively.
A person cannot separate himself from the problem. He is unable to look at her from the outside. At the same time, the problem hinders its development and further improvement. The person seems to stop at the level of development at which he was at the time of the traumatic event.
Concomitant factors that help psychotrauma develop are:
Traumatic situations force a person to change their views, values, moral principles and behavior patterns. Since situations become unusual for a person, most likely, he did not even think about the fact that this could happen to him, his worldview, which he had used until that moment, is significantly destroyed. The longer stress factors affect a person, the more the consequences of psychological trauma develop.
They may be:
Stressful situations affect a person with a force that he is not able to cope with. Much depends on the significance of the events and the mental strength that the individual has to solve the problem that has arisen.
Despite the fact that psychological trauma can be eliminated, the process is reversible, you should still understand that the problem needs to be dealt with together with a specialist. To do this, he identifies a type of psychological trauma:
It is quite difficult to outwardly recognize a person with psychological trauma if he is in normal conditions life. Typically, psychotrauma manifests itself only in those circumstances that are similar and remind the person of the conditions in which it initially developed.
All psychologists identify a number of symptoms indicating the presence of psychological trauma:
The following facts can indicate the presence of psychotrauma in a person:
Psychological trauma should be addressed because it significantly affects a person’s behavior and ability to continue living happily. If you cannot cope with stress on your own, then you can seek treatment together with a psychotherapist.
We need to set goals for the future. Focus your attention on what you want to achieve, not on what you are trying to escape from.
We also do not forget that the greater the significance of the event, the stronger the trauma. In other words, you should realize that such situations are normal and natural, although not frequent. They should not be treated as something unusual.
Psychological trauma will for a long time get rid. You will not be able to achieve the desired result in one day. A person must understand this in order to show patience for the period while he gets rid of his psychotrauma, so that it does not dictate to him how to live further and how to look at the world around him.
is the harm caused to a person by society. Due to many reasons and external factors a person may develop a trauma that he will not be able to overcome on his own. As a rule, psychological trauma requires the participation of a psychologist. The consequences of psychological trauma are sometimes so severe that a person needs a lot of time to cope with himself and stop focusing on his own feelings. Psychological trauma is compared to a deep wound that does not heal over time, but continues to bleed.
What signs can be used to determine that a person is experiencing psychological trauma? Any injury, no matter what factors it is caused by, affects a person’s perception of the world. The presence of trauma fundamentally changes the attitude towards life and the ability to perceive the surrounding reality. What feelings does a person with psychological trauma experience? What are the main symptoms of injury?
A person who has trauma will return to negative experiences repeatedly. This happens completely uncontrollably, in this way the subconscious tries to free itself from traumatic impressions. A person begins to be haunted by fears, intrusive thoughts. As soon as he finds himself in a similar situation, the event that led to the formation of psychological trauma immediately arises in his memory. It is known that this kind of injury is dangerous not in itself, but because of its negative consequences. It is impossible to predict what a particular injury will lead to. Psychological trauma forces a person to experience the same event over and over again. There is an immersion in the problem, detachment from the outside world.
Experiencing trauma greatly affects emotional sphere. A person often experiences depressive state, it seems to him that no one needs him. On this basis, apathy and a sense of personal exclusivity often develop. Isolation, anxiety, distrust of others - this is not a complete list of signs of psychological trauma. A person experiences so much heartache that he doesn't know how to deal with it. Gradually, he loses faith in his own capabilities and prospects, withdraws into his own inner world and sensations. Psychological trauma deprives a person of moral strength and self-confidence, and makes a person consider himself a failure. Feeling of uselessness is the key concept here. The personality does not know where he could apply himself, he is afraid to act actively.
Psychological trauma includes several types of mental shocks, which differ in the power of their psychological impact. Trauma is destructive in itself, but different types of trauma may indicate a specific condition. Depending on the types of psychological trauma, appropriate assistance should be selected. Help should begin with awareness of the problem situation. If a person does not recognize the presence of a destructive conflict in himself, it is impossible to help him.
In terms of frequency of occurrence and strength of destructive impact, it is the strongest. Childhood trauma leaves an indelible imprint on consciousness and affects the rest of life. The most interesting thing is that almost every person has one. Sometimes we simply don’t notice how we plunge into hopeless melancholy, suffer from loneliness and misunderstanding. In fact great influence We are affected by psychological trauma acquired in childhood. Such trauma forces one to look for confirmation of one’s own need and importance in literally everything. Childhood trauma is accompanied by unconscious actions and experiences. One of the most characteristic features The presence of childhood trauma is a constant expectation of betrayal and misunderstanding on the part of loved ones. As a rule, childhood trauma is inflicted on us by parents, relatives, and the first social environment. It is good when a child has the opportunity to speak his feelings out loud, rather than hush them up. Thus, it becomes possible to at least reduce destructive effect injuries.
The loss of a loved one is one of the most serious shocks one can experience in life. We will never face our own death, but the passing of a person dear to our hearts hurts so much that it seems that there is not a single living thread left in our soul. This is how psychological trauma is formed, which for a long time does not allow you to fully live and enjoy the manifestations of life. The loss of a loved one does not necessarily mean their passing away. Sometimes a long separation or broken relationship can cause serious trauma to a person, making her withdrawn and distrustful. As a result, a person will be somewhat biased towards people and be wary of meeting new people.
The loss of a loved one causes more trauma the more the person is considered unsuccessful in life. If in an adult it causes grief and pain of loss, then in a child it will turn into a real nightmare from which there will be no escape. When trust is broken, it becomes very difficult to trust another person again, to reveal your true feelings and needs to him. This kind of injury makes itself felt for quite a long time.
Sometimes events happen in life over which a person has no control. Natural disasters and catastrophes have a powerful destructive effect on the body. From sudden all-consuming experiences nervous system exhausted, numerous fears and doubts appear. Any disaster leads to psychological trauma. If something happens to another person before your eyes, you are unlikely to remain calm and calm. As a rule, most people have compassion and empathy. Empathic listening can reduce the destructive effects of trauma and help cope with the problem.
Whatever the causes of psychological trauma, it is important to know how to survive it. Those who have encountered this unbearable pain, know that no injury can be healed in one day. It takes a lot of effort to help yourself cope with its devastating consequences. As a rule, you have to work with an injury for a long time, until full recovery peace of mind.
The big problem many people have is that they are afraid to talk about their feelings. Some people don’t want to be seen as weak and therefore don’t say what they really feel. This approach tends to worsen the injury rather than cure it. Recognizing your feelings will help you free yourself from the pressure of a negative event and reduce its destructive effect. The more we talk about our feelings, the sooner we will be able to fully free ourselves from them. On the contrary, if you hush up the problem, it will never be solved.
Some people find it difficult to talk about their own feelings. This feeling arises when, from childhood, a person is squeezed into the framework imposed on him and is afraid to enter into an open, confidential conversation with other people. In this case, you have to learn to articulate emotions; you cannot hide them. There is nothing wrong with admitting what we really feel: anger, pain, guilt, disappointment, fear. Psychological trauma requires increased attention.
After a person has decided on his feelings, he needs to begin describing the problem that worries him. Correction of injury begins from this moment. Try to determine what was really happening at the moment when something out of the ordinary happened. The description of the problem includes a detailed statement of facts and an analysis of one’s own feelings. Compilation full picture of what happened will help to get to the reasons for what happened. No matter how painful it is, it must be realized and accepted in order to learn some positive lesson. Psychological trauma is too serious a thing to try to ignore.
When unsuccessful, most people associate their own personality with the oppressive problem. That is, a person is rarely able to separate the acquired trauma from his inner essence. We sometimes become so immersed in the problem that we stop noticing the reality around us. It is human nature to become fixated on what brought him the greatest disappointment and mental confusion. Helping yourself is about learning to separate yourself from the pain that is currently weighing on your consciousness. Just understand that this is not forever and the current situation is just a short moment that will end soon.
By using this method you can get rid of the consequences of injury. As a rule, a person who has experienced psychological trauma needs to be listened to. The need to be heard is key in this matter. By drawing disturbing moments, you reflect your internal conflict on paper. The pain that has prevented you from living for a long time and kept you from enjoying yourself will gradually go away. Art therapy is recognized worldwide effective method working out difficult emotional disorders. You can fight psychological trauma by picking up a pencil and paper.
It must be compiled in order to help yourself. Until you see where to move next, it will be difficult to move past internal conflict and overcome the consequences of trauma. If you sit in one place and endlessly feel sorry for yourself, nothing good will come of it. Try to predict the future result: think about how to live further. In this case, the main emphasis should be placed not on all-consuming pain, but on one’s own hobbies, activities, and interests. This approach will allow you to free yourself from oppressive experiences and outline the necessary steps for yourself towards complete mental recovery.
Thus, psychological trauma is a problem that must be addressed. This is a serious internal task, by solving which you can reach a completely new level of development and cultivate the qualities of a strong person.
