What can cause Trauma? and Why is Trauma effecting me so differently?

When we treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) we need to keep in mind research studies that 70% of us will be exposed to a traumatic event in our lifetime. And, further into research we can gain a broader picture of why trauma effects each of us differently.

Why is a MVA, Hospital, Surgery, Sexual Assault, or other trauma effecting me?

Because when a person is in this type of event and drops into a freeze response it’s due to the shock, and this means it’s often because they cannot fight or flee from the threat. This is especially common in women and children. This can cause part of the brain to go offline, and then they cannot actually feel or process what is happening.

This is the reason trauma can be so hard to remember. The part of the brain that processes information is not accessible when trauma occurs. Which explains why you may remember up until what happened, right before the incident, but then not what happened next.

Also, social interactions right after can affect how the brain processes and stores trauma memories. As you may remember, a conversation with a person right after a traumatic event as more traumatic than the event itself.

Especially if the conversation was a negative one. This is because the part of your brain that handles fight/flight/freeze turned off the memory due to the high emotional impact of the conversation. If the conversation had been a positive one, it would have had a calming effect on the brain and the traumatic impact would be lessened.

These are just a few of the fascinating things we cover in trauma therapy, often we go over the brains reaction to trauma. And might use exposure therapy or trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy as a few different approaches.

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