What Is Psychological Trauma? Symptoms and Support Options
Have you ever faced something so unthinkable that you didn’t know what to think, feel, or do in the moment? Perhaps you noticed yourself feeling hopeless, or on edge, or like you wanted to run away.
If you’ve ever felt like this, you may have experienced psychological trauma. Psychologically traumatic events are so stressful that our coping strategies aren’t enough to manage the emotions and thoughts these experiences stir up. As a result, the experiences get stored in our bodies and brains, coming out in multiple ways later on in life.
In our relationships. Affecting our self-esteem. Making us feel constantly overwhelmed or emotionally numb.
Fortunately, we can get support for the after-effects of psychological trauma. Below, we explore what psychological trauma is, the signs and effects of this, and what support services are available.
What Is Psychological Trauma?
Trauma is a lasting emotional reaction we have when we experience extremely upsetting or distressing situations or events. These experiences often leave us feeling helpless or highly afraid at the time and can make it difficult for us to function in everyday life for days, months, and often years after the event.1
These traumatic events stick with us for so long because, when we experience them, they exceed our coping resources and push us past our emotional bandwidth. What we mean by this is that our brains weren’t capable of processing the intense emotions and thoughts that happened as a result of these. As a result, these experiences become stored in our minds and bodies, affecting our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors for a long time after the event.1
Psychological trauma can be caused by one-off events or repeated, ongoing stress. And sometimes, common experiences like surgery or the death of a loved one can lead to psychological trauma.
Some other events that may result in psychological trauma are:
Natural disasters
- Wars
- Physical abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Neglect
- Sexual abuse
- Bullying
- Unhealthy family dynamics (leading to childhood trauma)
- Domestic abuse
Psychological Trauma Symptoms
Traumatic experiences differ so greatly that the signs of psychological trauma are unique to everyone. Nevertheless, there are some common emotional and physical trauma symptoms that may happen during and after the event. We explore these below.
Emotional and Physical Symptoms of Trauma
Grief- Anger
- Shame
- Sadness
- Insomnia
- Confusion
- Extreme fear
- Muscle tension
- Shock or disbelief
- Guilt or self-blame
- Elevated heart rate
- Withdrawal from others
- Denial of what’s happening
- Agitation and hypervigilance
- Helplessness and hopelessness
- Numbness or disconnection from the world
Effects of Psychological Trauma on Your Life
Psychological trauma can have emotional, physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social implications on our lives:
Emotional Effects of Psychological Trauma3
After psychological trauma, our bodies may stay in a constant state of stress. We may find it difficult to regulate difficult emotions like anger, sadness, shame, and anxiety, especially when the trauma occurred in childhood. This can put us at greater risk of unhealthy behaviors such as self-injury, disordered eating, and compulsive behaviors.
We may experience a detachment of our emotions which can make it difficult to connect with others, or we might experience our emotions in extremes, leading to constant overwhelm.
Traumatic events leading to psychological trauma also put people at a higher risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma-related depression, a type of depression that has a similar presentation to major depressive disorder.
Physical Effects of Psychological Trauma3
Extremely stressful events trigger our fight or flight system, which causes the release of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline in our body. When these become stored in our body and mind as psychological trauma, our bodies can become stuck with our fight or flight system constantly activated.
Long term, this can lead to difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep, or with nightmares. What’s more, when our body enters the fight or flight response, it shuts down other bodily systems temporarily to ensure we’re ready to fight, flee, or freeze. So, if our bodies continue to be in a constant stressed state, it can cause gastrointestinal issues, cardiovascular problems, and continual aches and pains.
Cognitive Effects of Psychological Trauma3
When we experience psychological trauma, especially at an early age, this teaches us that the world and other people aren’t safe. We then use these lessons we learned to influence how we experience the world in the future, which can lead us to make cognitive errors in which we see everyday situations as dangerous.
Psychological trauma can also influence our core beliefs about ourselves, leading to self-blame and guilt which can negatively impact our self-esteem, self-confidence, and sense of self-worth.
Finally, we may experience intrusive thoughts and memories long after the traumatic event. These unwanted thoughts could be related to the event or may occur as a result of the core beliefs we form from them.
Behavioral Effects of Psychological Trauma3
Psychologically traumatic experiences reveal themselves in ways we wouldn’t always expect. When we have emotional experiences we can’t process, we may repeatedly relive and recreate the trauma in our present life through our behaviors. This could lead to self-injury, unhealthy relationships, and risk-taking behaviors.
We may also avoid certain people, places, or situations that trigger memories of the trauma, which can limit our lives and connections.
Social Effects of Psychological Trauma3
Often, when we experience a trauma, we assume that no one “gets” it. This can be extremely isolating, as we may withdraw from others because we feel different or like they don’t understand.
We can also have difficulties in the relationships we form, as our traumatic experiences may make it difficult to trust, communicate, or be intimate with others.
Treatment for Psychological Trauma
With time and an evidence-based treatment approach that suits you and your needs, you can begin to recover from psychological trauma. Here are some of the best treatment approaches for psychological trauma recovery:
Therapy for Trauma Survivors
There are many different forms of trauma counseling that have shown to be effective at helping those struggling with the after-effects of psychological trauma. Let’s explore some of the main types of trauma therapy:
Trauma-Focused Therapy: This is a form of psychotherapy that offers a safe, non-judgmental space to talk about and learn about trauma, alongside a highly trained therapist who specializes in trauma treatment. Trauma-focused therapy will help you build coping strategies to manage your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to your experiences and begin to move on.4
- Individual Therapy for Trauma Survivors: Research shows that individual therapy approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are highly effective for those healing from psychological trauma. With the help of a therapist, you will think about your past traumatic experiences, process these, and begin to come to terms with them.5,6
- Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR therapy has also proven highly effective at helping those manage past traumatic experiences. Through a process of specific forms of eye movements combined with exposure to past thoughts and memories relating to the trauma, you can understand and learn to manage these.5
Trauma Support Groups
Hearing similar stories can validate some of your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and can help you learn new strategies to manage your trauma symptoms.
At Mission Connection, we offer group therapy sessions for those struggling with the after-effects of psychological trauma. If you want to learn more about the group support we offer, reach out to us at 866-948-6242.
Trauma Treatment Centers
Trauma treatment centers are an excellent choice if you’re struggling to manage your trauma-related symptoms and you need more intensive, structured support. Trauma centers like Mission Connection offer a range of treatment plans, including:
- Residential mental health treatment, a live-in care option that provides 24/7 support. This is the prime choice if you need more intensive, immersive treatment.
- Inpatient mental health treatment, which involves short-term stays at one of our hospital or clinic settings. This is typically for those who have severe symptoms or need emergency care.
- Intensive outpatient programs offer a structured program of therapy sessions and support groups multiple times a week, so you can still live at home while getting the very best support available.
- Partial hospitalization programs, which involve daily treatment which is similar to inpatient care but you return home each evening. This is a great option if you want a high level of support and still live at home.
- Outpatient therapeutic services, such as online talk therapy, CBT, EMDR, trauma-focused therapy, and more. You can find our full list of therapy treatments here.
Reach Out to Mission Connection Today
If you’ve ever experienced psychological trauma, you’ll know that the impact at the time can be all-consuming, shocking, and horrific. When we’re pushed past our natural ability to cope, our body and mind try to protect us by blocking these experiences out or suppressing them, only for them to come out in other ways later down the line.
For many of us, there comes a time when we recognize that the unhealthy ways we think, feel, and act may be influenced by our past traumas. And with this awareness, comes a desire to change.
Unfortunately, healing psychological trauma doesn’t happen overnight. However, with the right support and treatment systems in place, you can begin to live your life more on your terms.
If you want specialist support to help make healthy changes in your life, reach out to us at Mission Connection. We offer individualized, compassionate treatment approaches that will not only help you heal, but will allow you to thrive.
Get in touch with us today at 866-948-6242.
References
- Wang, S. K., Feng, M., Fang, Y., Lv, L., Sun, G. L., Yang, S. L., Guo, P., Cheng, S. F., Qian, M. C., & Chen, H. X. (2023). Psychological trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder and trauma-related depression: A mini-review. World journal of psychiatry, 13(6), 331–339. https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v13.i6.331
- Mind. (2023, December). Trauma. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/
- Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2014). Understanding the impact of trauma. In Trauma-informed care in behavioral health services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US).
- Stein, M. B., & Norman, S. (2024). Posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: Psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions. In P. P. Roy-Byrne & M. Friedman (Eds.), UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-in-adults-psychotherapy-and-psychosocial-interventions
- Gillies, D., Maiocchi, L., Bhandari, A. P., Taylor, F., Gray, C., & O’Brien, L. (2016). Psychological therapies for children and adolescents exposed to trauma. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 10(10), CD012371. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012371
- Paintain, E., & Cassidy, S. (2018). First-line therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: A systematic review of cognitive behavioural therapy and psychodynamic approaches. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 18(3), 237–250. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12174
- Chouliara, Z., Karatzias, T., & Draucker, C. B. (2017). Therapeutic change in group therapy for interpersonal trauma: A relational framework for research and clinical practice. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(15-16). https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517696860
