Trauma Defined
You’ve probably heard the words ‘trauma’ and ‘PTSD’ thrown around and wondered, “What does ‘trauma’ even mean?” Well, the definition of trauma is experiencing a deeply hurtful and harmful experience that shocks our normal ability to process it. It can be a single event (acute), a repeated event (chronic), or a combination of the two (complex).
Each event can be considered either a big “T” trauma, (like an unexpected accident, a crime, the sudden, tragic loss of someone special, exposure to war, or even a natural disaster), or little “t” traumas, which occur more than once and happen over time, like abuse in all its forms (e.g. emotional, physical, financial, spiritual, neglect, bullying, etc). Even living with someone else’s problems can be a source of little “t” traumas, like someone else’s mental illness and/or substance abuse.