Pia Granjon
Trauma is when you are screaming, and
Nobody hears nor listens to you
Nobody trusts you
You are alone
You feel trapped and hopeless
Inspired from Bessel Van Der Kolk
Living with trauma is quite common among the general population
It is less common to develop Post Traumatic Symptoms
Because our Brain, Bodiy and mind are resilient
They can learn new ways to function
We can grow from our trauma-s
Most of the developped symptoms will naturally resolve within 3 months.
About 70% of a general population has been through trauma and
20% of the same population will develop PTSD
When symptoms remain after 3 months, we can talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder / PTSD
Complex Trauma describes both exposure to multiple traumatic events, often of an invasive,interpersonal nature
And the wide ranging, long term impact of this exposure; in adulthood and/or childhood
Developmental trauma refers to the impact of early, repeated trauma and loss which happens within the child’s important developmental phases of their life.
Usually early in life.
Unborn babies can suffer trauma when they are in the womb
Please consult a trauma trained professionnal
before considering that your symptoms are trauma related;
Context and history must be included in an evaluation and in a therapeutic work
Some of these symptoms may direct to a different diagnosis
Symptoms can be consciously known, as well as running under the radar of our conscious mind
They affect our
. Cognition,
. Behaviours,
. Perception of self,
. Perception of the Self in the world,
. Perception of others and of the world
. Living in the aftermath of trauma implies living with potentially some of the following symptoms below
. Having some of some symptoms does not means they are related to trauma
Consult to clarify more
. Difficulties to sleep / Nightmares / Night terrors
. Impulses:
Eating habits,
Aggressivity towards self or others,
Substance abuse / addictions
. Gastric / intestines problems
. Pain, often medically unexplained
. Physical Immobilism
. Self harm
. Low / no energy or on the contrary, being fidgety
. Difficulty to look at someone in the eyes
. Flat voice tone
. Dissociation - Dissociative Identity Disorder/DID
. Memory Loss
. Non - Neurological Epilepsy
. Hearing voices
[different from those of schizophrenia]
. Not recognising oneself:
body / body contour, thoughts, actions,
emotions, reactions ...
. Adverse reactions to medication
. Difficult relationships
. Social Isolation
. Chronic worries and/or sadness
. Anxiety / Panic Attacks
. Depression
. Brain fog / concentration difficulty
. Social isolation
. Intimacy and Sexual issues
. Suicidal ideation
. Suicidal attempt
. Sense of Despair, Loneliness, Hopelessness
. Sense of impending Doom
​
. . .
The majority of people who have been through traumatic events
will not develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Among trauma the impact of the following are rarely known or recognised,
• Neglect of children:
When more often than not, the children's needs are not met
• Moral injuries:
. When you act or when you are the witness of something that you find morally reprehensible
. When there is an unequal distribution of appropriate moral accountability.
You may want to check the work of Jack Saul on moral injury