Trauma is that response to an unexpected event that is very stressful, distressing or frightening. It shatters our sense of security and can make us feel vulnerable. It creates a psychological and emotional response that can leave us numb and disconnected from people we trust.
Healing from trauma is not the same for everyone. All the situations and experiences we encounter in life - from the nurturing that happens in childhood, to the peer interactions through the teenage years and the stumbling blocks in adulthood - they all create a filter of how our brain perceives and interprets the world and all our interactions.
Our capacity to deal with our emotional and psychological responses to stress is dependant on the resources we have, this entails not only friends and family but also our emotional reserves that we sometimes forget about. When something happens, we have coping mechanisms that help us process the event and respond accordingly.
Everyone has a valid response to what is happening to them
When an experience leaves you unable to manage your everyday responsibilities and continuously depletes your emotional and mental resources, this becomes Chronic Stress.
Recognising that no trauma is worse than another person's experience of trauma, is important. We all experience life differently. You can experience a traumatic event in a group of people and each person will have a different emotional and psychological response to what they are witnessing.
We all have narratives of our journey and once we are able to respect that everyone is experiencing life with their own history and stories, we are better able to be compassionate and empathetic regardless of what our perceptions are of other's experiences.
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