2. 3 Causes of trauma
Trauma is caused by many factors, according to many authors,
and it is a result of any experience that makes you feel terrified, helpless,
unprepared or alone and those factors may be natural, technological or man-made
disasters.
Trauma can result from events we have long recognized as
traumatic, including:
- Natural disasters (earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes,
etc.)
- Physical assault, including rape, incest, molestation,
domestic abuse - Serious bodily harm
- Serious accidents such as automobile or other high-impact
scenarios - Experiencing or witnessing horrific injury,
carnage or fatalities
Other potential sources of psychological trauma are often
overlooked including:
- Falls or sports injuries
- Surgery, particularly emergency, and especially in first 3
years of life - Serious illness, especially when accompanied
by very high fever
- Birth trauma
- Hearing about violence to or sudden death of someone close
In addition, traumatic stress in childhood that influences
the brain is caused by poor or inadequate relationship with a primary
caretaker. Sources of this developmental or relational trauma include the
following:
- Forced separation very early in life from primary
caregiver;
- Chronic mis-attunement of caregiver to child's attachment
signals ("mal-attachment") or reasons such as physical or mental illness,
depression or grief.
It is acknowledged that early life trauma creates vulnerability
for experiencing future traumatic
responses.
www.Helpguide.org
2. 3. 1 Varieties of Man-Made Violence
War/political violence: Massive in scale,
severe, repeated, prolonged and unpredictable. Also multiple: witnessing, life
threatening, but also doing violence to others embracing the identity of a
killer.
Human rights abuses: kidnapping, torture,
etc.
Rape: The largest group of people with
posttraumatic stress disorder in USA. A national survey of 4000 women found
that 1 in 8 reported being the victim of a forcible rape. Nearly half had been
raped more than once. Nearly 1/3 was younger than 11 and over 60% were under
18.
Domestic Violence: recent studies in USA show
that between 21% and 34% of women will
be assaulted by an intimate male partner.
Child Abuse: the scope of childhood trauma
is staggering. Everyday children are beaten, burned, slapped, whipped, thrown,
shaken, kicked and raped. According to Dr. Bruce Perry, a conservative estimate
of children at risk for PTSD exceeds 15 million.
Sexual abuse: At least 40% of all
psychiatric inpatients have histories of sexual abuse in childhood. Sexual
abuse doesn't occur in a vacuum: is most often accompanied by other forms of
stress and trauma-generally within a family.
Physical abuse: often results in violence
toward others, abuse of one's own children, substance abuse, self-injurious
behavior, suicide attempts, and a variety of emotional problems.
Emotional/verbal abuse Witnessing: Seeing
anyone beaten is stressful; the greater your attachment to the victim, the
greater the stress. Especially painful is watching violence directed towards a
caregiver, leaving the child to fear losing the primary source of security in
the family.
Sadistic abuse: we generally think about
interpersonal violence as an eruption of passions, but the severest forms are
those inflicted deliberately. Calculated cruelty can be far more terrifying
than impulsive violence. Coercive control is used in settings like
concentration camps, prostitution and pornography rings, and in some
families.
The most personally and clinically challenging clients are
those who have experienced repeated intentional violence, abuse, and neglect
from childhood onward. These clients have experienced tremendous loss, the
absence of control, violations of safety, and betrayal of trust. The resulting
emotions are overwhelming: grief, terror, horror, rage, and anguish.
Their whole experience of identity and of the world is based
upon expectations of harm and abuse. When betrayal and damage is done by a
loved one who says that what he or she is doing is good and is for the child's
good, the seeds of lifelong mistrust and fear are planted. Thus, the survivor
of repetitive childhood abuse and neglect expects to be harmed in any helping
relationship and may interact with us as though we have already harmed him or
her. (
http://www.realmentalhealth.com/dissociative_disorders/psychological_trauma_01
2.asp)
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