About Trauma

Most people will at some point in their life be exposed to a situation that can be categorized as a traumatic experience (Sledjeski et al., 2008), Traumatic events are for example;  assault, sexual assault, psychological abuse, natural disaster's. or unexpected loss of a loved  one.

 

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can become a chronic, often debilitating mental health disorder that may develop after a traumatic life event. Shortly after exposure, many people experience some symptoms of PTSD. Although among most individuals these symptoms resolve within weeks, approximately 10%–20% of individuals exposed to trauma experience PTSD symptoms that persist and are associated with impairment (Norris and Sloane, 2007).

 

PTSD is associated with a wide range of problems including difficulties at work, social dysfunction and physical & psychological health problems (Alonso et al., 2004; Galovski and Lyons, 2004; Smith et al., 2005). 

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PTSD symptoms like anxiety, stress and depression, are often misdiagnosed in the healthcare, and not connected to the underlying reason, the trauma. It is problematic that individuals often are treated for solely stress, depression or anxiety. In my experience its not unusual for this group of persons to have gone through a number of treatments with no lasting effect.