In light of the recent event happening in Texas I think it’s appropriate to talk about single event trauma. Single event trauma is when an individual experiences trauma and/or PTSD by a single incident. This could be a car accident, an attack, rape or natural disaster to name a few.
Single trauma can impact a person for the rest of their life. It’s important to recognize most people don’t just “get over it”. I have had clients come into my office and tell me about a traumatic experience as thought they were reading a script from a page of a book. There is a difference from talking about your trauma and processing trauma. A typical situation in therapy is when a client states they can talk about the trauma, but feels nothing. They usually come into therapy because of classic anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. Much education need to be given to the public that these “classic symptoms” are also signs of PTSD. The body is a great alarm system for letting you know your nervous system is in fight, flight or freeze mode (I call this the trauma brain). Shaking, sweating, body numbness, headaches, stomach pains and blur vision are common signs that, if there is no medical link, it’s quite possible it’s connected to mental health issues. Yes, most individuals can keep living this way for the rest of their life, but it usually comes with a price including anxiety, depression, mood swings, addictions, relationship issues, nightmare, flashbacks and/or trust issues.
