Not Sure Where To Start?
Find answers for treatment, friends & family, and supporters in our concise Trauma & Resiliency FAQs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Trauma?
Trauma is when a person experiences stressful, frightening, or upsetting events that are hard to cope with or out of their control. It could be a single event or something that happens over time.
For more information about types of trauma, please visit mind.org.
What is Resiliency?
Resilience means being able to adapt to life’s misfortunes or setbacks. If something difficult happens, resilience doesn’t make it go away but rather helps a person find ways to get through the difficulty, better manage stress, and learn to enjoy life.
(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research: How to build resiliency).
What are ways trauma can affect someone?
Trauma affects people differently. A person may respond physically as our bodies prepare to respond to a threat. They may freeze, fight, or try to get out of the situation. Someone may have feelings of anger, fear, grief, worry, frustration, confusion, shame, and others during the event or for months or years after. A person could also blame themselves for what happened. They can also experience physical symptoms like headaches, fatigue, sweating, dizziness, changes in eating habits, shaking, or memory problems.
It’s important to remember that trauma affects everyone differently – the effects listed above are not the only ones that someone may experience.
Can a person be impacted by someone else's trauma?
Yes, this is referred to as vicarious trauma or secondary traumatic stress.
The Vicarious Trauma Institute defines vicarious trauma as the “indirect exposure to trauma through a first-hand account or narrative of a traumatic event.”
How does resiliency impact a person's health and well-being?
A person with resilience does not recover from trauma without struggle or effort but they generally find a new way to cope with or live after the trauma. They find new strengths or abilities to deal with a difficult situation, they recognize and rely on people in their lives that offer support and focus on those relationships. They may also find new goals or redefine values and priorities.
For more information about the importance of resiliency, please visit positivepsychology.com.
What is trauma-informed practice/care?
Trauma-informed practice/care recognizes that healthcare practitioners and teams need to understand a person and their experiences when evaluating that person’s symptoms or illnesses. It changes the emphasis from “What’s wrong?” to “What happened?”
To learn more about trauma-informed care and how to become a trauma-informed organization, please visit the Implementation Resource Center by the Center for Health Care Strategies.
What are Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs)?
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are negative, usually traumatic, experiences between the ages of 1 and 17. ACEs can affect a person’s health throughout their lives. They may lead to mental health conditions, chronic physical health conditions, and/or substance use disorders.
Signs of ACEs can include:
o Fear of people
o Difficulty sleeping
o Bedwetting
o Mood changes
o Difficulty showing affection
o Challenges learning in school
o Avoid situations that relate to the event
To learn more about ACEs including care, treatment, and prevention, please visit this article by the Cleveland Clinic.
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