The 8 TYPES of PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA

Psychological trauma occurs when damage to the mind occurs due to a distressing event in which the individual has not been able to handle the stress that has been caused and integrate the emotions experienced in happiness experience. In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to explain what causes psychological trauma, what types exist and how to overcome them. If you want to know what the types of trauma are, keep reading. Next, we will see the 8 types of psychological trauma.

Index

1. What are psychological trauma
2. Causes of psychological trauma
3. Types of psychological trauma depending on the type of situation
4. Types of psychological trauma depending on the duration of the situation
5. How to overcome a psychological trauma

Psychological trauma is caused by a situation that occurs suddenly or unexpectedly, in which the individual does not have the ability to handle the problem, causing it to disturb him. In this way, the individual will present a confusion about her emotions, feeling bad and, later, creating a resistance on such situations, even avoiding the fact of living something similar again.

Psychological traumas are emotional sequelae left by an experience that caused immense pain and suffering to the individual. Such an experience can affect her behavior, thinking and feeling, in this way, the individual does anything to avoid reliving and remembering what caused the trauma.

Trauma is understood as something that had its origin abroad, that is, in an external event, but which has repercussions on an internal level, which is the level of psychic functioning. In the next article, you will find more information about What is a psychological trauma.

Most people consider trauma to be generated by situations where someone's life is being threatened, such as a car accident, a robbery, sexual violence, death of a loved one, among other things.

Traumas are triggered according to the situation experienced by the individual. When the person experiences a traumatic situation, her brain goes into shock and so the psychological trauma occurs.

Although there are other forms of initiation and causes of psychological trauma, the greatest are those caused by loved ones, because it is never expected to receive mistreatment or betrayal of someone who has trust and love.

Those who experience trauma generally feel a sense of guilt, shame, irritability, insomnia, nightmares, fear, anxiety, nervousness, and confusion.

What types of psychological trauma are there? Psychological traumas can be related to childhood, grief, natural disasters, accidents, abuse, wars, relationships and their breakups, physical and psychological abuse. Next we will detail the main types of trauma:

1. Childhood trauma

It is in childhood that many of our experiences are consolidated and are part of our training and reference. These experiences are responsible for forming the personality of the individual, the way of feeling and acting of it. Because of that, a childhood trauma carries enormous weight throughout life. Some examples of traumatic experiences for a child are:

• Sexual, physical and emotional abuse
• Physical and emotional neglect
• Living in a home where abuse and violence occurs
• Living in a household where substance abuse occurs
• Parental separation or divorce

In the following article, you will find more information about Child abuse: types, causes, consequences and prevention.

2. Trauma from sexual abuse

It is a trauma that can occur in childhood or in adulthood. Some examples are:

• Violation
• Attempted rape
• Sexual violence
• Incest
• Child sexual abuse

Here we explain the Difference between abuse, rape, harassment and sexual assault. It is a terrible experience and very difficult to overcome. The victim wishes to erase it from her memory, which makes solving the problem even more complex. In addition to the trauma, the person may develop a dissociative disorder in some cases. In the following article, we explain the Symptoms of sexual abuse in childhood.

3. Traumas from physical and psychological abuse

It is a physical and psychological trauma when violence is exerted on the individual. Some examples are:

• Beating
• Hits
• Torture
• Confinement
• Bullying

This violence can be physical or psychological, in both cases refers to abuse. In addition to the physical damage caused by the violence inflicted on the victim, the psychological damage Regarding both physical abuse and verbal abuse result in serious harm emotional Feelings of fear, anxiety, and low self-esteem often arise in these situations.

In the following articles, you will find more information about the types of violence and the consequences of psychological abuse.

4. Natural trauma

They are situations that there is no intention, but the life of the individual is put at risk. Some examples are:

• Car accident
• Fires
• Hurricane
• Earthquake
• Floods

5. Interpersonal trauma

They are traumatic events that cannot be foreseen, are life-threatening and are caused by humans. Some examples are:

• Robberies
• Kidnappings
• Terrorist actions
• Be hostage

In psychology, there is a classification for the types of trauma based on the characteristics, duration and repetition of the situations that originate the trauma. In addition to the types explained above, which are classified according to the characteristics of the situation, they can also be classified based on duration. Next, we will see the types of psychological trauma depending on the duration of the situation:

• Type I trauma: referring to specific situations in life where events occurred that had a strong impact on the individual's life.
• Type II trauma: refers to situations that occur in a short time and have a longer duration.
• Type III trauma: refers to repeated situations in childhood that affect the individual with their long-term effects. When the anguish or fear has been repeated over an extended period of time, we refer to a complex trauma. In the following article, you will find more information about the Complex trauma: what it is, symptoms, criteria and treatment.

The psychotherapy it is the most effective treatment in cases of psychological trauma. Well, it is during psychotherapy that the individual will have adequate space to normalize feelings and emotions, in addition to the psychologist. provide help to process and elaborate the trauma by offering tools and developing skills necessary to cope with the trauma trouble. Some therapeutic techniques can also help in overcoming the trauma:

• The brainspottingis a psychological therapy that aims to treat human suffering in a profound and transformative way. One of its objectives is the treatment of trauma, relieving the weight of excessive emotions, healing the wounds of the person's history.
• The techniques of mindfulness They can also be an option, as the individual will do mental exercises to combat the impact of the trauma. It is a type of meditation that helps the person in her discomfort. In this article we explain what is mindfulness and how is it practiced.
• The eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, also known as technique EMDR, is a technique widely used to assist in cases of posttraumatic stress. It is a technique that stimulates the cerebral hemispheres through visual stimulation or sounds in the ears, it also works with smells, thoughts, images and sensations related to the event traumatic. In this way, the individual can give a new meaning to what happened.

On some occasions it may be necessary to use drugs, generally to control secondary symptoms, although in these cases it is always essential to see a doctor.

In the following article, we talk about How to overcome a psychological trauma.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Types of psychological trauma, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• Spanish Association of Brainspotting. (2021). What is Brainspotting. Recovered from: https://brainspotting.com.es/
• Top Doctors Spain. (2021). Psychological trauma. Recovered from: https://www.topdoctors.es/diccionario-medico/trauma-psicologico#
• Psicoterapeutas.com. Traumas and their psychological effects. (2016). Recovered from: http://www.psicoterapeutas.com/pacientes/Trauma.html