4 Things We Want You to Know About Trauma

It’s uncommon to find someone who hasn’t had trauma in their lives, and the numbers back this up — 70% of adults in the United States and half of children age 17 and under report experiencing at least one traumatic event in their lives.

This collective trauma has had a widespread impact on mental health, which explains why 90% of patients in behavioral health have trauma in their background.

As mental health experts, the team here at Infinity Care understands all too well the powerful and lasting effect that trauma can have on a person’s wellbeing, and we’re here to help. 

To start, we want to discuss a few points about trauma, which we outline below.

1. Trauma comes in many forms

Let’s begin with how we define trauma. Clinically speaking, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines trauma as, “Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence…” While this may seem like a narrow definition, it’s really quite broad thanks to the use of the word exposure.

People who experience trauma may witness it or be a direct victim of it. Or, they may hear about a traumatic event that happened to someone close to them.

We also associate trauma with violence, but that isn’t always the case. You can experience trauma after a nonviolent death of a loved one. There’s also a case to be made that we all experienced trauma during the recent global pandemic, which constituted a serious threat to our health, if not our lives.

Our point here is that despite the short definition, trauma is subjective and comes in many, many different forms.

2. Trauma doesn’t automatically lead to post-traumatic stress disorder

While trauma is at the heart of a common mental health issue — post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — and you can’t have PTSD without trauma, the reverse isn’t true. 

About 6% of the population in the US has PTSD at some point in their lives and, in any given year, about 5 out of 100 adults have PTSD. These numbers are well below the number of people who have been exposed to trauma.

We have two points here: 1) Exposure to trauma doesn’t mean you’ll develop PTSD; and 2) Just because you don’t meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, it doesn't mean that your trauma isn’t negatively impacting your mental health.

3. Trauma heightens your risk for other mental health issues

We know that there’s a direct link between trauma and PTSD, but exposure to trauma can also lead to other mental health issues. For example, nearly 60% of people with PTSD develop a substance use disorder as they try to manage symptoms with drugs and/or alcohol.

People who’ve been affected by trauma are also more prone to depression and anxiety. Even if the trauma doesn’t lead to full-blown mental health disorders, it can make people more fearful, jumpy, and moody, all of which can have no small impact on your well-being.

4. It’s important to address and treat trauma

If trauma is part of your story, and you suspect that there may be some lingering aftereffects, it’s important to seek our help. 

Our experienced mental health team helps patients to process their trauma so they can move forward with their lives. If your brain doesn’t process trauma well, it can invade your life in little ways that add up to you being held captive by the experience. Through psychotherapy and behavioral therapy, we can help you break free and reclaim your life from your traumatic past.

To work through your trauma, your first step is to contact our office in Louisville, Kentucky, to set up an appointment. From there, you’re in good hands, and we’ll work with you until you put the trauma firmly in your past.