Recovery from trauma varies among individuals

Most of us will experience a traumatic event in our lifetime. Hardships and heartbreaks are inevitably a part of the human experience.

Trauma has two parts: a distressing event and a person’s experience of the event. What is traumatic to one person may not be to another, which means that recovery from trauma is a highly individualized process. The good news is that most of us do recover from trauma with the help of our coping skills and our support systems. However, for some, recovery is more difficult, and a traumatic experience can evolve into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Approximately 4% of men and 8% of women will experience PTSD in their lifetime.

Post traumatic stress disorder is often mistakenly used as a general descriptor for extreme distress. However, a formal diagnosis of PTSD can be given only when there are very specific types of traumatic events: exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence. This exposure is followed by a cluster of multiple stress response symptoms that last at least 30 days, including intrusive thoughts, avoidance, changes in mood and increased reactivity. A diagnosis of PTSD can only apply for these events followed by the long-term experience of all of these symptoms.

Post traumatic stress disorder is distinguished from many mental illnesses in that the details of an individual’s personal trauma are necessary to assess the patient’s specific symptoms. The person’s unique story of trauma increases the risk that PTSD may go underdiagnosed. Traumatized individuals may naturally be reluctant to seek help or to fully describe their full experience of symptoms. Further, PTSD patients often have problems forgetting. By comparison, trauma victims who do not develop PTSD often have in common an ability to progressively forget their traumatic experiences. By contrast, PTSD patients have difficulty extinguishing their traumatic memories, forcing them to exert continual efforts to suppress their traumatic memories with limited success.

Many occupations carry great risk for post traumatic stress disorder, including first responders, health care providers and 911 call dispatchers. For these helping professionals, it is the provision of help to many suffering persons that can cause PTSD. We may assume that the longest-serving professionals have gained protection from PTSD through their experiences or coping mechanisms, but no one is immune from PTSD. Because of their repeated exposure to trauma, it is imperative that first responders have ongoing therapeutic support, and we must advocate for their wellbeing.

Military service members are another high-risk group for PTSD. Repeated exposure to threats of serious harm coupled with casualties of both fellow service members and enemies can create a near constant state of stress arousal. Because combat veterans represent some of the most complex cases of PTSD, effective treatment is a matter of genuine special concern for the U.S. Department of Defense and Veterans Administration.

For young children, traumatic experiences can have a particularly devastating impact. During this period of critical, early brain development, this optimal time for learning makes them vulnerable to neurological damage from traumatic events. When children experience repeated stress responses to danger, stress hormones can impair brain development and other biological functions. Their “learning” during stressful events can result in associations between a traumatic experience and a non-threatening event. This learning can cause a non-threating event to provoke a stress response, such as avoidance or aggression. Not surprisingly, children with trauma histories often have difficulty managing their emotions.

Although a majority of the population will not be diagnosed with PTSD during their lifetimes, none of us are immune to the stress response. Stress is a condition of concern for all of us. Although stress is a necessary and functional response to needs or threats, much like anything, too much of it can be harmful to our bodies and our emotional wellbeing. Many of the leading causes of death have a correlation to overactivation of the stress response. Optimal health depends on our ability to regain a sense of peace and safety following a stressful experience, making stress management an important goal for all of us.

The good news about traumatic stress and PTSD is that there are many effective treatments available. Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy are recommendations for children. For adults who may have a diagnosis of PTSD, or be at risk for such, evidence-based treatments include Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). There are many local mental health providers who have advanced training in these methods and others. Many of them can be found on the Louisiana Center for Evidence to Practice map of evidence-based practice providers at www.laevidencetopractice.com.

For all of us, it is important to remember that too much stress can harm us. We must learn to interrupt the stress response when we can, and to help children learn to do this for themselves. Stress management strategies can include meditation, exercise, being in nature, music, art or creative experiences. But perhaps our most invaluable stress reduction strategy is the supportive people in our lives. The comfort and reassurance that we receive, and offer to others, can be the best antidote to life’s traumas. Together, we are reminded that not only can we withstand hardships, but also together, we can thrive.

Laura Baxter, LPC-S, LMFT, NCC, is the director of the Institute for Childhood Resilience at LSU Health Shreveport. Christopher Causey, is a fourth-year medical student at LSU Health Shreveport.