Have you experienced a traumatic event?

Traumatic events are common and can happen at any time, in both childhood and adulthood. The way you experience a traumatic event will be unique to you and will vary from the experiences of other people.

Examples of traumatic events include:

• Serious accidents
• Assaults
• Rape
• Childhood abuse (sexual, physical, emotional or neglect)
• Domestic abuse
• War (as a solider or civilian)
• Disasters
• Terrorist attacks

How are you coping?

It’s normal to be distressed by traumatic events, and to need time and support to adjust to what you’ve experienced. If you’ve been through something traumatic, you’ll probably have strong memories about it. It’s important to note, however, that having memories about distressing experiences doesn’t mean that you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex PTSD.

Everyone responds differently to trauma. Some of the more common experiences are described below:

How your body might feel 

• Tired or exhausted
• Restless
• Lacking energy
• Difficulty concentrating
• Racing heart
• Sweating
• Jumpy

Thoughts you might have 

• “The world is an unsafe place”
• “The world is unpredictable”
• “Other people can’t be trusted”
• “I can’t trust my own judgement”
• “I’m stuck.”
• “It’s all my fault”
• “I’m a different person since the trauma”

Feelings you might have 

• Fear
• Shame
• Humiliation
• Rejection
• Abandonment
• Unsafe
• Unsupported
• Trapped
• Powerless

Things you might do 

• Avoid people, places or situations that remind you of the trauma
• Engage in fight, flight or freeze reactions when faced with a trigger
• Re-play the trauma in your mind
• Dream about the trauma

If  these experiences  look very familiar to you, you can find out more about trauma in the ‘Learn’ section of this website.