Trauma is an emotional response to an event like an accident, rape or assault, or a natural disaster.
People who experience trauma may experience feelings like shock and denial at first, which can progress to flashbacks and unpredictable emotions that can strain relationships and cause difficulty in moving on. When this happens, a trauma treatment center in Scottsdale can help.
Trauma-related disorders are a response to a distressing or disturbing event that can be chronic or singular. When the effects of a traumatic event progress to severe symptoms, it can impact emotional and cognitive development and nervous system stability.
Everyone processes trauma differently – what is traumatic to one person may not be to another, creating challenges in treating and diagnosing the mental health symptoms.
The initial effects of trauma may include:
The delayed effects of trauma may include:
If the response to trauma is more severe, it may include:
When people who experienced trauma have trouble returning to their normal state of mind afterward, it can progress to a mental health disorder connected to the experience – a trauma disorder.
Types of trauma disorders include:
PTSD is a common and well-known trauma disorder that affects about 8 million adults in the US each year. PTSD occurs after a traumatic event and may include intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors, irritability, negative thoughts, insomnia, and self-destructive behaviors.[1]
Acute Stress Disorder is similar to PTSD but shorter in duration. It typically develops immediately after a traumatic event. Symptoms may include anxiety, dissociative symptoms, “reliving” the event, intense fear or helplessness, and avoidance behaviors.
This is a secondary traumatic stress disorder and comes from exposure to the firsthand trauma of someone else. First responders, social workers, physicians, nurses, counselors, attorneys, teachers, and even coroners are commonly at risk for secondhand trauma. The symptoms may include fear, anger, negativity, helplessness, guilt, and hypervigilance. Physical symptoms may also be present in someone dealing with secondhand trauma.
This trauma disorder affects children who cannot form healthy attachments to their caregivers. Its symptoms include culturally inappropriate behavior, such as fearlessness around strangers, that may put safety at risk.
This disorder is temporary and may be triggered by traumatic events but warrant professional treatment. The symptoms may include frequent feelings of sadness, loss of interest in activities, withdrawal from family and friends, insomnia, neglecting responsibilities, problems focusing, inappetence, and difficulty functioning in daily life.
This childhood disorder impacts children’s ability to maintain stable attachments to caregivers. The symptoms may include emotional withdrawal, lack of response, impaired emotional response, irritability, and fearfulness.
These disorders have symptoms indicative of trauma-related conditions but may not meet the criteria for specific trauma disorders.
Unhealed trauma can manifest as a loss of connection to self and impacts the quality of interpersonal relationships and overall wellbeing. Severe trauma-related disorders can have a devastating effect on how a person communicates, responds, engages, or disengages, copes with everyday stressors, and may progress to addiction or mental health disorders.
We specialize in treating the effects of acute and chronic traumatic life events that can lead to disorders and symptoms like detachment, hypervigilance, reactivity, and depression. Some of the experiences and events we address include:
Some of our trauma-focused treatment modalities include:
We offer both individual trauma recovery outpatient care and an intensive outpatient program with weekly individual settings and small group therapy sessions.
If you or a loved one are seeking help for a trauma-related disorder following a traumatic event, Healing Foundations Center can help. We specialize in treating trauma-related disorders that arise from chronic stress and trauma and focus on whole-person healing. Contact us today to learn more about our trauma treatment program in Scottsdale.
[1] https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp
