Understanding Trauma: Navigating the Path to Healing and Self-Acceptance
As I mentioned this past Wednesday, I am determined to make this blog a safe space to explore the impacts of trauma and mental illness, while building techniques to guide you through life's most difficult periods. Before we dive into what trauma is, I want to share something: I am not a therapist or a trained professional in mental illness and trauma, but I am someone who has experienced an extraordinary amount of both. My goal is to use my perspective to help support and uplift those who feel hopeless or lost.
Let’s start by defining trauma and how it shapes our outlook on the world. Trauma, in simple terms, is a long-lasting emotional response to a distressing event. It often impacts an individual's sense of safety, self, and their ability to regulate emotions. Trauma can affect both the body and mind in a variety of ways, including:
- Nervous system: Trauma triggers the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which can impair emotional regulation. These traumatic events push the body beyond its capacity to maintain balance. For some, the system gets stuck in a perpetual “on” state, leaving the person overstimulated and unable to calm down.
- Physical health: Trauma is stored in the body, and without actively working on healing, its effects can compound. Over time, trauma can alter brain chemistry, leading to illnesses, immune system deficiencies, and even a shorter lifespan.
- Future mindset: This is where I hope my blog will have the greatest impact. Trauma can shape a person’s beliefs about the future, leading to a loss of hope, limited expectations, or the belief that normal life events won’t happen to them. If trauma was part of your past, it could affect everyday decisions, altering the course of your life.
The way you experience the world now is built on everything you've been through, whether good or bad. Our circumstances shape the person we see in the mirror, but they don’t have to define who we are moving forward. Change is inevitable—so take control of what that change looks like.
Now, let’s talk about the three different types of trauma:
- Acute trauma: Trauma from a single event, such as a car accident, rape, natural disaster, or the death of a loved one.
- Chronic trauma: Trauma from prolonged exposure to similar stressful events, like growing up in an abusive household, living in poverty, homelessness, or facing discrimination.
- Complex trauma: Trauma from exposure to multiple types of traumatic events. This could include long-term abuse, sexual abuse, community violence, or experiencing multiple traumas over time.
Chronic and complex trauma can be confusing, so let me clarify with an example: Growing up in poverty is chronic trauma, but if you experienced poverty as a child and again in adulthood, that would be complex trauma.
Trauma affects your body, mind, and heart. But remember—you are not defined by your trauma. You’ve never been alone in the way you feel or how you see the world. Over the next few months, I hope to show you how beautiful life can be, how to embrace every part of yourself, and how to find love for even the parts shaped by trauma.
