There are moments in life when things happen to us that we don’t know how to handle. It could be an accident, the loss of a loved one , a natural disaster, a mugging, being the victim of sexual abuse, or having an extremely humiliating experience. These events usually generate very intense emotions and can cause us psychological or emotional trauma .
What is a psychological trauma?
According to the definition of trauma from the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, a trauma is:
An emotional shock that produces lasting damage to the unconscious or a strong and lasting negative emotion or impression.
Trauma is an emotional shock that produces lasting damage to the unconscious, although it can also be a strong and constant negative emotion or impression.
It normally appears when we expose ourselves to a potentially traumatic situation , that is, a stressful and threatening situation that has overwhelmed our coping mechanisms. It arises when we have suffered a very intense fear and we have felt unable to manage it.
However, all traumas are not the result of a one-time episode. Sometimes a “cumulative trauma” occurs , the result of having been exposed for a long period of time to situations that we have not been able to assume or have been able to manage.
In both cases, the basic mechanism is the same: emotions overwhelm us and traumatic experiences are not integrated into our “self,” but remain active, usually at an unconscious level, manifesting themselves through psychosomatic problems, worries or dysfunctional behaviors.
At El Prado Psychologists we address different emotional traumas :
- Sexual abuse
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Psychological abuse or psychological violence
- Traumas in childhood
How do you know if you are experiencing emotional trauma?
After experiencing a traumatic episode, your brain goes into shock and most often you remember everything that happened to you over and over again. It can also happen that your conscious mind erases it, which will make you think that it has not left any sequelae. This occurs when the trauma is too painful, so a dissociation mechanism is activated to prevent you from suffering too much , although that does not mean that no trauma has occurred.
There are different symptoms that can indicate the existence of these traumas:
- Insomnia and nightmares at night. You will likely remember the traumatic episode during the night. You can recall isolated details or relive the whole experience.
- Increased irritability You are more sensitive to any circumstance, especially to those that resemble the situation that caused the emotional trauma.
- Anxiety and nervousness. In recent times, you feel nervous, anxious and apprehensive about almost anything. You are likely to always be alert, in a state of tension, as if something bad is going to happen at any moment.
- Fear. You have developed a fear of different situations, even the most normal of day to day. You are also likely to be easily startled and overly responsive to stimuli.
- Confusion and difficulty concentrating. You have problems re-finding your daily rhythm, you feel confused and you find it difficult to concentrate.
- Feeling of guilt and shame. Victims sometimes feel a deep sense of shame, believing that the traumatic event was their fault. Or you could be very angry and blame others for what happened.
- Emotional indifference. Perhaps you have begun to feel that nothing matters to you, the activities that you were passionate about before have stopped interesting you and you feel disconnected from your emotions.
The causes of emotional trauma
Traumatic experiences overwhelm us to the point that they disrupt our psychological balance . This means that what may be a traumatic experience for some will not be so for others.
Obviously, there are some traumatic situations that have a great emotional impact on most people, such as physical or psychological abuse, a particularly dangerous accident, abuse, the death of a very close person and illnesses that leave serious consequences.
Still, it is estimated that 64% of people who are exposed to traumatic episodes will not develop a psychological disorder. There are some factors that increase your chances of experiencing trauma:
- Existence of psychological problems prior to the traumatic situation, such as suffering from chronic stress, anxiety or depression.
- Experiential avoidance , which involves an effort to avoid the memories, feelings, or thoughts related to the traumatic episode, so that the suffering is only perpetuated.
How is trauma recorded in the brain?
Traumatic experiences are sustained by a kind of emotional short circuit. When we live a traumatic episode and we do not have the necessary psychological tools to deal with the problem, the emotional part of our brain gives the alarm signal and disconnects the rational part.
In some cases this disconnection is so great that the memory is erased from conscious memory . However, that does not mean that the emotional trauma goes away. Neuroscientists at Harvard University found that painful traces remain etched in the brain, but in the wrong area.
In practice, people who are unable to put their traumatic past behind them, relive painful experiences as if they were a real situation . That is the reason why, to overcome a trauma, it is necessary to turn it into a narrative experience, which means that you must process what happened, reduce the emotional impact and store it in the part of the brain destined for autobiographical memories.
The consequences of emotional trauma
The origin of many psychological problems is found in emotional trauma. When we are unable to overcome a trauma, different disorders may appear that will affect our performance and quality of life.
- Anxiety . Anxiety is a disorder linked to fear, so it is usual that after a traumatic episode you develop a hypervigilant and apprehensive attitude that gives way to anxiety.
- Depression. When the trauma is very great, you can experience a deep sense of helplessness and hopelessness. You can lose your joy and reasons to live, so you could develop a depressive picture and even have suicidal ideas.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder . The trauma is relived in the form of recurrent and involuntary distressing memories that cause great discomfort. In some cases, dissociative reactions may appear in which you lose contact with reality and believe that the traumatic events are really happening.
- Social isolation. Due to the fear of a similar event happening again, you may gradually limit your social activities and isolate yourself.
- Dissociative disorders . Dissociation is a clear symptom of having suffered an emotional trauma, because it is an automatic response of our brain to disconnect from pain.
How to overcome a trauma? Psychological treatment
Since trauma is related to emotions, reason and language are often not very effective. That is why it is necessary to resort to techniques that work directly on the unconscious and the emotional part of the brain, where the traumatic shock occurs .
At El Prado Psychologists we use state-of-the- art techniques such as the EMDR technique, proven to be effective in overcoming post-traumatic stress. Thanks to this technique in which we alternately stimulate both cerebral hemispheres (by means of alternating sounds in both ears, tapping in both hands or visual stimulation) we manage to give meaning to everything that happened, working with sounds, smells, thoughts, images and sensations related to the traumatic event that have been recorded in your emotional brain. We unlock those emotional experiences and then stimulate rational integration.
We also use hypnosis , a state during which you remain relaxed but attentive and in which there is a decrease in cortical activation that will help us restructure your memories and reduce their negative emotional impact. With hypnosis we can also activate your psychological resources for self-healing.
In addition, we resort to techniques such as guided visualization , so that you can project yourself into the future and overcome the trauma, along with techniques such as mindfulness , EFT, NLP, brainspotting or ICT (brain integration techniques).
