What is trauma and how does it manifest?

The word "trauma" that we hear everywhere, that is often mentioned in conversations, TV series, movies... As much as I hear and see, I encounter a lot of false myths and information on this subject. I will try to help you find the answers to many questions such as 'Is every negative experience we go through a trauma?', 'Are traumas never forgotten?', 'Do they always affect our lives negatively?', 'Is trauma hereditary?'.

First of all, let's understand what trauma is. Trauma can occur when people face a threat to their lives or are subjected to a physical or sexual assault, but people can also experience trauma in situations such as witnessing or listening to someone else's trauma or being exposed to repeated traumatic events. Trauma is defined as the effect of the event or situation on the person rather than the event itself. Not every traumatic event may cause trauma. This may be more related to coping mechanisms, personality traits, environment and supportive relationships.

Trauma can involve many different dynamics, and the resulting symptoms may even suggest that we are experiencing a different situation. Sometimes we may not even realize that we have been affected by the event. So when it comes to trauma, we need to know that it is not something to be dealt with randomly and that professional support should be sought.

Some therapy methods can be used to make the traumatic event come to mind less, not to remember it completely, and to reduce the impact of the event on the person.

Let's imagine that we have a piece of paper in our hands and on this paper, in big letters, a situation or event that affects us a lot is written. As we bring this paper closer to our eyes, we begin to see nothing but that paper. Sometimes even so close that we cannot walk or move because we cannot see what is in front of us. Trauma is exactly like this. We become so focused on our thoughts and images of the traumatic event that we relive the event or situation over and over again. It is only through psychotherapy that we can recognize this attachment to our thoughts and pay attention to what is happening around us again.

Trauma is also physiological. It is linked to the area of our nervous system where our fight, flight, freeze responses occur. This is why we show symptoms such as heart palpitations, sweating and trembling when we encounter traumatic events. For more information on this, I suggest you research Polyvagal Theory.

Our traumas can also be related to the dynamics within the family, our relationship with our parents and even the relationship they have with their parents.  For example, someone whose grandmother was sexually assaulted may have heard or heard about this event from her mother and shared it with her daughter and/or her daughter may struggle with her fears of experiencing the same event, or she may not know about the issue at all, but she may notice her mother's concern about this issue from her mother's behavior patterns and dialogues and think that it is a situation that she should be concerned about, which may cause her to feel threatened. It is important to note here that not every trauma is hereditary.

As I said at the beginning of my article, trauma can be related to many different dynamics. I would like to remind you again of the importance of seeking professional help and support if you believe that you have had such experiences or trauma in your life, or that you have repeated patterns or experiences in your life.