Trauma

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What is trauma?

Going through very stressful, frightening or distressing events is sometimes called trauma. When we talk about emotional or psychological trauma, we might mean:

• situations or events we find traumatic
• how we're affected by our experiences.

Traumatic events can happen at any age and can cause long-lasting harm. Everyone has a different reaction to trauma, so you might notice any effects quickly, or a long time afterwards.

I wish there was more awareness of trauma and the way it affects a person's thought process and behaviour. [...] Self-preservation behaviours can be greatly misinterpreted or misunderstood.

If you've been affected by trauma, it's important to remember that you survived however you could and are having common, normal reactions. Find out more on our page on the effects of trauma.

Going through further trauma can also cause you to start being affected by past experiences, or make existing problems worse. It's ok to ask for help at any time – including if you're not sure if you've experienced trauma.

I left home at 18 to escape my home life... I used alcohol, had very risky [...] relationships, was in a constant state of terrible anxiety, self-harmed and at times was very suicidal... but I did not have the vocabulary to describe this either to myself or others.

What experiences might be traumatic?

What's traumatic is personal. Other people can't know how you feel about your own experiences or if they were traumatic for you. You might have similar experiences to someone else, but be affected differently. 

Trauma can include events where you feel:

• frightened
• under threat
• humiliated
• rejected
• abandoned
• invalidated
• unsafe
• unsupported
• trapped
• ashamed
• powerless.

Ways trauma can happen include:

• one-off or ongoing events
• being directly harmed
• witnessing harm to someone else
• living in a traumatic atmosphere
• being affected by trauma in a family or community.

Your experience of trauma might relate to parts of your identity, including if you've been harassed, bullied or discriminated against. If you've experienced trauma and identify as LGBTQIA+, our information on LGBTQIA+ mental health may be helpful for you.

For me, the memories have always been like a song I get stuck in my head. They play over and over, and sometimes I remember the words and sing along, and sometimes it's just the instruments. But they never really go away, and sometimes it gets so loud, I can barely hear myself think.

Can trauma cause mental health problems?

Trauma can sometimes directly cause mental health problems, or make you more vulnerable to developing them. It is among the potential causes of all mental health problems. It can be difficult to tell which problems are being caused by trauma.

Some conditions are also known to develop as a direct result of trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (complex PTSD). 

Trauma sticks with you, even after the terrible moment has passed. It becomes a life sentence for a crime you didn't commit.

How you're affected may depend on other things too, such as:

• previous experiences of trauma
• other stresses or worries at the time or later on 
• being harmed by people close to you
• whether anyone helped or supported you.

My high functioning depression and anxiety is a result of childhood trauma that lay dormant from age 13 until it [was] triggered when I was 39.

If you told someone about what happened and they didn't listen to you or help you, this might have stopped you getting the support you needed or made you feel alone – which might have made the effects of trauma worse.

This information was published in January 2020. We will revise it in 2023.

References and bibliography available on request.

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