Trauma →

Trauma

Trauma can take many forms. According to the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health:

A traumatic event can be:

  • a recent, single traumatic event (e.g., car crash, violent assault)

  • a single traumatic event that occurred in the past (e.g., a sexual assault, the death of a spouse or child, an accident, living through a natural disaster or a war)

  • a long-term, chronic pattern (e.g., ongoing childhood neglect, sexual or physical abuse).

A person who has experienced a traumatic event might develop either simple or complex PTSD:

  • Experiencing a single traumatic event is most likely to lead to simple PTSD.

  • Complex PTSD tends to result from long-term, chronic trauma and can affect a person's ability to form healthy, trusting relationships. Complex trauma in children is often referred to as "developmental trauma." provides some useful definitions.

Source: https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/trauma

Trauma affects both mind and body. I recommend several key books on this topic:

  • The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

  • When the Body says No by Gabor Maté

Childhood Trauma

Childhood trauma (also referred to as Developmental Trauma or Complex Trauma) can take the form of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Vincent Felitti and colleagues conducted the Adverse Childhood Experience Study in 1998. They defined several categories of adverse childhood experiences:

  • Psychological / emotional

  • Physical 

  • Sexual 

  • Household dysfunction 

  • Substance abuse

  • Mental illness

  • Mother treated violently

  • Criminal behaviour in household 

(Felitti, V. J., Anda R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., … Marks, J. S. (1998). The relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245- 258.)

 If you would like more information on the ACE study, a good place to start is https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html

Physical Impacts of Complex trauma in Adulthood:

The ACE Research showed that childhood and developmental trauma are not only devastating at the time of trauma, there are significant and serious impacts on the health of individuals later in in life.

Examples:

  • Coronary artery disease 

  • Liver disease 

  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 

  • Autoimmune disease 

  • Chronic pain 

Common comorbidities:

  • Depression 

  • Anxiety

  • Psychosis

  • Substance use/abuse

  • Eating disorders

  • Personality disorders (e.g. BPO)

  • Dissociative symptoms / disorders & Somatoform disorders 

  • Suicidality and risk-taking behaviour 

(For information on the long-term impacts, refer to Dr. Matthew Kerr’s 2013 presentation An unwanted legacy: Long term effects of chronic childhood trauma presented at Conversations at the Royal. It can be retrieved from: https://www.slideshare.net/theroyalott/an-unwanted-legacy-longterm-effects-of-chronic-childhood-trauma.)

Other resources you may wish to consult are: