How Common is Trauma in Modern Society?

There’s a growing understanding among health professionals and the general public that our mental health has a substantial effect on our physical health. Issues like anxiety, depression, and insomnia can damage your heart, leave you feeling lethargic, and make it harder to concentrate on a task. However, issues like anxiety and depression are often the result of traumatic experiences. Getting help from a trauma therapist like Joe Langheim can help people overcome the issues that are the root cause of other problems. Many individuals can benefit from this treatment because trauma is more common in modern society than people realize.

Everyone experiences traumatic events at some point in their life, and everyone develops different strategies for dealing with the trauma. In many situations, we’re able to handle the trauma on our own and grow as a result. But depending on the person or the severity of the trauma, traumatic experiences can leave lasting emotional scars that affect the individual’s physical and mental health.

Traumatic experiences are more common than people realize because they only think about the extreme examples. However, traumatic experiences are any incident that causes physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological harm. The event leaves the person feeling threatened, anxious, or frightened as a result. Many victims may be in denial about the effect the traumatic event has had on them.

This definition covers many scenarios that people may not consider traumatic. Most people would recognize events such as surviving war, famine, natural disaster, or terrorism as being a traumatic experience. These events are relatively uncommon in modern industrial countries. On the other hand, events such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, sustaining a severe injury, enduring sexual or physical abuse, and other adverse life events can also produce trauma. When all of the possible sources for trauma are considered, it's clear that most people have dealt with at least one of these events in their lives.

After people get past the initial shock, they can respond to traumatic events in many ways that adversely affect their physical and mental health. Some signs may indicate when a person needs trauma therapy. Emotional symptoms include increased irritability, sudden or dramatic mood changes, anxiety and nervousness, anger, denial, and depression. Other signs include difficulty concentrating, altered sleeping or insomnia, changes in appetite, as well as a withdrawal and isolation from day-to-day activities. If you know someone who's experienced a traumatic event, and they have these symptoms, talk to them about seeking trauma therapy treatment.

For an individual recovering from trauma, it can be difficult to notice the emotional symptoms. What an outside observer sees as irritability, the trauma victim sees as people being unusually annoying. However, there are other symptoms that only the victim would know. For example, they may continue to have flashbacks or repeated memories of the event, and an intense fear that the traumatic event will recur, such as when the anniversary of the event approaches or they are near the scene of the original incident. They may also experience the physical symptoms of stress, such as headaches and nausea, and the worsening of an existing medical condition.

If you or someone you know is having trouble overcoming a traumatic event, licensed therapists like Joe Langheim can help. There are many treatment options for dealing with trauma. Joe Langheim has a dynamic and extensive background as a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Trauma Therapist, Certified Breathworker, and Reiki Master with over 11 years of experience in the field of mental health. Send a message online to get a free 15-minute consultation with Joe Langheim.