After The Fact: When The Event Wasn't Traumatic But The Memory Is

[The Albatross]

I read this thread title and thought, "No, no no." I think in addition to regret I would take a look at compulsive overthinking, rumination, blame, shame or guilt. But trauma? Nope Dana.

 

[NovemberStar]

I read this thread title and thought, "No, no no." I think in addition to regret I would take a look at compulsive overthinking, rumination, blame, shame or guilt. But trauma? Nope Dana.

Agree withy this.

Trauma is pretty clearly defined as being something you saw or experienced where it involves fearing for your life / believing you would be killed / seriously harmed.

 

[Dana1010]

Trauma is pretty clearly defined as being something you saw or experienced where it involves fearing for your life / believing you would be killed / seriously harmed.

Meh. I take a more liberal approach: If it feels like trauma, it's trauma. If the fight or flight response is activated and fails to discharge, the result is trauma. Everyone's different and one man's Sunday drive is another man's fight or flight trigger. I knew the trauma police would show up on this thread eventually. Just kidding. :p

 

[NovemberStar]

Meh. I take a more liberal approach: If it feels like trauma, it's trauma. If the fight or flight response is activated and fails to discharge, the result is trauma. Everyone's different and one man's Sunday drive is another man's fight or flight trigger. I knew the trauma police would show up on this thread eventually. Just kidding. :p

There is a difference between BEING traumatised and FEELING traumatised - in the world of PTSD, trauma is clearly defined to situations where ones life is threatened; physical or sexual abuse. Emotional abuse however - is not defined as trauma. It can leave a person feeling traumatised and greatly, even severely effected - but it cannot lead to PTSD as defined in the criteria for PTSD.

This is not to dismiss or invalidate emotional abuse - it's simply black and white as to what constitutes trauma. In my own case, I was physically, sexually, mentally and emotionally abused from birth until I left home aged 18. I have PTSD - and even though the emotional and mental abuse damaged me the most; my PTSD was diagnosed based on the physical and Sudan abuse as well as other major traumas in my life.

What you're describing isn't necessarily trauma reaction; more pre-occupation, unable to stop thinking about it and wishing it hadn't happened. Its not to say you don't feel traumatised or have trauma from other things that happened to you growing up; but the situation you described above -in my opinion - is what @The Albatross said, not trauma.

As you state in your title, you don't seem to consider the original events as traumatic, but are now struggling with the memories.

 

[The Albatross]

I also zeroed in on the thread title. If the initial event wasn't traumatic, it's likelier to be a problematic behavioral thinking pattern.

 

[Dana1010]

Emotional abuse however - is not defined as trauma.

It is. The term "emotional trauma" is becoming more popular. I would argue that sexual abuse is essentially emotional trauma. If someone is hunkered down in a corner sweating with pains in their body, startled by the sound of laughter coming through their window, with a loop of a memory playing in their head, you can't tell me that's not PTSD, whether the trigger fits the current trauma label or not.

 

[digger]

I think it might help @Dana1010 if you could be a little more specific about the situation you're trying to make sense of. Your thread title says the event wasn't traumatic, but some of your posts seem to suggest that it was. Speaking about things in such a vague way makes it difficult to respond (well for me anyway!) :confused:

 

[Dana1010]

@digger,

It didn't feel traumatic to me at the time because I was socially retarded. A disinterested third party would look at the incidents and say, "That looks traumatic." Now that I am no longer socially retarded, I think back on the incidents and I want to die; I cannot believe that is me.