Is The Severity Of A Trauma Subjective?

[Hashi]

I think context - before and after - has a lot to do with it.

For example, I was on a plane that failed while in the air and had to make a crash landing in a blizzard. We all thought we were going to die. I won't go into details, but it was terrible. I ended up injured and in shock.

I had medical treatment for my injuries. Everyone knew about the plane and talked with me about it. Everyone expected me to be afraid afterwards, and was patient and supportive. I had to get a flight soon after. The airline put me in first class and assigned a member of staff to sit with me and talk to me the whole way. I still don't like travelling by plane, but I didn't get PTSD and I don't have any unresolved issues relating to the experience.

It could have been very different if I'd had no-one to turn to afterwards. If I hadn't had validation and support. If I'd been afraid of being disbelieved, blamed or judged. If it had felt unsafe to talk about it. If I'd had previous bad experiences regarding planes. If travelling by plane was very important to my livelihood or self-esteem. If my injuries had been worse. If I was already struggling with other issues. If lots of things.

So it's subjective, but that can be a word with some negative associations. I think of it more as situational. It depended on my whole situation - my history, my life situation, my resources, what happened, what happened afterwards, what didn't happen. Not just what happened.

 

[Elizabeth-Ann]

Wow, so many posts and so much input! I ill take my time to read them carefully. Thank you so much! They already enlightened my journey so much, my desires, my needs, my wishes and fears. I see clearer now thanks to you all.

This forum is a REAL support. I am astonished at what high level. I pray that a lot of people feel the same way and make the same experience I do at the moment!

 

[kers]

Hashi, I very much agree with what you wrote. When I started treatment, my doctor told me that one thing that was a powerful predictor of post-traumatic difficulties was whether or not there were people available after the trauma to respond with compassion and support.

 

[Shellbell]

I agree with this to a point.

I has sexual abuse (molestation) as a child from a family friend/neighbour for 3 years. I found out my sister was also being abused so then felt able to tell my parents. They were angry, gave me no support and blamed me for my sisters abuse for not telling them earlier. All very traumatic. I recieved absolutely no support or compassion, I received the opposite.

But I don't believe that gave me PTSD. The abuse was all disgusting and horrendous, but at no point did I think my existence was threatened, or felt I would not survive. I developed depression due to this as would be expected, and I no doubt would have had post traumatic difficulties and issues, but I firmly believe this abuse was not the cause of my PTSD.

I believe my PTSD is a result of much worse abuse I suffered later on as a teenager/young adult, where my life was threatened many times with guns and knives. I know the point at which my existence was seriously threatened and my brain clicked into that survival mode.

My T - a trauma therapist agrees with this also.

So, my point is you can survive a bad trauma, not have support or compassion or anything positive following and still not develop PTSD. But, obviously the more support and compassion you recieve after a trauma, the better the chance of not developing PTSD or other mental disorders.

 

[BloomInWinter]

My CBT T. reminds me that all of human experience is subjective.

There is no 'blame' or 'shame' for us to have the impression left on us as it did. No 'right' or 'wrong'...just, identifying it, facing it, processing it.

Any who try to tell another human being that they didn't experience THAT as they are saying is full of it. They aren't able to read minds. All are entitled to have the impression it leaves with us.

It becomes a memory that is no longer 'trapped' in our psyche and gets resolved enough that it no longer hijacks our experiences now.

 

[anthony]

Trauma severity is always subjective (based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions), due to individuality.

The kicker to this, is that those touchy feely types then take this expression and try to fit everything into the 'traumatic' spectrum.

What people misconstrue is, life experience is also responsively subjective. That becomes entangled and confused with trauma severity.

 

[Elizabeth-Ann]

I experienced a massive change in de - of course - subjective view of my trauma symptoms that I would like to share with you here.

Till now, my symptoms where something bad, something to hate, something that reminded me of what I suffered, what I went through. And for they are strong, I blamed myself a lot and felt guilty and angry every time they came over me.

Now I learned to look uppon them in a different way: My symptomes are the sign of how I was able to protect myself in a very difficult situation. There are not a sign of my weekness, but of my strength. I see them now more like something positive. This helps me to accept in a first step that I am suffering. This helps me to stop blaming me for what I am still suffering.

I hope that that change in my subjective view of my trauma will help me to let go little by little of everything that is still stuck in my soul and in my body.

 

[Hashi]

That's a big shift, and must be very healing.

My therapist is trying to get me to see this right now. She's trying to get me to have more understanding for myself in that situation, and not blame myself for how I reacted to it.

This sounds so positive. I have a lot of hope for you!

 

[maddog]

Chiming in late, but my own personal, simplistic, nutshell view on all this is that the extent and duration of a person's negative reaction to trauma is more about the before and after than about the trauma itself.

By "before", I mean that the person's background, personality, support network, degree of positive self concept and personal stability, life experiences of resilience etc, lay the foundation upon which the person will land when a trauma occurs. If that foundation is relatively solid, stable, consistent and healthy, it will support the person to a large extent and add to their capacity for resilience to trauma. If the foundation is weak, unstable, unreliable or in other ways conducive to a lack of resilience, then these factors will greatly impact on the person's immediate and longer term reaction to the trauma.

On the other hand, the "after" is about the support the person receives *immediately* post trauma, as well as the ongoing context and environment in which the person works through the experience later. Again, if those aspects are strong, healthy, supportive and empowering, then they will interrupt a lot of the internalised trauma response that has the potential to form.

When the before and after combine favourably, I think human beings can endure a heck of a lot and come through even horrific circumstances ok. When the before and after don't come together favourably, there is a greater likelihood of longer term harm and trauma-related illness.

Yes, very simplistic, but my general view nonetheless.

And obviously multiple or prolonged trauma contributes greatly to the "before" trauma context and is thus likely to decrease resilience to further trauma.

The trick is to not interpret a lack of resilience as an indicator of being "weak" or any of the other, sometimes subtle, criticisms of people who suffer extreme reactions to what might seem to some like minor traumatic events. To imply that any of this is the result of weakness or some degree of "choice" is simply insensitive, il-informed and representative of someone who doesn't understand trauma or human behaviour.

Yes, I guess I'm more of a nurturist than a naturist, though doubtless the latter does contribute to some extent that I haven't bothered educating myself enough to have much of an opinion about!

Maddog

 

[Pencil]

By "before", I mean that the person's background, personality, support network, degree of positive self concept and personal stability, life experiences of resilience etc, lay the foundation upon which the person will land when a trauma occurs. If that foundation is relatively solid, stable, consistent and healthy, it will support the person to a large extent and add to their capacity for resilience to trauma. If the foundation is weak, unstable, unreliable or in other ways conducive to a lack of resilience, then these factors will greatly impact on the person's immediate and longer term reaction to the trauma.

On the other hand, the "after" is about the support the person receives *immediately* post trauma, as well as the ongoing context and environment in which the person works through the experience later.

Yes, yes, yes!!! Love your post.

This thread and the one on 'comparing rape to being cheated on' really discuss the same issue. These two threads should really be one.

 

[safenow]

But what about people who still live after a situation where others died or would have ended their lives themselves, where it is only by miracle and extraordinary resilience that they are living a more or less normal life - of course with some problems due to their PTSD.

I endured such a situation. For those who don't know me, they assume my life is pretty normal. The fact of matter is, I do not have a normal life. I never had a normal life. In front of the world, I do the best I can to get by each day, but I struggle each and every day for the most part to give that appearance.

In some ways, I still feel the guilt after all these years that I lived, they did not. I thought for many years it should have been me, not them. For many years I wished it had been me rather than them. But the facts are, you can't change what happened. You just have to keep going. Take each day as it comes and do the best you can with what you've got.

I hope I answered your question.

This thread and the one on 'comparing rape to being cheated on' really discuss the same issue. These two threads should really be one.

I disagree with you pencil. I believe they are two seperate issues.

 

[Core]

I disagree with you pencil. I believe they are two seperate issues.

I'd say the basis is quite different (comparing experiences themselves) and what grew out of it (discussing reactions, with and without PTSD etc.) is much of the same.

Other than that, maddog said all I was thinking, and did so in a very wise and eloquent way.