A traumatic event or situation creates psychological trauma when it overwhelms the individual’s ability to cope, and leaves that person fearing death, mutilation, or psychosis. The individual may feel emotionally, cognitively, and physically overwhelmed. The circumstances of the event commonly include abuse of power, betrayal of trust, entrapment, helplessness, pain, confusion, and/or loss.
This definition of trauma is intentionally fairly broad. It includes responses to powerful one-time incidents like accidents, natural disasters, crimes, surgeries, deaths, and other violent events. It also includes responses to chronic or repetitive experiences such as child abuse, neglect, combat, urban violence, concentration camps, battering relationships, and enduring deprivation. This definition intentionally does not allow us to determine whether a particular event is traumatic; that is up to each survivor. This definition provides a guideline for our understanding of a survivor’s experience of the events and conditions of his/her life.

Trauma and Dissociation.
Dissociation is defined as our bodies way of taking care of ourselves without power. Casually speaking, it can be explained as "zoning out" We all Zone Out, some more than others. For example, when we are listening to our favorite music and lose track of time...or when we are driving home and suddenly realize we are in our driveway. When we are watching a movie and are completely absorbed in the whole experience of the story, the music and we forget that we are in a theater; that's Dissociation.

What about the combat veteran who is fully convinced he is getting shelled and is in danger when he wakes up during July 4th fireworks celebration? Or the woman who slips into a younger voice when she describes her sexual assault? Those are both extreme examples of dissociation, but still a version of Zoning Out. Dissociation is a survival mechanism that our mind has developed to take care of us.

However, sometimes we dissociate when it is best NOT to, or when it is not helpful. There are counseling methods that can support us and we can learn to keep ourselves present and feeling safe and calm, so we can learn over time to increase our resiliency and live in the present.

Trauma and Addictive Behaviors

A way many choose to deal with the symptoms of trauma often become problems themselves. Drinking, cannabis products, opiates and other numbing behaviors such as compulsive online gaming, porn, high risk sports and activities offer quick relief and distraction from the emotional pain and memories often associated with trauma. So the situation can become quite complicated as we seek to deal with the trauma and dissociative patterns, in addition to managing the numbing behaviors that can overshadow the deep pain that lies underneath. By addressing these issues one at a time, many clients can learn how to let go of these addictive numbing behaviors and face the pain head-on, with appropriate support and emotional skills.