Trauma
What is trauma?
A powerful emotional response to a distressing event
True or False: Nightmares are common reactions to trauma
True: trauma survivors may re-experience their trauma through thoughts, feelings, memories, and other ways
What is a trigger?
Something that brings back strong, painful, or distressing memories of something. For trauma, a sight, sound, or smell can make a person feel unsafe or upset, even if they are safe now
Yes or No: Does trauma affect the body?
Yes, sometimes when traumatic events happen, the reactions can be pushed down into the body
True or False: it's a warning sign of abuse if someone is wearing a thick sweater when it's 100' degrees outside
True: some people hide their bruises or injuries of physical abuse my covering them up
True or False: Trauma can cause both emotional and physical symptoms/ reactions
True: Some symptoms can continue to last for many years after the event happened
Yes or No: Avoiding people, places, or things related to the trauma helps survivors control their reactions
Yes: Because reminders of the trauma can be so distressing, it's common for people to avoid the reminders
True or False: A common trigger is "I am powerless"
True: having thoughts like "I feel powerless", "I feel unheard or ignored", "I felt judged", etc. can lead to emotions like anger, sad, anxious, etc.
Yes or No: Headaches is a physical reaction to trauma
Yes, headaches are sometimes "trapped trauma" energy
Yes: sometimes people who experience trauma have a hard time focusing in class or avoid it
Name at least three types of abuse
Physical, Emotional/ Psychological, Sexual, Financial, Digital, and Stalking
What are some negative thoughts or feelings that people have during or after trauma?
A lot of blame towards themselves
Loss of interests in activities
Isolating or disconnection from surroundings
Loss of memory related to the trauma
A lot of negative thoughts about themselves or the world
Yes or No: Loud noises or sounds can be triggering for some people
Yes, exposure to aggressive/ loud sounds or noises can remind people of past trauma
True or False: Feeling tired all the time just means people are lazy
False: Feeling tired is a common body reaction to trauma where people lose motivation to do things
True or False: Caregivers blame the child for problems or using harsh physical discipline
True: Abused children frequently exhibit extreme anxiety, fear, or reluctance when it is time to leave a safe environment (like school) or when they are around specific caregivers or adults. They may view adults as threats rather than sources of safety.
True or False: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that happen between birth and the age of 17 and parental separation/ divorce/ deployment is apart of ACEs.
True: ACEs include:
Yes or No: Can people be very reactive after experiencing trauma?
Yes: like being more angry or aggressive, difficultly concentrating, get scared easily, always scanning or looking around, hard time sleeping, feelings of anxiety, and/ or risky or impulsive behaviors
True or False: some people's body tense so much that it causes really bad pain
Yes, some people have chronic pain issues like back or neck pain
What is dissociation?
Dissociation is a mental process that causes a disconnection from your thoughts, feelings, memories, or sense of identity
True or False: Abusers or perpetrators of abuse use intimidation to isolate their victims
True: according to the power and control wheel, perpetrators of abuse use intimidation (smashing things, destroying property, etc.) to make their victims afraid
Who is more likely at risk of childhood trauma?
Any child can experience trauma, but certain factors raise the risk. ACEs are more common among:
True or False: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can cause developmental trauma (within the brain)
Severe or long-term stress places these parts of a child’s brain into survival mode for too long
Parts of the brain:
True or False: Bedwetting is not caused by remembering a traumatic event
False: Some signs might not be immediately present after a traumatic event. They usually develop after a child has had time to process the experience. In certain cases, a trigger (something that reminds a person of a specific event) can cause a child to react like bedwetting or difficulty showing affection toward friends or family
True or False: Having a lot of traumatic experiences (adverse childhood experiences/ ACEs), can lead to serious health conditions
True: having a lot of ACEs can increase chronic diseases and leading causes of death, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide