What is a traumatic event?
A traumatic event is a situation which causes you emotional, psychological, spiritual or physical damage.
Examples of traumatic events include:
- Death of a family member, partner, friend or pet
- Divorce
- Physical pain or injury (car accident)
- Serious illness
- War
- Natural disaster
- Terrorism
- Moving to a new place
- Parental abandonment
- Witnessing a traumatic event
- Rape or sexual assault
- Domestic abuse
- Prison time
- Kidnapping
- Being a victim of bullying or discrimination
If someone experiences a traumatic event then they will need support and time to recover. People respond differently to trauma and even if they seem visibly fine they may be suffering from intense emotional distress. Immediately after the event they may be in shock and feel numb. Shock occurs as a method of protecting your body and mind from the emotional impact of the event. This means that initially you might not feel the intensity of your emotional reaction but it will come on later on.