Understanding Trauma: Key Symptoms and Signs to Look For

Experiencing a life threatening, distressing, overwhelming, and/or frightening traumatic event can impact someone beyond the immediate fear and stress. People who have experienced a traumatic event may notice a variety of signs and symptoms of trauma that impact them on a regular basis.

Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will experience trauma, or the emotional response to having experienced an overwhelming and frightening event. To learn more about types of trauma that people experience following these events, click here. However, for those that do experience trauma following a traumatic event, there are common areas of your life that you might start to recognize the impacts of trauma. Here are six areas of life that are commonly impacted by trauma and signs that trauma might be impacting you in these areas.

Cognitive

Cognitive impacts of trauma have to do with our thoughts, memories, beliefs, and cognitive function. Following a traumatic event, people may experience intrusive thoughts about the event that come on suddenly and are difficult to make go away. These intrusive thoughts may include memories of the event and flashbacks, which involves vividly reliving and reexperiencing aspects of the traumatic event. Flashbacks can lead someone to feel like the traumatic event is happening again. Everyday cognitive functioning may be impacted, for example, many people may have trouble concentrating or difficulty with their memories. In the aftermath of trauma, people may lose aspects of their memories about the traumatic event. Experiences of confusion, disorientation, and indecision can also occur. Dissociation, or experiencing a detachment from reality that includes people feeling disconnected from themselves and their surroundings, can also be a symptom of trauma. Dissociation may range in intensity from feeling detached from your emotions, feeling disconnected from your body and physical surroundings (almost like you are floating above yourself watching you move through life), and feeling like your surroundings are not real. The experience of a traumatic event can also impact the content of thoughts that people have. For example, following a traumatic event, someone who had previously believed that other people and the world were good and safe may begin to think negatively of others and the world as a whole. They may start to believe that people are untrustworthy and unsafe. They may also begin to have negative thoughts about themselves and their worth. Finally, for some people, thoughts of wanting to die or kill oneself can occur following a traumatic event.

Behavioral

Signs of trauma may also include changes in behavior. For example, people may begin to start isolating themselves and express disinterest in things they used to enjoy. They may begin avoiding certain things and places that remind them of their traumatic experience. They might feel unmotivated and have difficulty starting activities and tasks. They may also begin engaging in different behaviors to cope with their trauma, such as misuse of substances, disordered eating behaviors, or self-harm, such as cutting themselves without the intention to die. They may also begin to act more impulsively or recklessly.

Emotional

Emotional signs of trauma can vary. Some people may experience feelings of shock, denial, and disbelief about what they have experienced. Others may experience feelings of anger, want for revenge, irritability, a sense of injustice, or sudden mood changes. Overwhelming feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness, and grief can also be common. For some, especially if they are blaming themselves for what they experienced, feelings of guilt and shame may be present. When a trauma occurs people are often lacking in agency to be able to navigate the situation, therefore, feelings of hopelessness, powerlessness, and helplessness can be a sign of trauma. People may also feel a loss of pride, confidence, dignity, or security and safety. Finally, some people experience feelings of numbness or detachment.

Physical

Trauma can impact people physically as well. People may experience changes in their sleep, either sleeping too much or not enough, and their appetite. Feelings of fatigue or exhaustion can also be common. Hypervigilance, or feeling more alert and aware of your surroundings in an effort to scan for threats, is a common response to trauma. This may also lead to people feeling on edge, agitated, or startling easily. Bodily aches, pains, and muscle tension can arise following a traumatic experience. And physically, people may also feel numbness.

Relational

Trauma can also manifest within people’s relationships with others. People may either withdraw from others or cling more to others than before. People may experience alienation from their family and friends. As mentioned previously, a person’s beliefs about other people may change, leading to feelings of fear towards others, suspicion, and difficulty or broken trust in relationships. People may also begin to doubt their relationships with others and others may be unable to meet their needs within relationships, causing overall strain on relationships. There may also be changes in their sexual activity.

Spiritual

Spiritual signs of trauma may occur for people who are or are not religious. For people who are religious, they may experience a loss of faith or further clinging to their faith to help cope with their experience. People may experience doubts within their religion or spirituality and withdraw from their spiritual communities. Beyond religion and faith, people may also begin to question their beliefs about themselves, others, the world, and the meaning of life in general.

Trauma Therapy in Lexington, Kentucky

There are a wide variety of ways that trauma can impact you. Some of these symptoms may show up quickly following a traumatic event and others may develop over time. If you are experiencing some of the above signs and symptoms of trauma, therapy can be a great resource to help understand your experiences and gain new coping skills to address some of the symptoms. If you are interested in learning more about trauma therapy with me, you can reach out to me at carolyn@carolynmeillerphd.com or click here to request an appointment.

About the Author

Dr. Carolyn Meiller is a trauma therapist in Lexington, Kentucky. She is a virtual therapist and works with adults all across Kentucky. She specializes in trauma therapy, especially helping clients navigate relational and emotional impacts of trauma.