For decades Trauma, has had different names, most associated with combat...Soldier’s 

Heart/Irritable Heart, Nostalgia, Shell Shock, War Neurosis, Combat Fatigue, Combat 

Exhaustion, Gross Stress Disorder, and Post-Vietnam Syndrome. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that

we began to move away from the falsehood that the majority of trauma was coming from combat.

While it is true that trauma does come with combat, there are many other things in life

that also come with trauma... natural disasters, motor vehicle collisions, house fires, homes

broken into, physical abuse, sexual assault, bullying, getting mugged and/or being a victim of

other crimes, injuries on the job, witnessing the aftermath of horrific events and seeing others

being harmed without the ability to do anything to intervene or help to stop it.

Today, trauma is referred to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD (C-

PTSD), and the most recent Post Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI). The PTSI is currently not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual that therapists utilize to provide diagnoses. Working in specific professions can place someone at a higher risk of being traumatized. A job or career where the risk of injury is higher than the average or witnessing the aftermath (school teacher, mental/physical health provider, police officer, corrections officer, lineman, roofer, construction, mechanics, etc.).

How do we know if we’ve been traumatized? One would think that’s an easy answer. 

Actually, it can be difficult for some to recognize that they have been traumatized or have PTSD. I liken children who were abused in their households to combat veterans; both are in situations they cannot get out of, and they become accustomed to the environment. When I asked a client about his history of trauma, he denied having any trauma in his life until he was in a combat theatre. I later discovered that his father routinely punched him in the face when his father was angry or intoxicated. When I inquired about his denial of a history of trauma, he stated, “...getting punched in the face is not traumatic! That’s how they parented back then.”

The signs & symptoms of PTSD are numerous and vary among children and adults. They

range from having repeated disturbing dreams and memories to memories you’ve buried so deep that you don’t have a conscious memory but rather an embedded memory, that comes out in your behavior. Let’s say you could have an issue with things being sticky to the point you are more irritated or outright angry with anything being sticky. Most people just wipe off the stickiness and move on, but not you. While in therapy, you’re sharing that you helped someone out of a vehicle that had hit a tree. In the process, you got blood on your hands, arms, and face. Blood on the skin gets sticky, but you didn’t correlate it to being a symptom of having PTSD.

If you’re wondering about yourself or a loved one having PTSD, you can access a PCL-C

checklist on-line. For children, an Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) can be completed online.

There is no cure for PTSD, but there is recovery. Getting into recovery from PTSD will make your life much simpler and easier to live.