Why do people downplay trauma?

As mentioned, downplaying trauma can be a coping mechanism. To function in your daily life, you might feel the need to convince yourself that a particular event wasn't that bad. It may seem much more comfortable to ignore your emotions and compartmentalize your negative thoughts.

Why do people respond to trauma differently?

Our brains undergo changes that affect our emotions, thought processes, and fear management after traumatic experiences. Some individuals may cope better than others, but most individuals will have at least a few subtle underlying changes in their everyday thought processes and perceptions.

What is traumatic invalidation?

Traumatic invalidation occurs when an individual's environment repeatedly or intensely communicates that the individual's experiences, characteristics, or emotional reactions are unreasonable and/or unacceptable.

Can talking about trauma be counterproductive?

However, casually dropping information about your trauma into a brief conversation is unproductive and problematic, she says. "Someone who just dumps their trauma onto others— they're actually reliving that trauma. A trained therapist would help you understand the story, how to learn from it and move forward.

What happens if you don't address your trauma?

There are absolutely health impacts from unresolved trauma. Unresolved trauma puts people at increased risk for mental health diagnoses, which run the gamut of anxiety, depression and PTSD. There are physical manifestations as well, such as cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure, stroke or heart attacks.

How do people remember traumatic events?

What are signs of unresolved trauma?

Why do clients smile when talking about trauma?

Smiling when discussing trauma is a way to minimize the traumatic experience. It communicates the notion that what happened “wasn't so bad.” This is a common strategy that trauma survivors use in an attempt to maintain a connection to caretakers who were their perpetrators.

Why don t people want to talk about trauma?

The reasons for this are multi-fold and likely include shame, perceived stigma of being a “victim,” past negative disclosure experiences and fears of being blamed or told that the event was somehow their fault.

What is trauma dumping?

Trauma dumping is when someone shares traumatic details or events without another person's consent. Before confiding in someone, it's important to make sure that they can properly support you. If someone shares a trauma with you, try your best to listen with empathy and without judgment.

What is a trauma dump character?

Trauma dumping happens when someone shares a story of trauma without considering its impact or to control another person.

What is invalidation 5 Things You shouldn't say?

How do you validate someone's trauma?

Express empathy: Even if the emotion isn't something you understand, show that you care about the fact that the person feels it. Ask questions: Follow up by asking questions to clarify what the person means. This shows that you are listening and trying to understand. Avoid blaming: Focus on showing support.

What does emotional invalidation look like?

Emotional invalidation can look like blaming, name calling, and problem-solving before understanding the other person's experience. Playing down another person's experience is another way to invalidate.

Does people-pleasing come from trauma?

A fourth, less discussed, response to trauma is called fawning, or people-pleasing. The fawn response is a coping mechanism in which individuals develop people-pleasing behaviors to avoid conflict, pacify their abusers, and create a sense of safety.

Why do people respond to trauma with denial?

Our minds can attempt to protect us from harsh realities. Following a traumatic event, our mind may wrap the event up in denial as a defense mechanism. The event itself and our feelings get buried deep within our minds. We may not even be consciously aware of the traumatic event and have difficulty in recalling it.

Why do traumatized people apologize so much?

But repetitive, nearly constant apologies for every little thing—or, what Psychologist Paige Carambio, PsyD calls, “apologizing for existing”—can actually be an after-effect of trauma, a self-preservation technique survivors may think they still need to utilize in order to protect themselves.

How is oversharing a trauma response?

“Trauma dumping refers to the oversharing of difficult emotions and thoughts with others,” Dr. Prewitt explains. “It is not a clinical term used by mental health providers, but people who engage in 'trauma dumping' often share traumatic events or stressful situations with others during inappropriate times.”

What is toxic venting?

What is Toxic Venting? Toxic venting feels like an attack on someone's character. Whether you are the one venting, or you're listening to someone else do it, this communication makes the other person out to be “the bad guy.” This type of bad-mouthing becomes an intense form of gossip.

What is Overexplaining?

overexplained; overexplaining. transitive + intransitive. : to explain (something) to an excessive degree. The stories tended to be as simple as a good children's picture-book, so that nothing needed to be overexplained. Noel Murray.

Why are some people mute after trauma?

While it might seem like a person with psychogenic mutism is simply refusing to speak, they actually feel physically unable to speak, and forcing the person to speak is unlikely to work. Some of the causes of psychogenic mutism may be general anxiety or past trauma.

Does avoiding trauma make it worse?

Using avoidance as your main way of coping with traumatic memories can make PTSD symptoms worse and make it harder to move on with your life.

What should you not say to a complex trauma?

How do you know if a client is dissociating?

We can notice if a client may be dissociated if we look out for the following cues: If the client feels in a fog. The client consistently asks therapist to repeat the questions. The client feels as though they are a long way away.

What are signs of a traumatized person?

What are five of the common signs a person is reacting to trauma?

Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited.