trauma
Deep emotional wound
Trauma is a deeply distressing experience that overwhelms a person's ability to cope.
Physical trauma refers to serious bodily injury: blunt force trauma, trauma surgery.
Psychological trauma leaves lasting emotional damage: childhood trauma, generational trauma.
The adjective traumatic applies to both: a traumatic brain injury, a traumatic divorce.
To traumatize is to inflict such harm.
Involuntary past memory
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- triggerWhat initiates action
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- PTSDChronic reaction to horrific events
dissociation · hypervigilance · anxiety · intrusive thoughts · emotional dysregulation · avoidance · numbing · startle response
Coiled, or an injury
- lacerationTorn, ragged wound
- fractureSplit in hard material
- concussionBrain injury from impact
- contusionTissue damage beneath skin
hemorrhage · burn · scar · amputation · abrasion · sprain · rupture · gash
One still alive after
- victimOne harmed by another
- witnessOne who attests
- ordealDifficult, painful experience
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
catastrophe · abuse · violence · accident · loss · grief · betrayal · abandonment
Professional guidance for problems
- psychotherapyTreatment through guided conversation
- EMDRTrauma therapy using eye movements
- CBTPsychological treatment abbreviation
- therapistMental health practitioner
processing · exposure therapy · talk therapy · group therapy · support group · intervention · psychoeducation · grounding techniques
Shocked into speechlessness
- disbeliefRejection of truth claims
- numbnessLoss of sensation
- dazeBewildered mental state
- disorientationLoss of spatial awareness
overwhelm · jarring · aftermath · acute stress · freeze response · denial · confusion · speechless
Regaining what was lost
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- integrationCombining into a whole
- restorationReturning something to condition
- copingManaging under strain
self-compassion · regulation · safety · trust · reconnection · meaning-making · empowerment · reclaiming
Severity-based prioritization
- ambulanceEmergency medical transport
- ERAcute care department
- paramedicPrehospital emergency caregiver
- stretcherPortable frame for casualties
resuscitation · defibrillator · EMS · CPR · intubation · first responder · stabilization · emergency surgery
flashback
Involuntary past memory
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- triggerWhat initiates action
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
PTSD · dissociation · hypervigilance · anxiety · intrusive thoughts · emotional dysregulation · avoidance · numbing · startle response · fight-or-flight
wound
Coiled, or an injury
- lacerationTorn, ragged wound
- fractureSplit in hard material
- concussionBrain injury from impact
contusion · hemorrhage · burn · scar · amputation · abrasion · sprain · rupture · gash · lesion
survivor
One still alive after
adversity · catastrophe · abuse · violence · accident · loss · grief · betrayal · abandonment · war
counseling
Professional guidance for problems
- psychotherapyTreatment through guided conversation
- EMDRTrauma therapy using eye movements
- CBTPsychological treatment abbreviation
therapist · processing · exposure therapy · talk therapy · group therapy · support group · intervention · psychoeducation · grounding techniques · safe space
stunned
Shocked into speechlessness
disorientation · overwhelm · jarring · aftermath · acute stress · freeze response · denial · confusion · speechless · shattered
recovery
Regaining what was lost
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- integrationCombining into a whole
- restorationReturning something to condition
coping · self-compassion · regulation · safety · trust · reconnection · meaning-making · empowerment · reclaiming · wholeness
triage
Severity-based prioritization
stretcher · resuscitation · defibrillator · EMS · CPR · intubation · first responder · stabilization · emergency surgery · medevac
- causes of damagestress, pollution, neglect, abuse, infection
- emotional changehealing, heartbreak, falling in love, grief, recovery
- adult psychologystress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, motivation
- psychology termsmotivation, habits, self-knowledge, stress, intuition
- madnessmadness, lunacy, insanity, mania, schizophrenia
- injuriesbruise, fracture, sprain, fractures, concussion
- national traumaWidespread psychological wound affecting society
- childhood traumaHarmful early life events
- head traumaInjury to the skull
- emotional traumaLasting psychological injury
- trauma surgeonDoctor for life-threatening injuries
- combat traumaHarm sustained in warfare
traumatic, retraumatization, traumatize, traumas, traumatized, traumatically, traumatizing, traumatology, traumatizes