A Traumatic Event is an incident that causes physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological harm. The person experiencing the distressing event may feel physically threatened or extremely frightened as a result. Trauma has always been evident in our life. But, with mass shootings, horrific hurricanes, #Metoo, #Blacklivesmatter and #Stopasianhate, that brought sexual assault, merciless killings of Black & Asian people into mainstream conversation, we are seeing how intense emotional experiences can haunt people years later. Many experts think the COVID 19 pandemic and other scary current events will have long lasting effects as well. Trauma affects our body whether we are aware or not. Not every traumatized person develops post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some people develop other mild symptoms, but they go away after a few weeks. This is called acute stress disorder (ASD). Some with PTSD don’t show symptoms for months after the event itself. And some people deal with PTSD symptoms of a traumatic experience for the rest of their life.
