Trauma occurs when an individual experiences a situation where they feel their life is threatened or in danger. Some people can work through these kinds of situations and appear to lead normal lives afterwards, but for some the trauma that occurred can have a lasting impact on their social, emotional, spiritual, neurological and biological states and wellbeing. This can then lead to a number of other issues that can impact on daily activities. These can include anxiety, depression, flashbacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.
There are situations where these individuals will experience triggered episodes. This is where a memory is triggered that makes them feel the same as they did when the traumatic incident occurred. For some people this can then cause flashbacks and others may find that they disassociate with their surroundings.
Experiences like these can be particularly difficult for those in the health care sector to manage as they are not always made aware of any traumatic issues that may have occurred in a person’s past. It is for this reason that it is a good idea for health workers to attend Trauma informed practice training like that from https://www.tidaltraining.co.uk/mental-health-courses/trauma-informed-practice-training. This will help them to recognise behaviours that could indicate trauma and will give them ways in which they can support the individual. This can then allow the individual to feel more at ease and can help to reduce the incidence of trauma related behaviour such as dissociation and self harming.