Acceptable level of risk
“The opposite of danger isn’t safe, it’s working within an acceptable level of risk.”
Graham Taylor
How Trauma Shapes Our Decision-Making
Trauma and negative experiences can deeply affect how we experience the world, both emotionally and physically. Many people deal with intrusive memories, flashbacks, experience difficulties with trust, managing emotions and decision making. It can create unhelpful emotions like anxiety, fear, guilt and shame. Trauma can also affect our relationships, making it harder to feel close or recognise our needs. Our mind and body may remain on high alert, expecting negative consequences, even after the danger has passed. This can drastically alter our perception of safety and risk.
Trauma and Our Perception of Danger
After trauma, our brain’s response to danger changes to protect us. Physically, constantly on alert, but with the potential to interfere with our decision-making and ability to connect with the world around us. For example, if someone is bitten by a dog, they may want to avoid dogs, thinking this will keep them safe. However, avoidance doesn't eliminate the fear or anticipation when they go outside and hear a bark. The number of places where they are able to “feel safe” can become increasingly limited.
Acceptable Level of Risk
An "acceptable level of risk" is working with the idea that while complete safety may be unattainable. It refers to the level of danger we can tolerate without feeling overwhelmed. Risks are measured by both their impact (the severity of the outcome) and their frequency (how often it occurs).
Impact ranges from no effect to intolerable. We measure the emotional and psychological effects, for example:
Minor or low-impact things might cause slight stress or anxiety, which you are able to manage.
Moderate-impact events lead to more serious consequences, like panic attacks or larger reactions.
High-impact or intolerable risks result in severe distress, including potential PTSD, depression, or even suicidal thoughts.
Frequency ranges from never happened to happens frequently in this circumstance.
If a negative event happens once or rarely, or only happened to someone else. It may still impact your feelings, but is it relevant to your current situation?
If a negative experience happened in your past, but isn’t relevant to the current circumstances, is it still a current danger?
Events that occur frequently and cause a severe impact (panic or depression) may mean it is an unacceptable level of risk.
For instance, driving a car isn’t “safe” in the absolute sense—accidents can happen—but most of us accept the risk because we take steps to mitigate it, like wearing seatbelts, obeying traffic laws, and insuring our vehicles.
The Role of Trauma in Risk Assessment
Everyone's perception of acceptable risk is different often shaped by our experiences. What might seem like an acceptable risk to one person could feel overwhelming to another.
After trauma, we may overestimate threats, seeing danger in situations where someone else sees low risk. In our relationships, a person who has been cheated on may feel they are facing the danger of having this hurt repeated and want the reassurance of checking their partner's phone.
How to Work Toward an Acceptable Level of Risk
If trauma has altered how we perceive danger, there are mindfulness and critical thinking strategies we can use to regain control over our decision-making processes. We try to determine the difference between our past trauma response and what we are facing as a current threat.
While our instinct is often to seek total safety, growth comes from learning to manage risks in a balanced and thoughtful way. By addressing how trauma affects our decision-making, we can begin to live fuller lives, free from the limitations of fear, avoidance and reassurance seeking.
