Trauma Reactions
Trauma has a profound impact. It results in a wide range of emotional, behavioural, and interpersonal reactions. These reactions are often conflicting, and vary, it’s not uncommon for trauma survivors to experience seemingly contradictory responses. We refer to this as the “dialectical reaction to trauma”.
A dialectic is two ideas that are in complete conflict, but both true at the same time. The dialectical reaction to trauma involves opposing experiences, like wanting to avoid reminders of the trauma while also being drawn to them in an attempt to process the experience.
Trauma Reactions
Trauma has a profound impact. It results in a wide range of emotional, behavioural, and interpersonal reactions. These reactions are often conflicting, and vary, it’s not uncommon for trauma survivors to experience seemingly contradictory responses. We refer to this as the “dialectical reaction to trauma”.
A dialectic is two ideas that are in complete conflict, but both true at the same time. The dialectical reaction to trauma involves opposing experiences, like wanting to avoid reminders of the trauma while also being drawn to them in an attempt to process the experience.
We may swing between we fluctuate from the two extremes of under-controlled or over-controlled responses within the emotional, behavioural or interpersonal reactions, some examples you may recognise include:-
Emotional Reactions
After a traumatic event, we may experience intense emotions such as fear, anger, guilt, shame, disgust, and sadness. At other times we may struggle to feel anything.
· Emotional Flooding - Which can feel like we are drowning in a wave of emotions. This can include trauma reminders, leading to intense emotional and physical reactions.
· Emotional Numbness - Where we can feel emotionally flat, hollow, or disconnected from our feelings, unable to cry or feel happy.
Behavioural Reactions
Trauma can challenge our decision making, or ability to assess risk, causing us to become hypervigilant in some areas and appear reckless in others.
· Loss of Control - We can experience a strong desire to release or escape from our overwhelming thoughts, leading to risk-taking behaviours, self-harm, substance use, binge eating, sensory overwhelm.
· Need for Reassurance - Our need for reassurance can appear as overcontrol, excessive organisation, or perfectionism and hypervigilance, making it difficult for us to relax or be spontaneous.
Interpersonal Reactions
Trauma significantly affects our relationships and ability to connect and relate to others. At times we may appear to seek connection or validation at the expense or own well-being, at others avoiding intimacy and pushing people away to protect ourselves from further harm.
· Desperate Connection – Sometimes we may experience a deep fear of abandonment or an intense need to feel understood and accepted. We might seek out relationships or connections that may not be healthy or sustainable.
· Detached Independence - Involves pushing others away, or even a physical inability to experience intimacy, often under the belief that being alone is safer.
Want more information?
Read - Treating Trauma in Dialectical Behavior Therapy: The DBT Prolonged Exposure Protocol (DBT PE) by Melanie S. Harned. 2022 The Guilford Press.
