Understanding mental health
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Trauma is the lasting effect of an experience that felt overwhelming, frightening, or unsafe. It can come from a single event, like a car crash, or from harm that repeated over months or years.
If something from your past still shapes how you feel today, trauma therapy can help. Eye Cue Mental Health offers it in person in Cerritos and by telehealth across California.
Below we explain what trauma is, the main forms it takes, and the signs it may be affecting you. We also cover when it helps to talk with someone.
What is trauma?
Trauma is how your mind and body respond to an event that felt too big to cope with at the time. The NHS describes the events behind PTSD as very stressful, frightening or distressing.
Trauma isn't defined by the event alone. Two people can live through the same storm or accident and come away with very different reactions.
The NHS also notes it can affect you whether it happened to you or you saw it. Hearing about it happening to someone close can affect you too.
How common is trauma?
Trauma is very common. The National Institute of Mental Health says about half of all U.S. adults will experience at least one traumatic event, but most do not develop PTSD.
NIMH estimates that 6.8% of U.S. adults will have PTSD at some point in their lives. About 3.6% had PTSD in the past year.
Trauma often starts early. The CDC reports that three in four high school students had at least one adverse childhood experience. One in five had four or more.
What are the different types of trauma?
Trauma is often grouped by how long it lasted and how it happened. These terms aren't strict boxes, and many people have more than one kind.
- Acute trauma comes from a single event, like an assault, a serious accident, or a sudden death
- Chronic trauma comes from harm that repeats over time, like ongoing abuse or living with violence
- Complex trauma usually means several harmful experiences, often inside close relationships and starting in childhood
- Childhood trauma includes abuse, neglect, and growing up around violence, addiction, or a parent's untreated mental illness
- Medical trauma can follow intensive care, a frightening diagnosis, or a difficult birth
- Secondhand trauma can affect people who witness harm or hear about it often, like first responders
Cleveland Clinic lists long-term child abuse, long-term domestic violence, and human trafficking as examples of chronic trauma. These experiences are linked with complex PTSD.
What are the signs of trauma?
Trauma can show up in thoughts, feelings, the body, and relationships. The NHS lists flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and recurring nightmares as the main sign of PTSD.
Other signs the NHS describes include:
- Avoiding people or places that remind you of the event
- Feeling disconnected from yourself or the world around you
- Feeling very anxious and on the lookout for danger
- Trouble sleeping
- Low mood, irritability, or anger
- Headaches, stomach problems, or pain with no physical cause
The NHS also says symptoms can start right after an event or many months, even years, later. If something feels off long after "it's over," that delay is common.
How can trauma affect relationships and daily life?
Trauma can change how safe you feel with other people, even people you love. The NHS lists relationship problems, like communicating less, among the signs of PTSD.
It also describes trouble controlling emotions, or not feeling emotions at all. A partner may experience that as distance, sudden anger, or shutting down during conflict.
Daily life can shift in quieter ways too. You might avoid certain roads, crowds, or conversations, or stay so busy you never slow down to feel anything.
These are common ways people protect themselves after harm. They made sense at the time. Therapy can help you keep the protection you still need and let go of what's now getting in the way.
Some parents notice old feelings resurface when their child reaches the age they were when something happened. Noticing that link is often a first step.
Why does trauma affect people differently?
Trauma affects people differently because history, support, and the event itself all matter. NIMH notes that earlier adversity, especially in childhood, can raise the chance of developing PTSD later.
Support afterward matters too. Having someone believe you, a safe place to sleep, and time to recover can change how a hard experience settles.
NIMH also says most people recover from early trauma symptoms. If yours haven't eased, that isn't a personal failure. It's a sign you may need more support.
When should you talk to someone about trauma?
It helps to reach out when trauma keeps getting in the way of sleep, work, relationships, or feeling safe. You don't need a diagnosis to ask for support.
At Eye Cue Mental Health, our clinicians use trauma-informed approaches that start with safety and move at your pace. This may include EMDR therapy, which a clinician on our team provides. If you've been told you have PTSD, our PTSD treatment page explains how we work.
If you're having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If someone at home is hurting you, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is at 1-800-799-7233. If you're in immediate danger, call 911.
Eye Cue Mental Health is a psychotherapy practice and does not prescribe medication. This article is educational and is not a diagnosis or a substitute for professional care. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) any time. If you are being hurt at home, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. If you're in immediate danger, call 911.
