Psychological or emotional trauma can occur when one experiences an event (or several events) in which death, serious injury, or sexual assault, are threatened— or actually occur. A person can also be traumatized by hearing of these events happening to a loved one. First responders and soldiers can experience psychological trauma as a result of repeated exposures to these types of events.
Traumatic-Stress Disorders manifest as either Acute Stress Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depending on several factors, including how long symptoms last. With medical support and psychotherapy, survivors of trauma can learn ways to manage, reduce, or eliminate their symptoms and reclaim their lives.
Acute Stress Disorder is characterized by symptoms that persist for at least 3 days and last up to a month following exposure to a traumatic event. These distressing and recurrent symptoms could include:
Following a traumatic event, the incidence of Acute Stress Disorder varies from 6-50% depending on the nature of trauma.
PTSD is characterized by significant distress as a result of symptoms that persist for more than four weeks and make it difficult to function in one or more areas of one’s life.
Symptoms of PTSD can include:
PTSD is characterized by symptoms that last longer than 1 month following exposure to a traumatic event, cause disruption in one or more areas of a person’s life, and are not the result of a medical issue, substance or alcohol use, or other injury. These symptoms might begin within hours or days of the traumatic event or might not become active until decades following the event.
Symptoms of PTSD might include:
PTSD is characterized by significant distress as a result of symptoms that persist for more than four weeks and make it difficult to function in one or more areas of one’s life.
Symptoms of PTSD can include:
While not a diagnosis, Complex Trauma symptoms refer to a unique set of symptoms that have been observed, in addition to PTSD symptoms, among children and adults who experienced prolonged repeated trauma (possibly over months or years), while living in a state of captivity and under the control of the perpetrator(s) of the trauma. It usually involves betrayal by someone in a position of power. The following are examples of traumatic experiences that might give rise to complex trauma symptoms: domestic violence; child abuse or neglect; concentration camps; war; prisoner of war camps; sex trafficking; systemic racism.
The following are symptoms of complex trauma (some or all may be present):
Source : Choosingtherapy.com