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Psychological trauma is an emotional response to severe distressing events, which may also produce physiological stress reactions, though not everyone develops trauma.
Psychological trauma (also called mental/psychiatric trauma, emotional damage, or psychotrauma) is an emotional response to severe distressing events—such as bodily injury, sexual violence, or threats to life of the person or their loved ones. Indirect exposure (for example, watching distressing news) can be extremely distressing and may trigger an involuntary physiological stress response, but it does not always result in trauma. Common examples include violence, sexual assault, childhood abuse, the death of a loved one, and mass-casualty events like terrorist attacks or natural disasters. The scope of psychological trauma includes both short-term and long-term effects. Short-term reactions may involve shock and denial, while longer-term outcomes can include intrusive re-experiencing (flashbacks), panic attacks, insomnia and nightmares, emotional dysregulation, difficulties in relationships, and conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and brief psychotic disorder. People vary in their responses: most who experience potentially traumatic events do not become psychologically traumatized, and differences in risk are linked to protective factors such as resilience and the availability of support and treatment. Psychotraumatology is the study of psychological trauma, and the topic also covers related concepts like situational trauma, stress disorders, moral injury, and vicarious trauma (trauma experienced by workers exposed to clients’ trauma).
Psychological trauma is an emotional response to severe distressing events, which may also produce physiological stress reactions, though not everyone develops trauma.
Long-term effects can include intrusive re-experiencing (flashbacks), hyperarousal symptoms (e.g., insomnia, hypervigilance), emotional dysregulation, and disorders such as PTSD.
Risk varies across individuals due to protective factors (e.g., resilience, support, help-seeking), and related forms include moral injury and vicarious trauma in trauma-exposed professionals.
An emotional response caused by severe distressing events such as threats to life, bodily injury, or sexual violence, sometimes accompanied by overwhelming physiological stress.
A cue or stimulus that becomes linked to the traumatic experience and can provoke uncomfortable or painful re-experiencing symptoms.
A dissociative experience in which a person feels as though the traumatic events are recurring, ranging from distraction to loss of awareness of the present.
A trauma-related disorder characterized by persistent symptoms such as re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hypervigilance following a traumatic event.
Distress such as guilt or shame following a perceived moral transgression, distinct from PTSD’s typical fear/anxiety focus.
Trauma-related symptoms that can affect workers who witness or hear about clients’ traumatic experiences, especially when such exposure is part of their work.
The study of psychological trauma and its effects, mechanisms, and treatment approaches.
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