Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a form of anxiety that develops after you experience a traumatic event. You may be left with flashbacks (to the traumatic event), causing you to avoid places/reminders of that event. ¹

While those diagnosed with PTSD experience similar symptoms, it’s unlikely one person’s experience will be the same as another. The reason for this is there is a wide range of traumas that can trigger PTSD. Throughout this article, we’ll look into these types of traumas.

Bullying

Bullying (sometimes referred to as peer victimization) is defined as “a deliberate and unsolicited action that occurs with the intent of inflicting social, emotional, physical, and/or psychological harm to someone who often is perceived as being less powerful.” ²

It’s common for bullying to happen in repeated/aggressive behavior that prevents someone from achieving in their work or learning environment. While the effects of bullying will vary (depending on how the perpetrator inflicts harm), it usually results in some degree of trauma. ³

Bullying can appear in the following forms:

• Physical – Anything that involves undesired bodily contact (i.e. hitting, kicking, and sexual abuse).
• Verbal – Anything that involves unwanted speech (i.e. name-calling, sexual comments, and threats).
• Social – Anything that involves purposefully harming a person’s reputation (i.e. spreading rumors and embarrassing someone publicly).

Bullying can also manifest on the internet (known as cyberbullying). This involves sending negative messages through text, email, or posting harmful content via social media and blogs.

Bullying can result in harm to one’s sense of self-image, ability to interact with others, and work/school performance.

Community Violence

Victims of community violence are subjugated to acts of bullying, fights, shootings, and other forms of violence where they are not intimately involved with the perpetrator. Some examples of this include rival gang violence or war violence experienced by veterans. ⁴

The biggest issue with community violence is it often happens without warning. As a result, those most affected by this violence are youth and families who live within the community.

Community violence can result in the anxiety that something can go wrong at any moment. That you and your loved one’s lives are in a constant state of danger. ⁵

While community violence can sometimes be accidental, the majority of the time it’s intentional. Some examples of community violence include:

• Homicide
• Robberies
• Sexual assault
• Weapon attacks

Complex Trauma

Complex trauma often results in complex PTSD (CPTSD). This is when PTSD develops into other mental health symptoms and lasts for long periods. ⁶ Complex traumas involve multiple traumatic events that are often invasive and interpersonal.

While it’s not always the case, children and teenagers are most susceptible to complex trauma. However, adults can be in a position where trauma is persistent (i.e. domestic violence). ⁷

In the cases of children, complex trauma can have several harmful effects, including the formation of their sense of self and their ability to develop relationships.

Disasters

While not all disasters will lead to trauma, they can if a person or family:

• Becomes displaced
• Causes financial hardship
• Changes in school
• Loses a home or other personal property
• Loss of community or other forms of social support
• Results in injury or death of a loved one

Some examples of a disaster include:

• Blizzard
• Drought
• Earthquakes
• Extreme heat
• Floods
• Hurricanes
• Tornadoes
• Tsunamis
• Wildfires
• Wind storms

Since most disasters are forewarned, the chances of trauma are lower than others on this list. Still, this shouldn’t discourage the fact that disasters can devestate individuals. ⁸

Early Childhood Trauma

Early childhood trauma refers to children between the ages of 0 and 6 who experience a traumatic event. The biggest challenge for this age group is they aren’t able to properly verbalize their reaction to a threat. ⁹ If children feel they are in danger and unable to protect themselves, they may develop PTSD symptoms throughout the rest of their childhood/youth and into adulthood. ¹⁰

Some examples of early childhood traumatic events include:

• Domestic violence
• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse

While outside forces (such as natural disasters or war) can cause early childhood trauma, most of the time it’s perpetrated by parents or caregivers. A child’s life is completely reliant on these individuals. Therefore, when something goes wrong (whether it be abuse or loss of these individuals), it’s difficult for a child to both react and comprehend the situation.

Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is better known as domestic violence and occurs when one individual inflicts harm upon a current or past partner. More often than not, IPV develops when one partner feels the necessity to develop controlling and coercive behavior. ¹¹

Tactics of IPV can involve the following forms of abuse:

• Emotional
• Financial
• Physical
• Sexual
• Verbal

While everyone’s case of domestic violence is different, the most common forms include:

• Blame
• Humiliation
• Hurt
• Intentional isolation
• Manipulation
• Stalking
• Terrorizing

Thankfully, IPV now qualifies as a significant legal and public health issue. With that said, there are laws set up in every state to properly address IPV.

If you’re currently struggling with domestic violence, we suggest you do some research into your state’s laws. Contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1 (800) 799-7233 if you need immediate assistance.

Medical Trauma

Medical trauma can occur in two separate instances. The first is through an event that leaves a person injured enough to need medical treatment (i.e. a car crash). The second is the medical treatment itself. ¹²

Most of the time, people who experience a medical trauma have a psychological reaction to:

• Frightening or invasive treatment experience
• Injury
• Medical procedure
• Pain
• Serious illness

Medical traumas can happen after a single medical procedure. However, in some cases, it occurs throughout multiple medical procedures. While not everyone will have the same reaction to medical trauma, some common occurrences include:

• Adherence to medical treatment
• Difficulty functioning through daily activities
• Impeding optimal recovery

The severity of medical trauma is an individual may avoid seeking out medical attention even when it’s critical.

Physical Abuse

While definitions of physical abuse are broad, it’s usually defined as an individual’s experience of physical injury perpetrated by others or themselves. Physical abuse can technically be procured by other traumas such as bullying and IPV.

Reactions to physical abuse vary. However, in individuals who experience trauma, they’ll likely have a flight reaction when a threat is present. ¹³ This is especially true in children who are abused by parents or caregivers. Not to mention, in intimate relationships where a partner is expected to protect their loved one.

Refugee Trauma

Refugee trauma refers to an individual who is displaced from their own country (i.e. through acts of war or persecution) and then replaced in another country. Even if that country is safer than their homeland, these individuals face difficulties that aren’t often considered, including language barriers and cultural shifts. ¹⁴

While refugee trauma is prevalent in people of all ages, it’s especially apparent in children. Most notably, children who were also exposed to traumatic events that made them refugees (i.e. war or prosecution). The effects refugee trauma has on children depend on their age group and are as follows: ¹⁵

Preschool Children

• Acting younger than their age
• Aggressive behavior (i.e. hitting, kicking, etc.)
• Bedwetting
• Difficulty playing with other kids their age
• Playing out events that concern the traumatic event
• Separation anxiety from their parents
• Temper tantrums

Elementary School Children

• Changes in mood and conduct (i.e. anger, withdrawal from others, sadness, etc.)
• Difficulty with peers
• Fears of another bad event happening
• Separation anxiety from parents
• Trouble at school

Middle and High School Youth

• Change in worldview
• Conduct problems
• Difficulties with relationships (i.e. peers, family, teachers)
• Feelings of helplessness
• Loss of faith
• Sense of responsibility (or guilt) for the bad events that occurred
• Shame and/or embarrassment

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is defined as the use of an individual for sexual stimulation by a perpetrator and/or an observer. These can include both physical and non-physical behaviors. ¹⁶ More importantly, it’s when a sexual act is performed on an individual without their consent.

While sexual abuse is most prevalent among women, men also fall victim to these crimes.

These experiences can leave you with several mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Such conditions can then lead to other negative health behaviors, such as abusing drugs or alcohol and engaging in risky sexual activity. Not to mention, they can also cause physical health issues, such as sexually transmitted diseases.

It’s also been discovered that victims of sexual abuse are often subjugated to other forms of violence, such as IPV and bullying.

Terrorism and Violence

If an individual experiences a terrorist act, such as a shooting or bombing, they may also experience trauma later in their lives. While the impact of terrorism and violence varies, there are plenty of cases where people need long-term treatment due to these acts. ¹⁷

It’s worth noting that an individual can experience another form of trauma due to terrorism and violence. For example, someone who is injured in a terrorist attack and needs medical care may experience medical trauma as well.

Not to mention, those who didn’t directly experience terrorism and violence can also experience trauma. For example, an individual can lose a loved one to these acts and, in turn, face trauma later in life.

Traumatic Grief

Grief can appear through a variety of different experiences. However, most individuals face it when they lose a loved one.

Traumatic grief is defined as a trauma that is persistent long after a loved one has died. People who experience this often have difficulty recalling positive memories with the individual and these experiences interfere heavily with daily life. ¹⁸

Whether the death of a loved one was intentional (i.e. suicide or violent attack), accidental (i.e. car crash), or expected (i.e. illness), traumatic grief will manifest similarly. Traumatic grief is highly personal and the way an individual goes about grieving will vary depending on their personality and relationship with the loved one.

References

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² Armitage R. Bullying in children: impact on child health. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2021 Mar 11;5(1):e000939. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2020-000939. PMID: 33782656; PMCID: PMC7957129.

³ Waseem M, Nickerson AB. Identifying and Addressing Bullying. 2023 Dec 13. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan–. PMID: 28722959.

⁴ Dubé C, Gagné MH, Clément MÈ, Chamberland C. Community Violence and Associated Psychological Problems Among Adolescents in the General Population. J Child Adolesc Trauma. 2018;11(4):411-420. doi: 10.1007/s40653-018-0218-8. Epub 2018 Jun 2. PMID: 30546818; PMCID: PMC6267123.

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