The effects of being traumatized are very individual, and people who have experienced trauma are impacted physically, emotionally, behaviourally, cognitively, spiritually, neurobiologically and relationally.
Service providers most often see hyperarousal and hypervigilance, but it may not relate back to trauma and could be misinterpreted. This misinterpretation or misunderstanding of behaviour, and failing to recognize fight, flight and freeze responses, can contribute to judgmental behaviour on the part of service provider, and lead to the development of conflict or adversarial relationships. It is important to remember that trauma impacts the manner in which a person does or does not approach helping relationships and their interactions with service providers. The effects of trauma are felt across the life span.
According to a Canadian study, PTSD is “associated with several physical health problems including cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, chronic pain conditions, gastrointestinal illness and cancer” (2007). It is important to recognize that experiences of trauma can have negative effects on a person’s health, regardless of a diagnosis of PTSD. This further supports the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study that identified the direct connection between adverse childhood experiences and the increase in serious physical and mental health problems (1998).
The ACE study identified that the more adverse the experience, the greater the increase in risk for the following:
It should also be noted that there are overlaps between the categories.
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