Let’s look at one of the obvious effects first. PTSD is well-known as a negative result of a Trauma. People experience post-traumatic stress disorder in forms of insomnia, anxiety, depression and fear. Some of these symptoms can be so severe that outside help and support is the only way to heal.
Although this may not seem problematic, it can cause quite a bit of damage. Many people who have experienced trauma for long periods of time will avoid people, places, and things. Avoidance is easier for them than facing potential problems because they’ve simply endured enough trauma already and would rather not deal with anything else.
Feelings of depression often happen to those who have endured trauma, whether it’s in the past or still happening. As for psychological forms of trauma, it’s much easier to fall into depths of depression because there is already a significant amount of cognitive damage done.
Traumatic experiences, especially if prolonged, can alter chemicals in the brain. For instance, changes can occur in the limbic system and the pituitary glands affecting the brain and causing sleeplessness and hyperarousal. Depression can either occur due to chemical changes or as a feeling of hopelessness and not being able to regulate those changes that affect other areas of basic functioning.
Unfortunately, trauma affects the memory. Due to drastic emotional scars, many incidences of abuse have been lost in repression, also known as dissociative amnesia. Memory loss also works its damage in other ways as it affects how we retain information later in life too. Because some psychological trauma is so bad, irreparable damage can be done to the basic structures of the brain causing memory loss to occur.
Although mental trauma starts with the mind and emotions, it often results in physical ailments later on. The trauma of this sort can cause so many chemical imbalances that, in time, physical problems such as high blood pressure, digestive issues, and even migraine headaches can become the norm. Unfortunately, some of these ailments become permanent fixtures in your life.
Because trauma can cause anxiety disorders to develop. There are triggers which can transport the mind back to the moment of the trauma and cause symptoms of anxiety to occur – these symptoms usually include, increased heart rate, shaking, and suffocating fear. These symptoms, along with many others, can cause the sufferer to experience panic attacks which can sometimes be difficult to maintain