What is a traumatic experience?

It is estimated that about 80% of the Dutch people experience at least one potentially traumatic experience in their lives. This could be, for example, an accident, a violent incident, or the sudden loss of a loved one.

By far the majority of people can process such a profound experience on their own or with the support of their environment. They do not experience any long-term complaints.

But if it is not possible to process the experience(s) and the stress symptoms do not decrease or even worsen, there may be a case of trauma. In about 9% of the people who have experienced a significant experience, this leads to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Whether an experience was traumatic only becomes apparent afterwards.

If an overwhelming experience has led to a trauma, we call it a traumatic experience. An experience that wounds you and cannot be healed easily.

In fact, you can only assess whether an experience was traumatic or not after a certain period of time. That depends on its impact in the long term.

The moment something drastic happens, it is very normal for that to result in all kinds of stress symptoms and intense emotions. In many cases, you see that those symptoms diminish within a few days or weeks, and eventually disappear. Support from your environment, including that of Victim support, can play an important role in that.

Not only what happened, but also: what happened afterwards

Whether you can process what has happened to you depends not only on what has happened to you, but also on what has happened afterwards. Whether or not.
Were you completely alone? Were you not taken in by anyone, or believed in? Was there no support, or did you not dare to seek support? Could you go anywhere with your emotions and the tension in your body? In those cases, the risk of being traumatized is greater.

The good news is: the opposite is also true. Were you together, or were you able to quickly reach out to someone? Were you welcomed, comforted, and supported? Were you able to express your emotions and release built-up tension? Then processing often goes much more smoothly. In this way, we can all contribute a lot to one another.

Characteristics of a traumatic experience

Traumatic experiences (or events) can be very diverse, but they often also have a number of characteristics in common. A traumatic experience often includes the following elements:

OverwhelmingSomething happens that is bigger, faster, or more threatening than you can handle. Surpassing your limits can also occur when you lack the support you need. Not receiving help when you need it can also be very overwhelming.

ThreateningThe experience is or feels threatening to your life, and/or your social existence. It can, for example, be related to violence or an accident, but also to exclusion or loss of housing and income.

Too much OR too little: There is too much of something that should not have been there, such as violence or threat, OR there is exactly too little of something that should have been there, such as care and protection.

Unexpected and unpredictableThings that are unexpected and unpredictable quickly feel stressful. The more disconnected you felt, and the more unpredictability you experienced, the greater the impact.

Loss of controlYou have no control over and/or experience no control over the situation. You may also not have control over yourself, your emotions, and/or your body's reactions.

PowerlessnessYou can feel incredibly powerless when something happens to you, but you can also feel powerless when someone else is in trouble and you can’t help them, for example.

Overwhelmed nervous systemYou experience so much stress from what is happening that you nervous system You become overwhelmed. You may become frozen in the situation, and/or cannot release all the tension that has built up.

Think of the witness(es)!

Witnessing something profound can also be very traumatic, and be accompanied by intense feelings of fear, helplessness, and loss of control. This can be, for example, seeing or hearing things that are overwhelming, such as a car accident, a violent incident, a natural disaster, a medical emergency, or other events that are frightening. Unexpected and traumatic loss of a loved one can also be very traumatic for the surviving family members.

People who have professions where they often encounter intense situations, such as in the police, ambulance, defense, or emergency services, are at an increased risk of experiencing a traumatic experience. It is important that this is taken into account in the workplace. And that there is sufficient support when someone experiences potentially traumatic experiences in the course of their duties.